WASHINGTON, D.C. – The 13th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team suffered an 8-6 loss at No. 14 Georgetown on Saturday. The game was the season opener for the Quakers, while the Hoyas improved to 2-1 on the young season.
 
Penn never led in Saturday's game and was tied just once, at 2-2. Georgetown scored the next two goals after that, midway through the second quarter, and while the margin was never more than two the rest of the way the Quakers could never get level again as the teams literally traded goals the rest of the way.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*All-America goalkeeper Emmet Carroll did nothing to deter anyone's notion that he might be the best goalie in the country, as he finished with 13 saves (.619 save percentage) including six big ones in the first quarter when Penn was drowning.
 
*Senior Cam Rubin was Penn's leading scorer on Saturday, with a goal and two assists for three points.
 
*Junior Griffin Scane was the Quakers' only multi-goal scorer on Saturday, with two tallies.
 
*Penn's other goal scorers on Saturday were Leo Hoffman, Davis Provost and freshman Nate Lucchesi (who netted his first collegiate tally).
 
*Penn's defense had a strong day, forcing six shot-clock violations and 14 turnovers by the GU offense.
 
*The Quakers' extra-man defense also had a solid day, Georgetown going 0-for-4 on EMO.
 
How It Happened
Georgetown was on its third game while Penn was playing its season opener. So it was no surprise that the Hoyas had a leg up in the opening 15 minutes. GU outshot the Quakers, 12-4, and only six saves from All-America goalie Emmet Carroll kept the Red and Blue in it.
 
It took nearly nine minutes for either team to score, and that team was host Gtown as Joe Cesare and Fulton Bayman tallied 28 seconds apart. Davis Provost had the honor of scoring Penn's first goal in 2025, finishing a Cam Rubin feed with 1:31 left in the period to make the score 2-1 after one.
 
The second quarter was much better for Penn, which outshot GU 8-7 in the period. Leo Hoffman made the score 2-2 five minutes into the period, and that score held for nearly eight minutes before Georgetown took a timeout on a possession with 2:48 left in the half. The Hoyas used the stoppage well, scoring twice in 39 seconds as Jordan Wray and Aidan Carroll tallied solo efforts to end a scoreless streak of more than 18 minutes. However, in the final minute of the half Rubin ripped a Ben Smith feed from up top and the score was 4-3 Hoyas at the break.
 
Scoring came quickly in the third quarter, Bayman putting Georgetown up by two just 48 seconds in but Griffin Scane getting the Quakers back within a goal 70 seconds later off a cross-crease pass from Rubin. It slowed down after that, the teams going nearly eight minutes without a goal before Jack Ransom scored from the right side to put Georgetown back up by two, 6-4. Just 25 seconds later, however, Penn was back within one as Nate Lucchesi came from behind the cage to score his first collegiate goal. A little more than a minute later, Wray fired home his second of the day, going top shelf on Carroll, but Scane answered and this was a 7-6 game through three.
 
Georgetown scored off the faceoff scrum to start the fourth, going up by two for the sixth time in the game. As it turned out, that was the only scoring in the period as the Hoyas were content to drain clock whenever they had the ball and the Penn offense had more turnovers (5) than shots (4).
 
Up Next
Penn will host the University at Albany on Tuesday at Franklin Field, the Quakers and Great Danes facing off at 3 p.m. Please note, this is a schedule change as this game was originally set to be played at Staples High School in Westport, Conn.
 
For the latest on Penn men's lacrosse, follow @PennMensLax on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram, and on the web at PennAthletics.com.