By Michael Brooks

Special to the Sentinel

The Urbana Hawks suffered their first loss of the 2008 lacrosse season Tuesday to now-No. 1 ranked Georgetown Prep, 16-7.

Prep benefited from almost constant shooting and a tenacious offense. Brian Casey and Billy Gribbin each managed three goals, while Henry Van Wagenberg, Sean Taylor and Kevin McCormick contributed two.

While Urbana struggled to put points on the board throughout the game, the team never backed down in the face of Prep. Matt Thomas kept the team alive, winning face-offs and helping his teammates maintain possession. Senior Ryan Dutton-O'Hara was Urbana's top scorer, with three goals.

Urbana did manage to outscore Prep in the fourth quarter, but by then the damage was already done. The loss puts the team at 12-1.

Urbana is the first seed in the Maryland 4A/3A region and has a first round bye and will face the winner of the Magruder-Linganore game. That game is scheduled for Thursday night at 7 p.m.

Meanwhile, Prep will play their first game in the Interstate Athletic Conference tournament Saturday.

Prep (18-2) 4-6-5-1 -16

Urbana (12-1) 1-1-2-3 -7

P - B. Casey 3, B. Gribben 3, H. Van Wagenberg 2, S. Taylor 2, K. McCormick 2, P. Cotter, N. Perfido, M. Coppola, P. Mangold.

U - R. Dutton-O'Hara 3, B. Oster 2, R. Dadd, B. Bing.

Photo by Bill Wyckoff