The Notre Dame men’s lacrosse team came away with a 15-9 victory against the Georgetown Hoyas in a highly anticipated ranked battle at the Loftus Sports Center on Sunday. The Irish came into the match ranked No. 7 by Inside Lacrosse, while the Hoyas were ranked No. 4. This result, along with others in college lacrosse this week, has the chance to really shake up the rankings.
The game started off as a defensive masterclass with both teams only getting two goals by the end of the first quarter. Senior attackman and midfielder Will Maheras and sophomore attackman Luke Miller got on the board for the Irish while brothers Liam Connor and Rory Connor scored for the Hoyas. The first quarter was foreshadowing, though, as it was largely dominated in other categories by the Irish. Notre Dame took 10 shots that period compared to Georgetown, which only took three, and the Irish also forced seven turnovers compared to Georgetown, which only forced four. The MVP of the first quarter for the Hoyas was junior goalkeeper Anderson Moore, as he picked up four of his 11 total saves in that quarter.
The second quarter started badly for the Irish as Rory Connor scored his second goal of the game to give the Hoyas their first lead of the game. However, it was short-lived, as it only took six seconds for the Irish to tie it up at three. Freshman FOGO Aidan Diaz-Matos won the faceoff, passed it to graduate attackman Josh Yago, and Yago got it to freshman midfielder Miguel Iglesias, who converted on the shot attempt to tie it up. It ended the Irish’s 11-minute scoring drought, and from that point, the Irish didn’t look back. The Irish went on a 5-1 scoring run to end the second quarter, getting a goal from graduate midfielder Will Angrick, freshman attackman Teddy Lally, junior midfielder Brock Behrman, and two goals from Yago. Angrick, Lally and Yago also picked up assists in that stretch. The Irish went into the halftime locker room up 8-4.
The third quarter was evenly played from both teams, the Hoyas ultimately winning the quarter by a score of 4-3. Angrick picked up two goals in the quarter for the Irish to give him a hat trick on the night, and Miller got back on the scoresheet as well. While the second quarter featured the Irish finding opportunities off of passes, the third quarter presented players creating chances for themselves, with only one of those goals being assisted. Sophomore midfielder Kevin Miller had three of the four goals in that quarter for the Hoyas, and they went into the fourth quarter within reach of the lead. However, the Irish closed out the game incredibly well, winning the fourth quarter 4-1, the only goal they allowed being very near the end of the game. Graduate midfielder Jalen Seymour picked up his first goal while Maheras, Yago and Lally all added to their totals. Lally also picked up an assist in the quarter, giving him four points on the night. That strong finish allowed the Irish to close out this one by a score of 15-9.
Yago was the star for the Irish, picking up his second hat trick of the year. He now leads the team in goals this season with nine on the year. Yago was also excellent for the Irish defensive ride, causing two turnovers and picking up two ground balls, one of which turned into a goal for the Irish. The Hoyas only went 19-26 on clearances, showing the success of the Irish ride. Will Angrick also had his best game of the season, picking up two goals and two assists, and Lally also contributed four points. On the defensive side, senior Will Gallagher was everywhere for the Irish, causing two turnovers and picking up four ground balls. Senior All-American LSM Will Donovan also caused two turnovers and had three ground balls, and junior All-American defenseman Shawn Lyght caused three turnovers and had two ground balls. For the Hoyas, Rory Connor had four goals and Miller had three goals, but the Hoyas turned it over 26 times and only forced eight, ultimately leading to their demise. Even though each team won 14 faceoffs, the Irish came away with the win as they only had 19 turnovers compared to the Hoyas, who had 26, and that led to the Irish having 38 shots compared to the Hoyas, who had 26.
In lacrosse this week, No. 1 Syracuse, No. 2 Maryland and No. 4 Georgetown all lost, meaning that Notre Dame has a chance to really jump in this week’s rankings. Georgetown will play No. 9 Ohio State in its next contest, while Notre Dame will play the aforementioned Maryland, looking for revenge after the 11-10 loss to the Terrapins last year.
