BETHLEHEM, Pa. - Senior Joe Cummings scored with six seconds left in the fourth to send the Maryland men’s lacrosse team to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals with a 10-9 victory at No. 7 seed Lehigh Sunday night in front of 2,278 at Banko Field at Ulrich Sports Complex.

The Terps (10-5) advance to the quarterfinals and will play No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins game on Sat., May 19 at noon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The Mountain Hawks finish their season with a 14-3 record.

Maryland got off to a quick start with redshirt sophomore Mike Chanenchuk finding senior Drew Snider in the left alley and Snider ripped a shot into the upper right corner with just 1:27 elapsed.

A goal by Lehigh’s David DiMaria was waived off at the 10:52 mark, but a pushing call on freshman Goran Murray put the Mountain Hawks up a man and Kyle Stiefel scored off of a feed from DiMaria to tie the game at 1-1 with 10:37 to go in the first.

That’s when junior Owen Blye took over the game, figuring into the Terps’ next five goals.

The first of those came on the extra-man opportunity following a tripping call on DiMaria. Blye found Cummings on the crease for the easy score with 9:12 to go to make it 2-1 for the Terps.

Blye scored his first goal of the game as the clock wound down in the first quarter, coming around the left side of the cage and scoring from the left wing with just 0:06 left on the clock.

The extra-man unit struck again for the first tally in the second as Blye found junior Billy Gribbin on the right wing and Gribbin ripped a shot past Lehigh goalie Matthew Poillon at the 9:11 mark to up the Terrapin lead to 4-1.

Blye was in the giving mood again less than two minutes later finding freshman Jay Carlson on the crease for his first score since April 6. But, the play wouldn’t have been made without Cummings moving the ball to Blye after slipping on the turf behind the cage.

The 5-0 Terrapin run was finished with Blye hitting senior Michael Shakespeare in the left alley and Shakespeare let a laser fly on the step-down shot to make it a 6-1 game with 5:52 to play.

But the Mountain Hawks would not go quietly into the half as DiMaria took advantage of a defensive switch that had him isolated with a short-stick and he scored unassisted from just above left goal line extended.

That goal snapped a scoreless stretch of 21:28 for Lehigh, but the Mountain Hawks turned that into the start of a 3-0 run to close out the second quarter as Stiefel scored twice before the quarter was out to make it a 6-4 game going into halftime.

Lehigh continued its run in the third, holding Maryland scoreless and putting up four of its own to take an 8-6 lead into the final 15:00.

The difference in the third was Poillon, who made six of his saves in the quarter to allow Lehigh to build its lead.

Snider ended a scoring skid of 22:26 for the Terps by finishing a feed inside from Chanenchuk with a high bouncer that just got under the crossbar to cut the lead to 8-7 with 13:26 to play in the fourth.

The Mountain Hawks didn’t let the Terps build any momentum as Dante Fantoni scored his first of the game to up the lead back to two at 9-7 just 32 seconds later.

Maryland continued to fight and Snider was a big reason why, scoring his third goal of the game on an unassisted goal dodging from the left wing to cut the deficit to one at the 8:03 mark.

The comeback was complete with 6:42 to go in the fourth when Chanenchuk scored unassisted from the right alley with a blistering shot inside the far pipe. That goal pulled the Terps even at 9-9, which was the first time the game was tied since the 13:07 mark of the third when it was 6-6.

Freshman Charlie Raffa, who won 10-of-14 faceoffs for the game, won the ensuing faceoff when a pile up resulted in a conference by the officials, who ended up ruling Terrapin ball on a hold by the Mountain Hawks.

That possession saw junior John Haus lose his defender and get a good look at the goal from close in on the left wing, but Poillon came up with his 15th save of the game.

Lehigh had the ball with a chance to retake the lead with 4:49 to play, but sophomore Michael Ehrhardt caused his third turnover of the game to give Maryland the ball back with 4:40 to play.

The Terrapins never gave Lehigh another possession.

Shots by Blye and Kevin Cooper early in the possession were too high, but Blye’s second attempt was Poillon’s 16th save of the game. However, Poillon couldn’t control the rebound and Snider came away with the biggest groundball of the game with just 1:26 remaining.

That set the stage for Cummmings’ heroics, as he patiently waited as the clock ticked down to under 20 seconds left before making his move, dodging around the right side of the cage and slipping the game-winner past Poillon with just six seconds left.

Raffa finished with a game-high five groundballs, while sophomore goalie Niko Amato was credited with six saves.

Game Notes:
• With today’s 10-9 win, Maryland is now 4-1 all-time vs. Lehigh.
• Maryland is now 14-3 all-time in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
• With two points on two goals, senior Joe Cummings now has 30 multi-point and 22 multi-goal games for his career.
• With two points on two goals, Cummings moves past Bud Beardmore (1960-62) for sole possession of 34th on the all-time points list at Maryland with 109.
• With three points on three goals, senior Drew Snider now has four hat tricks, 15 multi-point and 10 multi-goal games for his career.
• With five points on one goal and four assists, junior Owen Blye now has 20 multi-point and 11 multi-assist games for his career.
• With three points on one goal and two assists, redshirt sophomore Mike Chanenchuk now has four multi-point and one multi-assist games for his Maryland career.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Stevenson men’s lacrosse senior Nick Rossi (Lutherville, Md./Towson) and junior Tyler Reid (Clinton,
Conn./Xavier) each totaled five points as the fifth-ranked Mustangs advanced to their fourth consecutive national quarterfinals with a
13-6 victory over No. 20 Gettysburg Saturday at Mustang Stadium.

Stevenson (17-4) improved its record to 12-1 at home this season and 72-14 in eight seasons under head coach Paul Cantabene. The team is 7-3 in four appearances in the NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship, including 7-2 at home.

The Mustangs also raised their record to 96-2 all-time when allowing six goals or less.

As a result of Stevenson’s win and No. 8 Denison’s 10-5 road victory over No. 2 Lynchburg, the Mustangs will host the Big Red in the
quarterfinals of the 2012 NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship next Wednesday, May 16 at Mustang Stadium. Game time will be announced on Monday.

Rossi’s five points set a new career-high as he finished with a goal and career-best four assists while Reid, who had six points in
Wednesday’s first round win over Birmingham-Southern, added five more on Saturday with three goals and two assists.

In four career NCAA Tournament games, Reid has totaled 17 points on 14 goals an three assists. He is one goal and five points shy of the
school NCAA Tournament record. Steve Kazimer scored 22 points in six games while Richie Ford netted 15 goals in eight games.

Stevenson took a 6-2 halftime lead after outshooting the Bullets 23-10 and winning 9-of-10 faceoffs. The Mustangs outscored Gettysburg 5-0 in the second quarter and won all six faceoffs.

Gettysburg (11-7) would rally, scoring three of the first four goals of the second half to pull within 7-5 with 7:21 remaining in the third
quarter. However, that would be as close as it would get as the Stevenson scored six of the final seven goals, including two from
Reid, both of which were assisted by Rossi.

The Mustangs outscored the Bullets 4-1 in the fourth quarter, limiting them to just four shots.

The Stevenson defense was led by nine saves from senior Ian Bolland (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes) who improved his record to 37-7 as a starter, including 3-1 in the NCAA Tournament.

Junior Kyle Holechek (Reisterstown, Md./Loyola Blakefield) finished two caused turnovers and four ground balls while sophomore Warren Pumphrey (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) added three caused turnovers.

Freshman Sam Wyatt (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) won 15-of-22 face-offs and in two NCAA Tournament games, has won 25-of-35 for 71.4 percent. He won 10-of-12 in the first round versus Birmingham-Southern.

Robby Maddux led Gettysburg with three goals and one assist. Jon Maddalone was credited with 14 saves.

BALTIMORE – Top-seeded Loyola University Maryland scored 13-straight goals to start the second half, and the Greyhounds rolled to a 17-5 victory over visiting Canisius College in the NCAA Championships First Round on Saturday afternoon at Ridley Athletic Complex.

The Greyhounds (15-1) will play the winner of North Carolina-Denver on Saturday, May 19, in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Annapolis, Md.

Loyola led 4-0 at the end of the first quarter, but Canisius scored three unanswered in the second, pulling within a goal with 2:48 left in the first quarter on Jimmy Haney’s second goal in six minutes.

Mike Sawyer, however, scored the first of his game-high five goals 3:15 into the second half, sparking a 13-0 run that would see Loyola hold the Golden Griffins (6-8) scoreless until there were just under six minutesleft in the game.

‘”I want to give our guys a lot of credit for coming out in that second half with a sense of urgency,” Head Coach Charley Toomey said. “I think you’re going to need that in every quarter of this tournament. We hadCanisius take it to us for one quarter, but I think we’ll be ready going forward.”

Sawyer’s five goals lifted his season total to 50, tying the school single-season record by matching the 2000 total by Tim Goettelmann.

Eric Lusby also had five points, scoring three goals and assisting, while Justin Ward had a goal and two assists. Scott Ratliff scored twice, both in the first quarter, and had six ground balls.

Ratliff scored the game’s first goal off a Ward assist after Dylan Grimm caused a turnover, and the Greyhounds cleared the ball to theiroffensive zone.

Loyola tallied another transition goal at 9:59 to play when Pat Laconi fired a pass to Lusby on the right side of the crease, and Lusby got his first of the game.  Ratliff tallied his second 53 ticks of the clock later when he picked up a ground ball and went end-to-end to score and make Loyola’s lead 3-0.

Davis Butts then scored Loyola’s first settled goal of the game, dodging past a defender to score at 6:11.

The Golden Griffins, however, bounced back in the second quarter as they dominated possession and the scoring. Canisius won all fourfaceoffs in the frame, and Travis Gibbons scored at 13:01, and Jimmy Haney added a pair at 8:23 and 2:48 to close the gap to 4-3 at halftime.

Sawyer, however, scored 3:15 into the second half to begin the 13-0 run. Eric Lusby took a shot that was saved by Sean Callahan, but the ball bounced high in front of the crease, and Sawyer reached up for the ground ball and shot it past Callahan in one motion.

Just over four minutes later, he added his second of the game on a Nikko Pontrello assist, and Chris Layne caught a Lusby feed at 4:09, scoring to make Loyola’s lead 7-3.

Sawyer added his third on a Ward assist 20 seconds later, and Lusby scored when Pat Byrnes found him open on the right side at 1:05 to put Loyola ahead 9-3 at the end of the thir quarter.

Sawyer scored 80 ticks into the final frame when he played give-and-go with Sean O’Sullivan and scored from 10 yards out.

Ward then found himself scoring on an empty net at 12:31, and Lusby tallied his third of the game 40 seconds later. Sawyer scored with 11 minutes to play, making the lead 10, 13-3.

Butts tallied his second of the game at 9:07, and Will Fredericks scored on a Josh Hawkins assist to cap a transition run at 7:23.Tyler Foley then used a Fredericks feed to score his first career goal at 6:29.

Loyola used a 47-22 advantage in shots, and a 39-30 lead in ground balls. Canisius had a 15-12 lead in the category at the half, but the Greyhounds used a 10-8 advantage in the third and 17-7 in the fourth quarters.

In addition to Ratliff’s six, he also had three faceoff wins and two caused turnovers. He broke the Loyola season record for long-pole scoring, notching his 17^th and 18^th points of the year to top the 1995 mark of 16 points set by current Loyola assistant coach Matt Dwan.

Josh Hawkins had a season-best seven ground balls, and he also caused two turnovers. Grimm and Laconi each had two caused turnovers, as well.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The Maryland men’s lacrosse team will hit the road for its opening round game of the 2012 NCAA Tournament. The Terps will travel to Bethlehem, Pa., to take on No. 7 seed Lehigh. Faceoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the sold-out Ulrich Sports Complex, as the Terps (9-5) battle the Mountain Hawks (14-2) for the first time since 1928.

• The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU, as well as streamed on ESPN3.com. Fans can also watch the game on their wireless device with the WatchESPN app. Joe Beninati will provide the play-by-play, while the analysis will come from Ryan Boyle.

• The Terps, who received an at-large bid, are making their 35th NCAA Tournament appearance, the second most of any school in NCAA history, while Lehigh, which earned the Patriot League’s automatic bid, is making its first appearance in the NCAA tournament.

• The winner of the Maryland/Lehigh game will take on the winner of the No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins (11-3)/Stony Brook (7-9) game on Saturday, May 19 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. The Blue Jays and Seawolves play in Baltimore on Sunday, May 13 at 3 p.m.

• Maryland enters the tournament with a 9-5 record after finishing the regular season with a 13-11 loss at Colgate, which also earned an at-large bid into the field. The Terps are led by senior attackman Joe Cummings, who has 27 goals and 14 assists for 41 points. Junior midfielder John Haus is the team leader with 16 assists on the season. Maryland’s defense is led the co-ACC Defensive Player of the Year Jesse Bernhardt, who is tops on the squad with 53 groundballs and 29 caused turnovers. Sophomore goalie Niko Amato comes into the postseason with a 7.40 goals-against average and a .551 save percentage.

• Lehigh is 14-2 after defeating Colgate, 16-14, in the Patriot League title game. The Mountain Hawk offense is led by junior attackman Nicky Galasso, who has 44 points on 22 goals and 22 assists. Fellow junior attackman Dante Fantoni also has 22 goals on the season to go along with 19 assists. Lehigh boasts the nation’s No. 2 scoring defense. Freshman Matthew Poillon has started all 16 games in goal for the Mountain Hawks and ranks second in the nation with a 6.55 goals-against average and fourth in the country with a .595 save percentage.

The Count Down
10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 90 of the 99 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .909 winning percentage.
9 … Maryland is 108-24 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .818 winning percentage.
8 … Including preseason scrimmgaes, Maryland has played eight games this spring vs. teams in the NCAA tournament field.
7 … Joe Cummings leads all current Terps with seven goals in NCAA tournament play.
6 … Maryland and Lehigh are two of six teams in the NCAA tournament with a faceoff win percentage below .500.
5 … This will be the fifth all-time meeting between Maryland and Lehigh, but the first since 1928 when the two teams were nicknamed the Old Liners and Engineers, respectively.
4 … Niko Amato has a .642 save percentage in four career NCAA tournament games.
3 … This is the third time since 1997 that the Terps have been unseeded in the NCAA tournament.
2 … Two current Terps - Kevin Cooper and Drew Snider - have recorded a hat trick in an NCAA tournament game.
1 … Only one unseeded team (Maryland) advanced past the first round in the 2011 NCAA tournament.

Coaching Match-Up
• John Tillman is in his fifth season as a head coach, and second with the Terps, with a 42-29 career record for a 59.2 winning percentage. Tillman is 22-10 (.688) as Maryland’s head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.

• Lehigh’s Kevin Cassese is in his fifth season as a head coach, all at Lehigh, and has a 39-38 (.505) record.

• This will be Tillman’s first game as a head coach vs. the Mountain Hawks.

Tillman in the NCAA Tournament
• The meeting with Lehigh will be John Tillman’s fifth NCAA tournament game as a head coach.

• Maryland’s run to the 2011 NCAA title game gave Tillman his first four NCAA tournament games as a head coach. He has a 3-1 record after the Terps defeated No. 8 seed UNC in the first round on May 15, No. 1 seed Syracuse on May 22 and No. 5 seed Duke on May 28 before losing to No. 7 seed Virginia.

• As an assistant coach, Tillman helped guide Navy to four consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2004-07, including a run to the 2004 championship game.

Series History vs. Lehigh
• The series history between Maryland and Lehigh is more like ancient history, but the Terrapins lead the series 3-1.

• The series dates back to 1924 – the very first varsity season of men’s lacrosse at Maryland. Lehigh is one of just four teams to win the first game of a series with Maryland, winning 3-0 in 1924.

• The two teams played in 1925 and 1926 with Maryland winning both games, 5-3 and 7-3, respectively. The last time the two schools met was 1928 and Maryland took that one by a final of 15-2.

• The last time these two programs met neither school had the nickname it currently has. Until the early 1930′s Maryland’s athletic teams were the Old Liners, while Lehigh changes its nickname from the Engineers to the Mountain Hawks in 1995.

Maryland’s 35th Time in the NCAA Tournament
All-Time NCAA Tournament Results

• Maryland is making its 35th overall NCAA Tournament appearance in 2012. The Terps have played in the second-most tournaments since the event began in 1971. Only Hopkins has played in more, making its 41st appearance this season. Virginia is also making its 35th NCAA appearance.

• The Terps have captured two NCAA championships, 1973 and 1975.

Maryland’s Record in the NCAA Tournament
• The Terps have won the fourth-most Division I NCAA Tournament games, compiling a 45-32 overall record in 77 games. Only Johns Hopkins (66-31), Syracuse (59-20) and Virginia (47-29) have won more Division I tournament games.

• Maryland is seventh by percentage (.584) among all teams ever to play in the tournament. Only Syracuse (59-20, .747), Princeton (30-13, .698), Johns Hopkins (66-31, .680), Virginia (47-29, .618), Duke (22-14, .611) and Cornell (30-21, .588) are ahead of the Terps.

• The Terps have captured two titles. Only seven other schools have ever won the NCAA Championship: Syracuse (10), Johns Hopkins (9), Princeton (6), North Carolina (4), Virginia (5), Cornell (3) and Duke (1).

Maryland Unseeded in the NCAA Tournament
• This season marks the sixth time that Maryland has been unseeded since the tournament began in 1972. The Terps were previously unseeded in 1993, 1994, 1997, 2009 and 2011.

• In those first two unseeded-years Maryland lost its first round game to the No. 8-seeded team, which were Army and Duke, respectively.

• The Terrapins were much more successful in 1997, advancing to the NCAA championship game. Maryland defeated No. 7-seed Georgetown in the first round before knocking off No. 2 Virginia in the quarters. In the 1997 Final Four Maryland upset No. 3 Syracuse, but couldn’t topple No. 1-seed Princeton in the finals.

• The 2009 Terps were the lone unseeded team to win a first round game, knocking off previously unbeaten Notre Dame, 7-3. The Terps lost to eventual national champion Syracuse in the quarterfinals.

• Last season saw the Terps head into the tournament unseeded, but Maryland advanced to the NCAA title game, knocking off No. 8 seed North Carolina in the first round, No. 1 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinals and No. 5 seed Duke in the semifinals. The Terrapins’ run ended with a 9-7 loss to No. 7 seed Virginia in the championship game.

The Terps vs. the No. 7 Seed
• This marks the 10th time that Maryland has faced the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. Maryland is 6-3 all-time when playing the No. 7 seed.

• The Terps previously played the No. 7 seed in 1975, 1979, 1996, 1997, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2009 and 2001. En route to its second NCAA title, the 1975 Terps toppled No. 7 Washington & Lee, 15-5, in the semifinals. The 1979 Maryland team opened the tournament vs. No. 7 Syracuse and beat the Orangemen 16-13. After losing in the 1996 quarters to No. 7 Johns Hopkins, an unseeded Terrapin squad took down No. 7 Georgetown, 14-10, in the first round. Maryland dropped a quarterfinal game to No. 7 Princeton in overtime in 2004, but had some measure of closure in 2005 when the Terps beat No. 7 Georgetown in overtime in the quarterfinals. Maryland was the No. 2 seed in 2006 and again matched up with No. 7 Princeton. This time it was the Terps heading to the Final Four as they defeated the Tigers 11-6. Maryland was the lone unseeded team to advance past the first round in 2009, topping previously unbeaten Notre Dame, 7-3, in South Bend, Ind. Last season, the Terps were also unseeded when they played No. 7 seed Virginia in the NCAA title game, but were unable to overcome the Cavaliers, who pulled out a 9-7 victory in Baltimore.

The Terps On ESPNU
• Maryland has had 42 games on ESPNU since 2006. Maryland is 23-19 (.548) all-time in games broadcast on ESPNU.

• The Terps will have at least four games (at UNC, vs. Virginia, at Johns Hopkis, at ACC tournament) Maryland will play on ESPNU in 2012.

Cummings Named Male Athlete of the Year at the Inaugural Terp Awards
• Senior Joe Cummings took home the top honor at the inaugural Terp Awards celebration on Tuesday, May 8, being selected as the 2012 Male Athlete of the Year. The Towson, Md., native was also recognized by the ACC for his community service efforts.

• Junior Owen Blye was the recipient of the men’s lacrosse Academic Achievement Award, which is presented to the junior or senior from each team with the highest cumulative GPA.

• Senior Jake Bernhardt may have been sidelined from the field this season due to injury, but that didn’t stop him from contributing in the community and he was honored with the men’s lacrosse Community Service Award.

Bernhardt, Murray Earn Annual ACC Awards
• Junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and freshman defender Goran Murray were among the five student-athletes recognized as recipients of the annual ACC men’s lacrosse individual awards, the conference announced Tuesday.

• Bernhardt, a native of Longwood, Fla., shares the inaugural ACC Defensive Player of the Year award with Duke’s CJ Costabile. Bernhardt, who is also a 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, leads the Terps with 22 caused turnovers and leads the conference with 2.0 caused turnovers per game. He is also averaging 3.3 groundballs per game and is the captain of a Maryland defense that currently ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.45 goals per game.

• Murray, a native of Merion Station, Pa., becomes the seventh Terp to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year. He is the first since 2007 when Brian Phipps earned the honor and the first Maryland defender since Michael Howley won the honor. Murray was a long-pole midfielder coming into preseason practice, but was converted to close defense and has become Maryland’s shutdown defender. Murray has started all 11 games for the Terps and became the first freshman close defender to start a season opener since 2008. He currently ranks sixth in the conference with 1.1 caused turnovers per game.

• Virginia senior Steele Stanwick earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while Duke’s John Danowski was named the ACC Coach of the Year.

League-Best Four Terps Named To All-ACC Team
• Maryland placed a league-high four players on the 2012 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team, which was announced today by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Senior attackman Joe Cummings and sophomore goalie Niko Amato made the team for the second-straight season, while junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and junior midfielder John Haus are first-time selections.

• All four ACC men’s programs are represented on the annual All-ACC team, which was determined by a vote of the four head coaches. Maryland’s four honorees were the most by any school. Duke and Virginia each had three selections, while North Carolina had one player make the team.

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland will host a NCAA Championships First Round game on Saturday, May 12, 2012, as the top seed in the 2012 Championships. The Greyhounds welcome Canisius College to Ridley Athletic Complex for a 5 o’clock game.

The winner of the Loyola-Canisius game will meet the winner of North Carolina and Denver on Saturday, May 19, 2012, in Annapolis, Md.

On The Tube And Web

The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU with Mike Corey and Mark Dixon calling the action.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN.

Series History

Loyola and Canisius will meet for the first time in men’s lacrosse when they take the field on Saturday, however, the schools are very familiar with one another.

Canisius hails from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, which is the primary conference for Loyola’s athletic teams other than men’s and women’s lacrosse.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 8-19 all-time, 8-17 in Division I Championships games.

The Greyhounds’ last appearance in the Championships came in 2010 when they lost, 11-10, in triple overtime at Cornell.

Loyola last hosted an NCAA game in 2000 when Notre Dame defeated the Greyhounds, 15-12, on what was then known as Curley Field (now Diane Geppi-Aikens Field). Loyola’s last playoff win was a 12-11 triumph over Georgetown in 1998 that sent the team to the Final Four where it eventually bowed out to Maryland.

Top Spot

Loyola enters the NCAA Championships as the No. 1 seed for the third time in school history. The Greyhounds were also the top seed in 1998 when they defeated Georgetown, 12-11, in the Quarterfinals to move on to the Final Four for the second time in school history. There, the Greyhounds lost, 19-8, to Maryland. They were then the No. 1 seed in 1999 when they fell in the Quarterfinals to Syracuse, 17-12.

School Record In Wins

Loyola’s victory over Fairfield in the ECAC Championship Game was its 14th of the season, setting a school record for victories in a year. The Greyhounds eclipsed the previous best of 13 that the 1998 squad achieved with a 13-2 record.

This is Loyola’s 15th season all-time with 10 or more wins with 12 coming since the Greyhounds joined Division I in 1982.

In The Polls

Loyola moved up to No. 2 in both the USILA Coaches and Inside Lacrosse Media Polls following their ECAC Championship. The Greyhounds were ranked No. 1 for two weeks before losing their only game of the season on April 28 to Johns Hopkins.

The Greyhounds finished the regular-season with the No. 1 RPI in the NCAA, as well.

Canisius is not ranked in the media version and receiving votes in the coaches poll.

The Hardware Department

In the span of seven days, three teams in Loyola’s Department of Athletics advanced to their respective NCAA Championships by winning titles in three different conferences.

The men’s golf team started the trend with its fifth-straight Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference crown on April 29, and the men’s lacrosse team followed by taking the ECAC title on May 4. The women’s lacrosse team completed the trifecta on May 5 when it defeated then-No. 2 Syracuse to win its second-straight BIG EAST Championship.

Balanced Scoring In ECAC Championships

Loyola traveled to Denver for the 2012 ECAC Lacrosse League Championships and left the Mile-High City with a 97-pound trophy (no, really). The Greyhounds, who earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament and finished the regular-season 6-0 in the league, beat host and No. 4 seed Denver, 14-13, in overtime to advance to the final. There, Loyola topped Fairfield, 14-7.

Fifteen different Greyhounds scored goals in the two games with 11 tallying goals in the semifinal and 10 in the title game. Mike Sawyer led the team with four goals in the two games, a trio coming in the final, while Eric Lusby, Chris Layne and Scott Ratliff each had three.

Justin Ward led the Greyhounds with eight total points, dishing out three assists in the semifinal and three along with two goals in the championship.

Two players scored their first collegiate goals in the games, one in each contest. Kevin Ryan tallied a first-quarter goal on a man-up possession against Denver, and Brian Schultz recorded his first in the fourth quarter versus Fairfield.

A Lot Of Everything

The adage that a player does a little bit of everything does not necessarily apply to long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. The Loyola junior does a lot, as he leads the team in ground balls (68) and caused turnovers (32), is tied for sixth in goals (9) and is seventh in assists (7).

A Tewaaraton Award semifinalist, Ratliff was named the Most Outstanding Player of the ECAC Championships after scoring three goals, one a game-winner, and recording two assists and 16 ground balls.

He had two goals, including the winner just eight seconds into overtime, and an assist versus Denver while picking up a career-high nine ground balls.

From Way Downtown

Reid Acton created his own SportsCenter highlight in the ECAC Championship Game, earning Friday night’s Top Play on ESPN. After goalkeeper Jack Runkel made a save on Fairfield’s Marshall Johnson with less than 10 seconds to play.

Runkel passed it to Acton on his right side, Acton took a step forward and launched the ball 75 yards to the other side of the field. It settled over the stick of Stags goalkeeper Charlie Cipriano to put the Greyhounds up 5-3 with one tick left on the first-quarter clock.

Acton’s goal started a 8-1 Loyola run that spanned three quarters and put the game out of reach. The goal was the second of Acton’s career – he also scored against Mount St. Mary’s last season – and Runkel was credited with his first career assist.

50 Points, 40 Goals

Mike Sawyer scored four goals on April 21 at Hobart to reach the 40-goal mark in 13 games, and he current sits at 45 after tallying his 10th hat trick of the season in the ECAC Championship Game against Fairfield. Against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000.

His one goal in the ECAC Semifinal versus Denver pushed his season point total to 50, a number that is now at 53, making him the first Greyhound to reach 50 in a season since Prout had 58 (37 g, 21a) in 2001. It is the fourth time this century that a Loyola player has scored 50 or more points in a season. Goettelmann (65) and Prout (53) both reached the mark in 2000, and Prout did it again the following season. With his next point, Sawyer’s teammate Eric Lusby will record his 50th of the season.

In addition to being just the third Loyola player to score 40-plus this century, Sawyer is the seventh Greyhound to reach the mark since Loyola moved to NCAA Division I status in 1982.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the ECAC Lacrosse League this year and one of the most balanced in the nation. The duo has combined for 82 goals in 15 games this season, an average of 5.5 per game.

Sawyer has scored 45 goals, and his 3.0 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 37 goals and a 2.47 goals per game mark, a number that is tied for 16th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 16 of goals per game nationally.

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 37 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

With Lusby’s next point, the duo will also be the first tandem to score 50 or more points in a season since Goettelmann and Prout in 2000.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his second multi-goal game of the season in the ECAC Semifinal Game against Denver, and he tallied a goal and an assist in the title game, raising his season totals to nine goals and seven assists.

With his second-quarter assist against Fairfield, he tied the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, matching the record of 16 points set by current assistant coach Matt Dwan his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists and earned All-America honors.

Ratliff, a Tewaaraton Award semifinalist along with teammate Mike Sawyer, is second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his seven assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

Spreading Out The Scoring Wealth

Loyola’s first 11 goals on Wednesday night were scored by 11 different players. Eric Lusby, Phil Dobson and Scott Ratliff finished the game with two goals, and eight others had one.

All three members of the Greyhounds’ first midfield – Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan – scored goals. They received four goals from the four players who make up the second midfield line – Dobson (2), Pat Byrnes and Nikko Pontrello (J.P. Dalton did not score). Extra-man attackman Kevin Ryan scored, and two of the team’s three attackmen – Mike Sawyer and Lusby (2) – recorded goals. Ratliff scored twice in transition, and short-stick defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins added one. The Greyhounds’ other attack player, Justin Ward, did not score but had a game-high three assists.

In the title game, 10 different players scored for Loyola with all three attackers scoring and two of three from the first midfield like tallying goals.

Scoring From Different Places

Kevin Ryan scored his first career goal on Wednesday night, taking a Justin Ward pass form behind the crease and one-timing a shot into the net. Ryan did not play as a freshman in 2011 but has seen action in 12 games this year from the midfield and on extra-man possessions.

Nikko Pontrello added his third goal of the season and second versus the Pioneers. He also had the game-tying goal in the third quarter of the regular-season match-up that started Loyola’s 5-1 run to close the victory.

Phil Dobson recorded his second career multi-goal game, both coming against top-flight competition. He recorded a pair earlier this season against ACC Champ Duke.

Josh Hawkins added a man-up goal after Mike Sawyer caused a turnover and Justin Ward picked up the ground ball and fed Hawkins. The goal was Hawkins’ fifth of the year, and he also had his first assist of the season on a first-quarter Scott Ratliff goal.

Twelve In A Row Ties Mark

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (March 14-May 17) and 1999 (March 6-May 8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Back-To-Back OTs

It took Loyola 30 years of NCAA Division I play (the Greyhounds moved into the division in 1982) to play back-to-back overtime games, but now it has experienced the pleasure twice in two years.

Last year, Loyola defeated Fairfield, 7-6, in overtime on April 9, and it then won 6-5 in four extra periods at Georgetown on April 17, marking the first time it had played back-to-back overtime games since joining Division I.

The Greyhounds have now played two-straight overtime games, losing on April 28 at home to Johns Hopkins and defeating Denver five days later.

Ratliff Named ECAC Defender Of The Year

Junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, marking the second time in four years a Greyhounds’ long pole has received the award. P.T. Ricci earned the honor in 2009, as well.

Ratliff leads the ECAC with 32 caused turnovers (2.13 per game) and is eighth nationally in that category, and he is tops on the Greyhounds with 68 ground balls (4.5 per contest).

The native of Marietta, Ga., also has scored nine goals and has seven assists this year, keying the Greyhounds’ transition game on many occasions. He earned ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week twice during the year and was the Defensive Player of the Week early in the season.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey guided the Greyhounds to a 14-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

Earlier this season, Toomey won the 50th game of his coaching career, becoming the fourth coach in Loyola history to win 50 or more – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001), Charles Wenzel (62-104, 1954-1970), Jay Connor (61-46, 1975-1982).  Toomey’s .611 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

All-ECAC Honors

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches last Monday. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and is now third nationally, in goals (45) and goals per game (3.0). Butts has scored 16 goals and assisted on 12 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 36 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and is 16th nationally with 37 goals (2.47 per game), and he also has 12 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 28 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers entering the NCAA Tournament.

Ratliff, Sawyer Named Tewaaraton Semifinalists

Juniors Scott Ratliff and Mike Sawyer were named to the Tewaaraton Award semifinal list as the game’s top players, making Loyola one of five schools – joining Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Massachusetts and Virginia – to have two players make the 25-man list.

Loyola is also one of six schools to have at least one male and one female semifinalist, as sophomore Marlee Paton made the women’s list from Loyola. The winners of both awards will be selected on May 31, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 15 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 30 occasions this season.

Loyola used four three-goal runs against Duke, including one three-goal streak that put Loyola up 4-1 at the beginning of the second quarter. The Greyhounds never trailed after that initial three-goal run and extended their lead to 13-5 after its fourth three-goal spurt of the game.

The Greyhounds had their longest run in almost two years against Air Force, scoring 10 in a row to open the second half. The last time Loyola scored 10 or more in a row was on March 20, 2010, when it had 14 straight against Air Force.

At Fairfield, Loyola scored the final four goals of the game to rally from a 6-4 deficit to win 8-6. The Greyhounds then scored four in a row during the third and fourth quarters at Denver that brought them from down 8-7 to a 12-9 victory.

Versus Johns Hopkins, the Greyhounds scored four in a row, holding the Blue Jays scoreless for the last 14:13 of regulation, to tie the game at 9-9, sending it to overtime.

Loyola scored the first four goals of the ECAC Semifinal game against Denver and then tallied three-straight after the Pioneers pulled within 4-2. The Greyhounds then reeled off five in a row during the third quarter to take a 13-6 lead.

In the ECAC title game, Loyola used an 8-1 run that was comprised of runs of 3-0 and 5-0 to take control of the game.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just nine times this year, with the most recent coming when Denver scored three on two occasions. Only Denver (seven), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Following six of the nine opponent runs of three or more, Loyola has answered in kind with a run of 4-0 or better.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 50-percent of the time. Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year.

The last time Loyola finished at or above .500 in man-up offense was in 1997 when it converted 39-of-77 (.506).

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 55-20 in the third quarters of games and 100-54 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.

Record At Ridley

After going 4-1 at Ridley Athletic Complex last season, the Greyhounds opened this season with six in a row at home before falling to Johns Hopkins. Loyola is now 14-4 all-time at Ridley.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Stevenson men’s lacrosse junior Tyler Reid (Clinton, Conn./Xavier) tied a career-high with five goals while
adding one assist for six points, one shy of his career-high, as the fourth-ranked Mustangs began their fourth NCAA Division III Men’s
Lacrosse Championship with a 13-2 win over Birmingham-Southern in the first round Wednesday at Mustang Stadium.

Stevenson (16-4) won their sixth NCAA tournament game with all six victories coming at home where they have posted a 6-1 record.

After Erik Klein scored his team-leading 62nd goal of the season with 12:33 left in the first quarter to give the Panthers an early 1-0
lead, the Mustangs scored the next 10-straight, including four from Reid, as they built a 10-1 advantage with 7:27 left in the third quarter.

Two of Reid’s goals came with on the man-up where Stevenson was 4-for-10 for the game. Three of the Mustangs’ final four goals came
with a man-advantage. After going 0-for-3 on the extra-man in the first quarter, Stevenson scored on four of its final seven extra-man
opportunities.

The Mustangs also did well at the face-off dot, winning 13-of-18 with freshman Sam Wyatt (Brentwood, Tenn./Brentwood) winning 10-of-13. He also had seven ground balls.

Freshman Billy Burgoyne (Boonton Township, N.J./Mountain Lakes) also had a career-high, totaling three points with two goals and one assist.  Sophomore J.P. Coombe (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) also had two goals while sophomore Chris Dashiell (Salisbury, Md./Parkside) and senior Kenny Whittaker (Dundalk, Md./Archbishop Curley) each had one goal and one assist.

Meanwhile, the Stevenson defense was led by 10 saves from senior Ian Bolland (Mountain Lakes, N.J./Mountain Lakes) while juniors Kyle Holechek (Reisterstown, Md./Loyola Blakefield) and Kyle Fendlay (Westminster, Md./Winters Mill) each had three caused turnovers.

Jacob McPherson finished with one goal and one assist for Birmingham-Southern who was making its first-ever appearance in the
NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship in just its fourth season as a program. Andrew Huffman was credited with 15 saves.

The Mustangs host Gettysburg in the second round on Saturday. Game time will be announced on Thursday. The Bullets lead the overall
series with Stevenson 2-1 with the last meeting coming in the semifinals of the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Lacrosse Championship
with Gettysburg prevailing on the road, 12-7.

TIGERS TO HOST PENN STATE IN NCAA TOURNAMENT

Towson to Host NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history 

TOWSON, Md. – The Colonial Athletic Association Champion Towson University women’s lacrosse team will host Penn State University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will be played on Saturday, May 12 at 3 p.m. in Johnny Unitas Stadium.

The Tigers (16-3), who will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time since 2005, will be hosting an NCAA Tournament game for the first time in program history.

“Obviously this is super exciting for us and the program,” said Towson coach Sonia LaMonica. “To have a chance to play at home where we have had success this season is great for the team.”

Towson will face a familiar opponent in the first round as the Nittany Lions (11-6) are coached by Missy Doherty. Doherty coached the Tigers for seven seasons before heading to Penn State prior to the start of the 2011 season. She had a 79-46 record in Towson and won three CAA Championships and made four NCAA Tournament appearances with the Tigers.

The Tigers, who earned the eighth seed for the Tournament, won their program record 10th straight game on Saturday night with a 15-5 victory over Monmouth in the NCAA Play-In game.  Sophomore attacker Andi Raymond is one of seven Tigers to have scored at least 15 goals this season. Raymond has 66 points this season on 33 goals and 33 assists. Fellow sophomore attacker Ashleigh Rohrback has contributed 26 goals and 22 assists. Senior goalkeeper Mary Teeters leads the team with an 8.13 goals against average and a .513 save percentage.

 “Penn State is a good team that had some quality wins this season,” said Coach LaMonica. “The chance to get to face Missy (Doherty) will add a special aspect to this game for us.”

Penn State earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament after falling to Johns Hopkins, 13-12 in the first round of the American Lacrosse Conference Tournament. Mackenzie Cyr and Maggie McCormick lead the Nittany Lions with 55 points each this season. Cyr has 33 goals and 22 assists while McCormick has contributed 28 goals and 27 assists. Dana Cahill had a 9.93 goals against average and a .491 save percentage.