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He’s played on a pair of Big East tournament champions, helping Georgetown end a postseason drought of more than a decade.

Last year, he emphatically made it clear the Hoyas would not fade from relevance after former Georgetown star Daniel Bucaro’s graduation, piling up 23 goals and 11 assists in just six games.

Once again, Georgetown will revolve around attackman Jake Carraway, who is back for a fifth season and a push for an extensive legacy on the Hilltop.

“I think he’s still one of the most underrated players in the country,” Georgetown coach Kevin Warne said. “I personally think he’s fantastic, and people might have different opinions, but he doesn’t get the respect he deserves. Being a captain, being our hardest worker, and as a fifth-year guy, he sees the light at the end of the tunnel with his career and has done a really good job in the leadership category.”

It’s understandable why the energetic Warne has an affinity for the equally intense Carraway, who put his entry into the workforce on pause for a year and enrolled in a master’s program in management. Not only do they have some similarities — Carraway has been a part of the best moments of Warne’s tenure while also understanding things haven’t always been so rosy for the Hoyas.

Georgetown went 4-10 in 2017, Carraway’s freshman year, before earning Big East titles the following two years. The Hoyas were off to a 6-0 start in 2020, with a barometer game against North Carolina just a couple days away when the pandemic shut down the season.

While Georgetown didn’t practice in the fall, it’s clear its offense will go through Carraway this spring. He enters the season third in school history with 214 points, behind only Greg McCavera (236) and Bucaro (226). His 144 goals is tied for second all-time with Scott Urick, nine shy of Bucaro’s career mark.

“He is dialed in,” Warne said. “Jake is one of the most competitive kids I’ve ever coached. He’s the guy at practice you have to calm down. He goes 100 miles an hour. As coaches say, he sets the thermostat on the field.”

It helps to have most of last year’s key offensive cogs back in the fold, including junior Dylan Watson (23 goals) and sophomore Graham Bundy Jr. (eight goals and five assists in four games).

But for Georgetown to collect another NCAA tournament berth and perhaps advance beyond the first round, Carraway figures to play a prominent role as he navigates his second senior season.

“He wants to leave his legacy,” Warne said. “There is no question he’ll be our hardest worker. He’ll set the tone from day one knowing he has around five months left in his college career.”

TOP RETURNERS

Jake Carraway, A, Grad.

The straw that stirs the Hoyas’ drink, Carraway is back for a fifth season and will leave his name scattered across the program’s record book as Georgetown’s offensive centerpiece for the second year in a row.

Owen McElroy, G, Sr.

A year after losing his starting gig in May as the Hoyas pushed their way into the postseason, McElroy rebounded to lead the country in save percentage (.630) and goals-against average (6.21).

Gibson Smith, D, Sr.

The anchor of Georgetown’s defense has started 40 of the 41 games the Hoyas have played since he arrived on campus, missing only last year’s opener. He had 25 ground balls in five games as a junior, and in 2019, became the only non-faceoff specialist in school history to scoop up 100 ground balls.

KEY ADDITION

Nicky Petkevich, A/M, Gr.

The Bethesda, Md., native will wrap up his college career close to home after scoring 50 goals and adding 37 assists as a four-year starter at Colgate.

ENEMY LINES

“Georgetown is now an established top 5-6-7-8 power. They’ll be a little different the first couple of weeks. If the first couple of weeks happen, they’ll be different. But they are ultra-talented. They have some fifth-year guys, and they just are so well-coached. They recruit great. They’re always ready at the end of the season. They are now one of the established programs in our game.”

“Tewaaraton kid in Carraway. Probably the strength of their team is at the attack, with him leading the charge there. A lot of people were saying, ‘What are they going to be like without Bucaro?’ But I think they kind of settled into their own, and they have a really talented group at attack. A lot of people are giving them props for the season they had last year. Personally, I want to see them play somebody in the ACC or the Big Ten. They made a decision a couple years ago to change their schedule a little bit, and I’m happy for them because it’s worked. They’ve started to gain some notoriety by putting Ws on top of each other.”

NUMBERS GAME

.689

James Reilly had a .689 faceoff percentage last season, ranking fourth in Division I. Reilly improved from a .492 faceoff percentage as a freshman in 2019, when he set the school record for faceoff attempts in a season (419).