Men’s basketball is all the rage at Georgetown, where March Madness has swept the campus despite the school being on spring break. Head men’s lacrosse coach Dave Urick made sure to schedule Thursday’s practice around the ninth-ranked Hoyas’ Big East quarterfinal against Villanova.
“Since we’re on break, it’s a good thing because it gives our guys something to occupy them, instead of just laying around doing nothing,” said Urick. “It’s a great release for them.”
The lacrosse team has been equally impressive and carries a 2-0 record and No. 2 ranking into this weekend’s clash with storied Syracuse, which has lost two straight to the Hoyas.
“[That] has no bearing on what’s going to happen on Saturday,” said Urick. “If anything, it’s going to provide Syracuse with a little more incentive, knowing that a couple kids on that team have never beaten a Georgetown team, and coming off a loss against a real good Virginia team.”
Georgetown, which earned its first-ever No. 1 ranking after a season-opening win at Maryland, is clearly on the rise. The No 12 Orange (1-4) are off to a slow start. Syracuse reached last year’s national semifinals, but this season neither team is yet to find its offensive touch.
The Hoyas shot 21 percent (12-for-58) in last weekend’s 12-6 win over St. John’s. The Orange shot just 13 percent (6-for-47) in an 8-6 loss to Army. After six first-quarter goals last weekend against Virginia, Syracuse managed just two the rest of the way in a 11-8 loss.
Part of the inconsistency can be attributed to youth: Syracuse’s top scorer is sophomore Dan Hardy (six goals, three assists), and Georgetown’s second-leading shot-taker is freshman Andrew Brancaccio (five goals).
Coming off a season in which Massachusetts reached the 2006 national final, Syracuse’s losses are just a few of a number of early upsets this spring, a list that includes Drexel over Virginia and Albany over Johns Hopkins.
The results are clear signs to both Urick and Syracuse head coach Jon Desko — the two winningest active coaches in college lacrosse -the sports’ landscape is changing.
“We all seem to be fairly happy with our recruiting years,” said Desko. “It wasn’t that long ago that the pie was a lot smaller, and you felt good if you had a big piece of the pie. Now it seems like everybody has a good slice, so we’re definitely seeing that.”
SYRACUSE VS. GEORGETOWN
Women’s Lacrosse
» No. 12 Syracuse (2-2)
at No. 10 Georgetown (1-1)
» When: Saturday, noon
» TV: MASN
Men’s Lacrosse
» No. 12 Syracuse (1-2)
at No. 2 Georgetown (2-0)
» When: Saturday, 2:45 p.m.
» TV: MASN
» Syracuse junior midfielder Brendan Loftus will face his brother, Georgetown sophomore attack Jordan Loftus. Orange midfielder Max Bartig and Hoyas attack Craig Dowd were high school teammates. So were Syracuse seniors Steve Panarelli and Danny Brennan and Georgetown’s Jerry Lambe.
