After having a strong regular season, and being ranked as high as No.2 in the media poll last season, Georgetown’s lacrosse season ended abruptly to Delaware in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. It was a disappointing end to the season for the Hoya’s and they have brought in some reinforcements in hopes their 2023 season doesn’t end like it did last year. But with all the changes this offseason, can Georgetown bounce back and be better than they were in 2022?
Georgetown has been the class of the Big East, winning the last four conference titles, but they haven’t found success in the NCAA tournament during their run. Georgetown has been known for its stout defense, their offense has quietly been one of the top scoring units in the country. That unit only gets stronger in 2023.
While the Hoyas did lose Dylan Watson (45G, 25A) and Alex Trippi (25G, 27A), they still have Graham Bundy Jr. and they added some punch with Tucker Dordevic (47G, 12A) who was one of the top transfer targets in the NCAA. The Georgetown lacrosse program also added some much needed depth on the attack line with Nick Solomon (20G,17A) and Jacob Kelly (20G,15A) coming over from North Carolina and Brian Minicus from Colgate (36G, 23A). With these additions, plus their in-house options, the Hoyas are hoping to have a little bit more depth on the offensive side and avoid the offensive lulls that they had against Princeton and Delaware.
On defense they return one of the top defenders in the country in Will Bowen and they still have key guys like Wallace Halpert who had 15 caused turnovers and Will Tominivich who had 10 caused turnovers. Bowen is the man who will lead the defense and have the responsibility of guarding opponents top scorers. The Hoyas should still be very solid on defense and they still return their top faceoff man in James Reilly, who had a .605 faceoff percentage and 143 ground balls. Goaltending is somewhat of a question, with Owen McElroy moving on, the Hoyas had Danny Hincks transfer in from Dartmouth who will battle with Michael Scharfenberger for time in cage.
Georgetown should still be the class of the Big East, but the questions surrounding this team arise due to their performance in the NCAA tournament the last two seasons. While the Hoyas did beat Syracuse in the opening round in 2021, in the last two NCAA tournament games they played they have scored a total of 12 goals (3 to Virginia in 2021 second round and 9 to Delaware in 2022). Georgetown has proven during the regular season they are one of the best lacrosse teams in the country, but it hasn’t translated in the postseason.
Will Georgetown silence the doubters and finally make a run to Championship Weekend for the first time since 1999? Or will they bow out early like the they have the past few years? After last seasons upset loss to Delaware, Coach Kevin Warne said, “It’s playoff lacrosse. Everybody has to respect winning because winning will be taken away from you in a second if you don’t respect it and how you’re able to get there.” If Georgetown lives by this phrase in 2023, they just might find themselves playing on Championship Weekend.
