Virginia senior attack Matt Ward and Georgetown junior attack Trevor Casey have been in this position plenty of times before.
With their nationally-ranked teams preparing to meet in an NCAA Tournament quarterfinal game at Towson University at 3 p.m. on Sunday, both players, two of the best in the country at their position, think back to their high school days as rivals at Landon and Georgetown Prep, respectively.
One memory in particular still stings Casey, who watched Ward score the game-winning goal in overtime of the Interstate Athletic Conference tournament final for Landon in 2002 just moments after misfiring on a shot of his own after slipping on wet grass.
At the time, the Little Hoyas had never beaten Landon in lacrosse. But Casey earned his revenge the next season when Georgetown Prep beat Landon twice.
“Matt’s a unique player. It seems like he was always the primary threat for Landon and the one he scored in [the IAC] final hurt,” Casey said. “So it would be great to say that we got him back in college.”
Ward (50 points) is the Cavaliers’ leading scorer and one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy, the top individual honor in college lacrosse. Casey is Georgetown’s second-leading goal scorer (17) and has scored at least once in 51 of 52 career games.
“Trevor has a fast stick and we have to be ready for that defensively,” said Ward, who scored four goals in Virginia’s first round game against Notre Dame despite playing with a broken hand. “Because a great shooter like that can put a team on his back.”
It is only the second meeting between the two schools, although they did scrimmage during the preseason. Virginia (14-0) is the only unbeaten team remaining in Division I. Georgetown (12-2) has lost in the quarterfinals six of the last seven years.
