HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. — Georgetown leaned on robust defense during the five-game winning streak that powered it into Saturday afternoon’s NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament quarterfinal against No. 1 seed Notre Dame. But that unit was no match for the Fighting Irish tandem of brothers Chris and Pat Kavanagh during a 16-11 loss at Hofstra’s Shuart Stadium.
The result left eighth-seeded Georgetown (13-4) one victory shy of its first appearance in the Final Four under Coach Kevin Warne, who took over in 2013; the Hoyas’ lone semifinal trip came in 1999. The Hoyas handed the Fighting Irish (14-1) their only loss back in February, but this time they were unable to withstand Chris Kavanagh’s game-high five goals. The junior added three assists to give him eight points, a program record in the NCAA tournament.
The reigning national champions also got a hat trick and an assist from graduate student Pat Kavanagh to advance to next Saturday’s Final Four in Philadelphia, where they will face fourth-seeded Syracuse or fifth-seeded Denver.
Graduate midfielder Graham Bundy Jr. led Georgetown with five goals, all in the fourth quarter. Alexander Vardaro, another graduate midfielder, added two goals and a team-high three assists as the Hoyas suffered their first loss since April 13.
“At the end of the day, proud of our guys,” Warne said. “I know that’s coach speak and everything, but I told our guys in the locker room, based off of last year, the personnel that we lost, if we knew back then we’d be here today, we’d trade whatever we needed to be where we are.”
The absence of faceoff specialist James Ball proved especially costly for the Hoyas. He hurt his left leg during last weekend’s 12-9 comeback win against Penn State, exiting for good in the second half. Ball was in uniform against Notre Dame, wearing a black wrap around his calf, but spent nearly the entire game on the sideline, leaving three teammates to share faceoff duties. The Fighting Irish countered with Will Lynch, a high school teammate of Ball’s who won 21 of 26.
A healthy possession advantage gave the Cavanaghs plenty of opportunities to test Hoyas goalie Anderson Moore. The freshman finished with eight saves but permitted three straight goals late in the third quarter that pushed Notre Dame’s lead to 11-4.
Moore also gave up a goal early in the fourth quarter to defenseman Marco Napolitano from midfield when he stepped out of the crease momentarily. That goal, with an assist from goalie Liam Entenmann (eight saves), grew Notre Dame’s lead to 13-6 with 9:15 to play, and Lynch added another for the Fighting Irish six seconds later.
“We knew going in it’d be a faceoff battle,” Bundy said. “Then when you’re not getting as many possessions as you want, stuff starts to slip. Guys started trying to make plays. I think at times we fell back to our fundamentals, and it resulted in good shots. We kind of wanted to value the ball a little more there in the beginning than we had. It’s a bummer it took us until the end to figure it out.”
The Hoyas’ signature victory came in overtime, 11-10, on Feb. 25 in South Bend, Ind. In that one, Pat Kavanagh scored the equalizer for Notre Dame with 39 seconds to play in regulation before senior attackman Aiden Carroll beat Entenmann less than two minutes into the extra session. In Saturday’s rematch, the Fighting Irish kept Georgetown’s leading scorer at bay; Carroll finished with one goal and one assist.
Notre Dame’s aggressive defense was especially menacing in the first half, when it limited the Hoyas to five shots on goal. Rarely was Georgetown able to find shooting space on its way to a 7-2 halftime deficit. The margin could have been larger if not for Moore, who had seven saves in the first half, including several on shots from point-blank range.
“That’s a very good team we just played,” Warne said. “They’re number one for a reason. They’ve been on a tear since our first game. Best of luck to them in Philadelphia. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re holding the trophy again.”
