GU Lacrosse beats Navy 9-5

[nychoya3]

I just caught this one on Tivo from CSTV. A great performance against the #8 team in the nation. Rich D'Andrea started for an injured Miles Kass (D'Andrea was a three year starter), and was fantastic. As good as I can remember him. He stoned Navy in the first half, and then Georgetown just smoked the Mids in the second. Special props going to Jerry Lambe and Reyn Garrett on defense who put on a clinic stripping Navy's attackers left and right. Lambe stick checked a guy in such a way that his stick flew about 30 feet across the field. That was the way it went today.

Also, Dave Paliosso, who is a fifth year senior who I had never even heard of, is on his way to an all american season. I don't know where he has been in previous years, but he's playing amazing.

Cornell and Maryland both lost today, which means that either Georgetown or Hofstra will be number 2 in the nation behind UVa come Monday. If I had to guess, it will be us. This looks like a championship caliber team.

For those of you who don't care, look into lacrosse. I had never touched a stick when I got to Georgetown, but it's a lot of fun to watch and it's good to see a Georgetown team that's really, really good. It's a great way to spend a spring day.

The women are having a good year too. Go Hoyas!

[WilsonBlvdHoya]

Great news! Not sure if GU will be ranked above UMCP men since Hoyas lost to them but team is progressing nicely since then...(not playing Duke didn't hurt! LOL)

And the #4-ranked women toughed out a hard-fought OT win over #5 UNC yesterday at the Multi-Sport Field! HOYA LAXA!!!

[nychoya3]

Twerps have two losses now, after dropping one to Bucknell. They'll fall far after getting smoked by UVa 15-5. The other two contenders for the 2 spot are Cornell (loss to Penn) and Hofstra. I think we'll squeek in, but it doesn't really matter. Point is that we're better than every team left on the schedule and are on our way to being a real threat to win it all. Can they get over the hump into the Final Four? That's the question. They're good enough, but they need to keep playing sharp and hope luck doesn't turn on them like it has the past few years.

I know the seniors are sick as hell of losing in the quarters. That's the fuel for this squad.

[Joe Hoya]

So NYC...should I buy my tickets for the Final Four now?

In all seriousness, I will (God and professors willing) be a Georgetown alumnus for about a week come Final Four time, and as a Philadelphia-area resident will be in prime position to go to the games. I was just wondering if anyone here had been to a lax FF and could tell me about the experience, whether it's worth the price, when I have to get tickets by, etc. I'm seriously considering going regardless of whether or not we're in it, so anything anyone knows first-hand would be appreciated. Thanks.

[nychoya3]

Never been to the final four, because I ain't going if the Hoyas ain't going. But I've been the last couple quarterfinal games and it was a lot of fun. Very family atmosphere with half the crowd made up of fans of the participating teams and the other half youth players and their families who are just obsessed with the game. The friendliest group of fans I've ever encountered - almost creepily so. People speak in an unintelligble language of long sticks, FOGOs, EMOs, and other things that make no sense to a kid from Manhattan, but they're good natured about the whole matter.

I think the event does sell out, but it's not going to be like the basketball final four or anything like that in terms of ticket sales.

All of which is a way of saying that, yes, it should be a cool event. And WAYYYY cooler if the Hoyas can find a way not to be cursed and actually make it there. I'm not predicting anything - I've seen us lose on a idiotic off-sides and in overtime after a illegal stick call with less than a minute to play in the last couple years, so I'm pretty well chastened on this stuff. We're good enough - that's all I'm going to say.

[DFW HOYA]

A Final Four in Phila. may be enough to pull out those Kurt Shirts and reassemble the fan base at the Linc!

[Joe Hoya]

I was just talking to my sister (she became a lax fan after seeing the GU-Hobart game during her trip here a couple weeks ago) and she wants to go, so I'll probably be driving down to the Linc at some point over Easter break. Hopefully I won't be the only Hoya in attendance.

[hoya01]

The Final Four is always a good time. I went my sophomore year when Georgetown was in the Final Fout at UMCP. Despite the loss, it was an awesome time.

[FLHoya]

I'm assuming, since we're well past knock on wood territory already (especially with THIS PARTICULAR TEAM...painful exits much lately? ), that if GTown were to make the Final Four, the school gets a ticket allottment that you can buy from?

(that's not a rhetorical question btw, i actually wanna know)

I'd totally go up to Philly for Memorial Day weekend...BUT...DFW...you bring the HOYA BLUE shirt, not the Kurt Shirt (that's basketball...although I guess if you taped over the middle roman numeral and stuck and extra line on the bottom, the III would look kinda like a U).

With the way lacrosse is so f'ed up this year--everyone except UVA basically losing games, the Duke situation--the quarterfinals this year are prob. gonna be awesome, cause you know there's gonna be some good teams in those 5-8 slots...like where the heck is Hopkins gonna end up? I'd kill to go to a quarterfinal this year, but it's the week of GU and GW's graduations, and I'm going to GU's on the Saturday but likely NOT my own the next day...which is the day of the Towson QFs I think. Hmmmmmm......

Here's your FF website BTW...

www.faceoffphiladelphia.com/

21,000+ tickets sold as of last week.


So yeah, I watched the game online yesterday. Great performance all around, awesome to see the offense get it done in so many different ways and really control the game. And, uh...so...yeah, this guy Rich D'Andrea huh? Not so bad is he ;D? The save he made-I wanna say in the third quarter maybe--when he was falling backward in the crease and reached up to block a close-in shot...that was THE BALLS. Lambe's stick check was pretty awesome too...one of my favorite things GU used to do on defense was they set a guy up for a double team and two of our long sticks would essentially scissor the guy from each side, the stick would always go flying some weird direction.

Really nice to shut Navy's fans the F up too...didn't take that Sheehan Stanwick sideline piece to remind me how annoying-in-a-good-way their lax fans are. Remember this really cold-ass rainy day my senior year when we had to play them on old Kehoe which was still under construction...and apparently cold weather bothers GU fans and not Navy fans, cause the ratio in the crowd was like 95-5, and we were NOT on the good side of that. I was huddled up in the top row with some friends of mine and a couple of the parents wondering what the F was wrong with those crazy people w/ the thundersticks.

[JimmyHoya]

Yeah the Final 4 is a lot of fun. Pretty much everyone who goes is super enthusiastic about the teams/game unlike other big NCAA events where the big doners get all the tickets.

The last few years' games have also been A LOT better than the bball version. 2004 saw Syracuse upend the Naval Academy on Memorial Day (super intense game) for the title, last year Hopkins won for the first time in 16 years (read: a million years to Hopkins people) after defeating UVA in the semi's (2 goals were scored in the final 18 seconds). Lots and lots of fun.

[nychoya3]

I just remembered that I wanted to note a hilarious play in the 3rd quarter. Navy failed to clear and Sean Denihan got a feed a couple feet out of the crease. Basically, it's an automatic goal. Sean catches the ball and as he turns to shoot, the Navy goalie - all five foot six of him - comes falling out of the sky and lands right on his head. Sean stays up momentarily, but then comes crashing down. It was an awesome play by the Navy guy. The CSTV people said that the kid is going to be a Navy SEAL and I can definitely believe that. I hope Sean isn't too sore this morning, but I watched that sequence about 10 times.

[FLHoya]

nychoya3 said:

I just remembered that I wanted to note a hilarious play in the 3rd quarter. Navy failed to clear and Sean Denihan got a feed a couple feet out of the crease. Basically, it's an automatic goal. Sean catches the ball and as he turns to shoot, the Navy goalie - all five foot six of him - comes falling out of the sky and lands right on his head. Sean stays up momentarily, but then comes crashing down. It was an awesome play by the Navy guy. The CSTV people said that the kid is going to be a Navy SEAL and I can definitely believe that. I hope Sean isn't too sore this morning, but I watched that sequence about 10 times.

Yeah, that was pretty funny I have to admit. The exact same thing happened to us last year in the QFs against Maryland...we got a TO on an attempted clear and Harry Alford leveled one of our guys as he was receiving a pass with nobody else around him in front of the goal (I wanna say it was Brendan Cannon but I don't remember).

[Nevada Hoya]

I don't think I have ever seen a complete lacrosse game, although I am originally from probably the #1 lacrosse town in the US - Manhasset, NY (Jim Brown, on down). Sean Denihan, for example, is from Manhasset. In fact, my niece dated Sean's brother, Conor, when he was at Hopkins. Lacrosse is starting to be played out west, but mainly on a club basis right now.