Georgetown Surges Past Terps in 2nd Half

Hoyas Open Season With Big Win: Georgetown 13, Maryland 10

After missing the NCAA lacrosse tournament for the first time in 12 years, Georgetown began its new season with a victory that might help it rest easier this spring.

The eighth-ranked Hoyas scored six straight second-half goals and upended No. 3 Maryland, 13-10, yesterday at the Terrapins' Ludwig Field. Junior attackman Ricky Mirabito finished with three goals, including two in the surge that put the Hoyas ahead by five with 9 minutes 42 seconds remaining.

"Just as a team, we've had a chip on our shoulder ever since last May," Mirabito said. "We've been working hard every day, and this is a great step for us."

It had been more than nine months since the Hoyas' last game, a 12-11 overtime loss at Penn State that likely knocked them out of the 16-team tournament. Last year, Georgetown went 9-4 and was the only team to beat Duke in the regular season, but late losses to Loyola and the Nittany Lions ended its season early.

Georgetown's win yesterday was just its second in nine tries against Maryland, with the other one coming in College Park in 2007. The Hoyas had no problems getting ready to start the season, even with junior defensive midfielder Barney Ehrmann limited in practice this week because of illness.

"Maryland's part of it, but I think it's extra motivation that they were sitting at home last year when everybody else was still playing," Georgetown Coach Dave Urick said. "It's the first game; we've got a lot of big ones. But this one, it seems like it takes a long time to get here and then when it finally does it magnifies the whole thing because it's so close, it's against Maryland and it's [against] a great team."

First-year starting goalie Jack Davis, a junior, made seven saves for the Hoyas. Ryan Shuler joined Mirabito with three goals, and Andrew Brancaccio added two. Craig Dowd had three assists.

The Ehrmann-led defense held Maryland's attackmen to three goals (two from Grant Catalino, one from Ryan Young and none from 6-foot-6, 260-pound Notre Dame transfer Will Yeatman). Maryland led 7-6 before the game-turning stretch. Midfielder Jeremy Sieverts led the Terrapins with three goals, all in the first half.

"We had six turnovers in the third quarter offensively," Maryland Coach Dave Cottle said. "We had three broken clears and two were to wide-open guys, and they in turn scored two goals off them. But give them credit, they had the ball and they wore us down a little bit."

The Terrapins (2-1) were playing their first home game after routing Presbyterian and Air Force in Jacksonville, Fla., last weekend. A crowd of 2,530 filled the stands and some of the surrounding track at Ludwig Field, the team's home this season while Byrd Stadium renovations continue.