May 15, 2006

Washington, D.C. - The Georgetown University men's lacrosse team will face-off against top-seeded Virginia on Sunday, May 21 at 3 p.m. in the Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be played at Towson University's Johnny Unitas Stadium and will be the second of two games played that day, following a matchup between seventh-seeded Princeton and No. 2 seed Maryland.

Georgetown, seeded eighth, advanced to the NCAA Quarterfinals with a thrilling come-from-behind 9-7 win over Navy in front of 2,455 fans at the Multi-Sport Field on a rainy and stormy Sunday afternoon. The win was the fourth-straight for the Hoyas, who improved to 12-2 overall this season.

The win over Navy also moved the Hoyas into the NCAA Quarterfinals for the fifth-straight year, and for the eighth time in the last nine years.

A win over Virginia, the No. 1 team in the country with a 14-0 record, would advance the Blue and Gray to the NCAA Final Four, which will be held on May 27-29 at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The NCAA Quarterfinal matchup with Virginia will be the second meeting ever between the schools. The only other meeting between the teams was during the 2003 NCAA Quarterfinals, a 12-7 Cavaliers win at Towson University.

This will be the Hoyas fourth appearance in an NCAA Tournament hosted by Towson University, as the team made appearances in 1997, 1999 and 2003. In 1999, Georgetown posted a 17-14 win over Duke to reach the program's first-ever Final Four appearance.

On Sunday against Navy, sophomore Andrew Baird (Baltimore, Md./Loyola Blakefield) and graduate student Dave Paolisso (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) scored two goals apiece, while sophomore Brendan Cannon (Haverford, Pa./The Haverford School) added a goal and two assists in the 9-7 win. The Hoyas trailed 3-0 after the first quarter, but fought back to tie at 6-all after three quarters. Baird, Paolisso and sophomore Matt McBride (Ridgewood, N.J./Delbarton) each scored in the final quarter as the Hoya defense held the Midshipmen scoreless for the win.

It was the second time this season that Baird had led the Hoyas to a win over Navy, as he scored twice in a 9-5 win on April 1in Annapolis. Cannon's two assists gave him 30 this season, moving him past Neal Goldman (28, 2002) and Greg McCavera (29, 1998) for the third-most in a single season.

Senior defender Reyn Garnett (Mt. Kisco, N.Y./Deerfield Academy), one of 25 finalists for the Tewaaraton Trophy, led the Hoyas with six ground balls, giving him a team-high 57 this season. Garnett, a first team All-ECAC selection, has 149 career ground balls, which ranks 16th all-time at Georgetown.

One of the keys to the win for the Hoyas was the play at the X, as junior Christiaan Trunz (Manhasset, N.Y./Chaminade) won 11-of-20 against Navy All-American William Wallace. Trunz lost the first four face-offs, but won 11 of the final 16, including four of five in the crucial fourth quarter. The junior has won 54.4 percent of his face-offs this season (130-of-239), including 56.8 percent (67-of-118) in the last six games.

The win evened Georgetown's all-time record in the NCAA Tournament at 9-9. Hoyas Head Coach Dave Urick, in his 17th year at the helm of the program, improved his all-time record in 19 trips to the postseason (including 10 NCAA Division III titles at Hobart College) to 39-9.