Photo courtesy of NCAA)
If the lacrosse gods were against the Hoyas, then they were most certainly for Connor Shellenberger.
After Kevin Warne won his first playoff game in his ninth season as Georgetown’s head coach last week, he got hit in the head with a ricocheted shot in warmups before the Hoyas’ game against Virginia at Hofstra in the NCAA Quarterfinals.
Warne fell to his knees, but was ultimately fine. The first possession of the game, face-off specialist James Reilly (58.4%) was pushed in the back and could barely put any pressure on his right foot.
It was the perfect storm of bad omens for the Hoyas looking to make a run to the Final Four, and Virginia took full advantage with shutdown defense and sharpshooting offense en route to a 14-3 win on Saturday.