Maybe Jake Carraway was tired of hearing his name skipped over in the Tewaaraton discussion for this season. Maybe he was excited to meet a Villanova team on which he dropped five goals back in 2019.
Maybe he was simply happy to have college lacrosse back after 351 days away from the game.
Whatever the motivation, Carraway made the first game of 2021 count, tallying a career-high eight goals in Georgetown’s 16-1 blowout win over Big East rival Villanova on Sunday afternoon.
Carraway scored twice in the first and second quarters, added three in the third and capped his performance with his eighth goal in the fourth quarter.
From a box score, Georgetown’s dominance was not as glaring as the final score indicated. The Hoyas won only 12 of 20 faceoffs, outshot Villanova 42-28 and made only seven saves in the contest.
The Hoyas, though, won the day with a 25-8 margin on shots on goal and a 27-12 advantage on ground balls.
Villanova scored the game’s first goal from Matt Campbell less than six minutes into the matchup. Carraway and freshman Graham Bundy Jr., a member of the U.S. U21 national team, combined to score six of the next seven goals to give the Hoyas a 7-1 lead entering halftime.
Needed a major comeback, the Wildcats turned the ball over 11 times in the second half. Georgetown won 8 of 11 faceoffs in the half and picked up 17 ground balls, allowing the visitors to add to the lead.
Carraway added four more goals to seal one of the most lopsided Big East score lines in recent memory.
UNC PICKS UP ANOTHER BIG WIN
North Carolina’s road to 4-0 has not been easy. The Tar Heels battled a top-10 Denver team on the season’s opening weekend, blew out a solid Jacksonville team and survived a major test from High Point during the week.
A matchup with Richmond represented another chance for North Carolina to show why it’s considered a national title contender. Through four games, the Tar Heels continue to give lacrosse fans across the country reason to believe 2021 could be a special year.
Brian Cameron led a balanced Tar Heels attack that fueled a 14-9 victory over Richmond on the road. The Spiders were without coach Dan Chemotti due to COVID-19 protocols.
The teams went back and forth throughout the first quarter, with Jacob Kelly and Justin Anderson scoring consecutive goals to give North Carolina the 4-3 lead entering the second quarter.
Cameron scored twice in the frame, and the Tar Heels finished with three straight goals to take an 8-4 lead into the break. North Carolina outshot Richmond 26-14 in the first half.
Ryan Lanchbury had a goal and an assist in a three-goal run that put the Spiders within 9-7 toward the end of the third quarter. William Perry caught fire soon after, dishing off an assist to Anderson and scoring twice to give the Tar Heels a 12-7 lead with 12:53 left.
Perry and Anderson both finished with two goals and an assist. Dalton Young and Richie Connell led the Richmond offense with three goals each.
ROBERT MORRIS GETS IN THE WIN COLUMN
Robert Morris struggled through the first two games of its season, losing to Duke and High Point. The Colonials made sure not to start 2021 with a three-game losing streak, getting five goals from Ryan Smith to edge Colgate 17-15.
James Caddigan scored twice early to give Colgate the 6-3 lead in the second quarter. Robert Morris answered with six of the next seven goals, including three straight from Smith in the second quarter, to take a 9-7 lead at the half.
The Colonials added three more goals out of the break to take a commanding 12-7 lead in the third quarter. They led by as many as six goals in the second half, but Mike Hawkins’ fourth-quarter hat trick cut the deficit to two goals with 1:39 left — a lead too big to overcome.
Providence Impressive Against St. John’s
Four players recorded hat tricks for Providence, as it took a commanding early lead and cruised to a 16-8 victory over St. John’s Sunday afternoon.
Matt Leader, Dan Axelson, Ryan Zimmerman and Tim Himrichs each scored three goals, and Ryan Nawrocki had two goals and four assists to lead the Friars’ high-powered offense.
Providence had three separate three-goal runs to take a 10-3 lead at halftime. The Friars outshot the Red Storm 31-12 in the half. Mike Madsen had a pair of goals in a competitive second half, but Zimmerman and Himrichs helped keep the Providence lead comfortable.
Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20
No. 6 North Carolina 14, No. 17 Richmond 9
No. 10 Georgetown 16, No. 20 Villanova 1
No. 15 Army 18, No. 2 Syracuse 11 — More on that game here
Other Scores
Providence 16, St. John’s 8
Robert Morris 17, Colgate 15
Albany at Lehigh, PPD