Game Data

Loyola University Maryland will play its first outside competition of the Spring 2013 season when it takes on the U.S. National Team in the Champion Challenge in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

The game is slated for a 11 a.m. faceoff from the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at DisneyWorld.

Watch The Action

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3, the broadband arm of ESPN, with Mark Dixon (play-by-play) and Quint Kessenich (color) calling the action. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline analyst.

In addition to the live broadcast on ESPN3, the game will air twice in a tape-delayed basis on ESPNU. Those broadcasts will take place at Monday, January 28, at 12 a.m. and 2:30 p.m.

Champion Challenge

The Greyhounds will take part in the 8th-annual Champion Challenge, an event hosted by USLacrosse in the Orlando area. The U.S. Men’s National Team will take on Loyola, as well as Notre Dame, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at DisneyWorld. Additionally, the U.S. Women’s National Team will play Northwestern and Syracuse.

Exhibition Action

The game against the U.S. National Team will be the first of three exhibition games the Greyhounds will play prior to opening the 2013 regular season.

Loyola will travel to Chapel Hill, N.C., for a Friday, February 2, game at North Carolina, and the Greyhounds will host Harvard on Saturday, February 9, at Ridley Athletic Complex.

Television Dates Announced

In addition to Loyola’s exhibition game against the U.S. National Team, three Greyhound games will be broadcast this season.

Last week, the Greyhounds announced its home opener against Maryland on Saturday, February 23, will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network, the first non-event based men’s lacrosse game the network will air.

The game against Air Force in the Inside Lacrosse/Whitman’s Sampler Mile-HIgh Classic on Saturday, March 16, will air on ESPN3, and the Greyhounds’ Saturday, April 27, game at Johns Hopkins will air on ESPNU.

Well-Represented In MLL Draft

Five members of the Loyola men’s lacrosse team were selected in the top 26 of the January 11 Major League Lacrosse draft. The Greyhounds tied Virginia for the most draft picks in the selection process.

Josh Hawkins and Mike Sawyer were both taken in the first round, going fifth and eighth overall to the Hamilton Nationals and Charlotte Hounds, respectively.

Scott Ratliff was the first pick of the second round, going ninth to the Boston Cannons, and Davis Butts was taken early in the third round, 19th overall to the Denver Outlaws.

Joining Hawkins in Hamilton will be Reid Acton, the team’s fourth round pick, 26th overall.

Sawyer will be joined in Charlotte by former teammate Eric Lusby who was the top waiver pick after the NCAA season ended in early June. After missing the majority of the MLL season with an injury, the NCAA Championships Most Outstanding Player made his MLL debut on July 28 at Long Island and scored a goal. He then tallied three goals  in an August 11 win over Rochester.

Newtown Youth Clinic

Fourteen members of the Loyola men’s lacrosse team took time from their holiday vacation to travel to Newtown, Conn., for a clinic with the Newtown Lacrosse Association.

Led by freshman Jason Crane, the Greyhounds worked with more than 100 elementary and junior-high school-age players, many of whom attended Sandy Hook Elementary School where the shooting that killed 26 took place in December.

First NCAA Championship

Loyola won its first NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship, and the school’s first NCAA Division I title in any sport, on May 28 in Foxborough, Mass. The Greyhounds defeated Maryland, 9-3 in the title game, capping a season in which the Greyhounds tied an NCAA record with 18 victories.

Defense Wins Championships

The Greyhounds set a pair of records during their final two games of the 2012 season. Loyola held Maryland to just three goals, a title game record, and combined with allowing only five goals to Notre Dame in the semifinal, the Greyhounds set a Championship Weekend record for fewest yielded.

Returning From 2012

Head Coach Charley Toomey returns eight starters and 34 letterwinners from the 2012 Loyola team that won the NCAA Championship.

Back among the starters are attackmen Mike Sawyer and Justin Ward, first-line midfielders Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan, defenders Reid Acton and Joe Fletcher and goalkeeper Jack Runkel.

The Greyhounds also return their top long-stick midfielder, Scott Ratliff, and their top three short-stick midfielders, Kyle Duffy, Josh Hawkins and Pat Laconi. A pair of second-line midfielders, Phil Dobson and Nikko Pontrello, also return.

The Ranks Of Alumni

Two Loyola starters and six players who played key roles on the NCAA Championship team have departed from a year ago.

Eric Lusby, who was the NCAA Championships Most Outstanding Player and finished 2012 with a school-record 54 goals, has departed from the attack, while defender Dylan Grimm, who had 42 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers, also graduated.

J.P. Dalton, who along with Lusby, Grimm and current senior Scott Ratliff, were team co-captains last year, took more than 92-percent of the team’s faceoffs last season. He was also drafted in the MLL Supplemental Draft by the Chesapeake Bayhawks in December

Pat Byrnes scored 10 goals and assisted on seven from Loyola’s second midfield. Kevin Moriarty was the team’s No. 2 long-stick midfielder, and Alex Yackery was in the defensive rotation.

Preseason Accolades

Six Loyola players were named to the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America teams: defender Joe Fletcher and short-stick midfielder Josh Hawkins (first team); attackman Mike Sawyer and long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff (second); midfielder Davis Butts (third); and, defender Reid Acton (honorable mention).

All six earned All-America honors last season with Sawyer earned Second Team honors and Ratliff was named to the Third Team. Acton, Butts, Fletcher and Acton earned Honorable Mention along with graduate student Eric Lusby.

In his first year as a starter, Fletcher was named to the NCAA and ECAC Championships All-Tournament Teams and earned a reputation as one of the top defenders in the nation. In 19 games as a sophomore, Fletcher caused 26 turnovers, second most on the team, and had 41 ground balls.

Hawkins has continued to be one of the top defensive midfielders in the nation and garnered considerable respect nationally for his play during the NCAA Championships. He earned NCAA All-Tournament honors and helped the Greyhounds limit Notre Dame and Maryland to a combined eight goals on Championships weekend. In addition to his six goals and two assists in 15 games last year, Hawkins was second on the team with 63 ground balls.

Sawyer was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player last season when he scored 52 goals and assisted on 10 more and was named the team’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. During the regular-season, he led the ECAC in goals and goals per game while earning All-ECAC First Team honors. He became the second player to score 50 or more goals in a season and was joined by a third on last year’s team.

Ratliff continued to be one of the top long-stick midfielders in the nation and set a Loyola scoring record for the position last year. He finished with 12 goals and seven assists, exceeding current Loyola Assistant Coach Matt Dwan’s previous record for a long-stick midfielder set in 1995. In addition to his scoring, he tallied 88 ground balls and 37 caused turnovers while earning ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, ECAC Championships Most Valuable Player, NCAA All-Tournament Team and team co-defenisve player of the year honors.

Butts was a first-line midfielder for the Greyhounds for the second year in a row. He excelled as a dodger and finisher and ranked fourth on the team in points (35) and third in goals scored (21). A versatile player, Butts also saw plenty of action on the wings of faceoffs and in the defensive midfield where he picked up 40 ground balls.

Acton will enter 2013 having started on the Greyhounds’ defense each of the last three years. He finished the 2012 season with 44 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers, while helping Loyola record a 7.21 goals allowed per game average, the fifth-best mark in Division I. The Greyhounds set a pair of defensive records during Championship Weekend, holding Notre Dame and Maryland to a combined eight goals in the two games and allowing the Terrapins just three in the title match.

Team Captains Named

Four seniors were named team captains for the 2013 season. Scott Ratliff returns as a captain from last year, and he is joined by Reid Acton, Davis Butts and Mike Sawyer.

Between The Pipes

Loyola goalkeeper Jack Runkel set a career-high in the NCAA Semifinals with 15 saves against Notre Dame, setting a career-high. He narrowly eclipsed his previous best of 14 set on April 28 against Johns Hopkins.

The game was Runkel’s seventh this season with 10 or more saves in goal. The others came against Duke (12), at UMBC (13), at Fairfield (12), Johns Hopkins (14), at Denver in the ECAC Semifinals (10) and versus Denver in the Quarterfinals (11).

Runkel followed his performance in the Semifinal with a six-save, three-goals allowed performance in the title game against Maryland. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team for his efforts.

Runkel played to a 5.22 goals against average and .700 saves percentage in four NCAA Tournament games.

Defense Limits Chances

Loyola’s defense held Notre Dame to just 28 shots, four below the Fighting Irish’s season average of 32.3 heading into the game, and the Greyhounds’ unit helped goalkeeper Jack Runkel make 15 saves by limiting inside chances.

The team then held Maryland to 29 shots, nearly four below their average of 33.7.

50-50

Eric Lusby and Mike Sawyer became the first duo in Loyola history with 50 goals each in the same season. Lusby finished with 54 goals, while Sawyer had 52.

They were two of three players in the NCAA last season to score 50 or more goals, joining Colgate’s Peter Baum (67).

The last time a pair of Division I teammates had 50 or more goals was 2010 when Duke’s Max Quinzani finished the year with 68, and Zach Howell tallied 51.

And, 60-60

Lusby and Sawyer ere also the only Loyola players to reach 60 points in the same season.

With his four-point effort in the Championship Game, Lusby set the school Division I record for points in a season with 71, eclipsing the 66 (29g, 37a) Brian Duffy had during the 1995 season. Sawyer ended the year with 62 points.

Gary Hanley has the top three points marks in school history with 89 in 1981, 86 in 1980 and 83 in 1979 when Loyola played Division II lacrosse.

Seven Earn All-America Honors in 2012

Attacker Mike Sawyer was named to the USILA All-America Second Team, and long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned Third Team honors earlier this week from the coaches’ association.

Five other Greyhounds – attacker Eric Lusby, midfielders Davis Butts and Josh Hawkins and defenders Reid Acton and Joe Fletcher – received honorable mention.

The seven honorees are the most for Loyola since seven received plaudits following the 1999 season. Sawyer and Ratliff are also the first Loyola players to receive All-America nods other than honorable mention since Gavin Prout was a first teamer in 2001.

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 senior does a lot, as he led the teamlast year  in ground balls (88) and caused turnovers (37), was fifth in goals (12) and seventh in assists (7). His 37 caused turnovers were second-most in Loyola history – behind P.T. Ricci’s 51 in 2009 – since the stats became official that year.

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.

Ratliff, who was also an USILA All-America Third Team member, an All-ECAC First Team honoree and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year.

Ratliff’s Scoring

Scott Ratliff had his third multi-goal game of the season in the NCAA First Round against Canisius, and he then added a goal in the Quarterfinal against Denver, raising his season totals to 12 goals and seven assists.

With his game-opening goal against the Golden Griffins, he set the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, surpassing 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 was 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.

Ward Dishes Out Assists

Justin Ward was credited an assist on an Eric Lusby goal against Notre Dame in the NCAA Semifinal raised his season total to 31. He was the first Loyola player this century to reach 30 assists, and his total is the most since Brian Duffy had 34 in 1996.

Top Spot

Loyola entered 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 Maryland in the NCAA Championship Game was its 18th 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.

The 18 wins also tied an NCAA Division I record for victories in a season.

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

Sawyer Named One Of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

Mike Sawyer was named one of five Tewaaraton Award finalists, joining Colgate A Peter Baum, Duke LSM C.J. Costabile, Massachusetts A Will Manny and Virginia A Steele Stanwick.

Sawyer is the first Loyola men’s player to be named a finalist, and he is also the first player from to hail the State of North Carolina to be so honored. He was one of three Greyhounds on the Tewaaraton Watch List where he was joined by Eric Lusby and Scott Ratliff, and Ratliff was a fellow semifinalist.

Midfield Scoring

Loyola’s first midfield line of Davis Butts (21g, 35p), Sean O’Sullivan (16, 27) and Chris Layne (11, 25) combined for 48 goals and 39 assists this season, while the second midfield unit of Pat Byrnes (10, 7), J.P. Dalton (9, 4) and Phil Dobson (8, 2) added 26 and 13. Additionally, Nikko Pontrello has started to mix in with the second midfield, allowing Loyola’s attackers the opportunity to invert, and he has four goals and six assists.

Toomey Receives Morris Touchstone Award

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career, and in December, he received the coaches association’s Morris Touchstone Award as the national coach of the year.

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.

The win over Canisius in the First Round was the 60th victory of his coaching career, becoming the fourth coach in Loyola history to win 60 or more – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001), Charles Wenzel (62-104, 1954-1970), Jay Connor (61-46, 1975-1982).  Toomey’s .626 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 19 games. In all, Loyola scored three or more in a row on 37 occasions this season.

The Greyhounds used two 3-0 runs against Notre Dame in the NCAA Semifinal to advance to the title game.

Loyola then broke a 3-3 tie and held Maryland scoreless for the final 40:40 of the NCAA Championship Game while scoring the last six goals of the contest.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds allowed a run of three or more goals just 12 times this year, with the last coming when Canisius scored three in the second quarter. Only Denver (seven in ECAC Semifinal), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds outscored opponents 66-22 in the third quarters of games and 123-63 overall last year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from 2011 when Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56.

Five Greyhounds Selected In Major League Lacrosse Draft

PHILADELPHIA – Five members of the defending NCAA Champion Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team were selected Friday night in the Major League Lacrosse Draft, including two in the first round and three of the top nine overall, at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown on Friday night.

Josh Hawkins (5^th overall, Hamilton Nationals) and Mike Sawyer (8^th, Charlotte Hounds) were selected in the first round. Scott Ratliff (9^th, Boston Cannons) was picked in the second; Davis Butts (19^th, Denver Outlaws), third; and Reid Acton (26^th, Hamilton Nationals), fourth.

“I want to congratulate each of these guys on what is a tremendous accomplishment,” said Charley Toomey, Loyola’s head coach. “They have already made great contributions to our program, and we are looking forward to even more from this year as we start spring practice on Monday.”

Hawkins has continued to be one of the top defensive midfielders in the nation and garnered considerable respect nationally for his play during the NCAA Championships. He was named a Preseason All-America First Team member after garnering honorable mention last season. Hawkins earned NCAA All-Tournament honors and helped the Greyhounds limit Notre Dame and Maryland to a combined eight goals on Championships weekend. In addition to his six goals and two assists in 15 games last year, Hawkins was second on the team with 63 ground balls.

Sawyer, a Preseason USILA All-America Second Team selection after earning the same honor following last year, was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player last season when he scored 52 goals and assisted on 10 more and was named the team’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. During the regular-season, he led the ECAC in goals and goals per game while earning All-ECAC First Team honors. He became the second player to score 50 or more goals in a season and was joined by a third on last year’s team. Sawyer will be reuinited in Charlotte, his hometown, with former Greyhound Eric Lusby.

Ratliff continued to be one of the top long-stick midfielders in the nation and set a Loyola scoring record for the position last year. This year, he was tabbed a Preseason All-America Second Team member and was on the USILA Third Team last season when he finished with 12 goals and seven assists, exceeding current Loyola Assistant Coach Matt Dwan’s previous record for a long-stick midfielder set in 1995. In addition to his scoring, he tallied 88 ground balls and 37 caused turnovers while earning ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, ECAC Championships Most Valuable Player, NCAA All-Tournament Team and team co-defenisve player of the year honors.

Butts was a first-line midfielder for the Greyhounds for the second year in a row in 2012. This season, he was named to the Preseason All-America Third Team after picking up honorable mention last season. He excelled as a dodger and finisher and ranked fourth on the team in points (35) and third in goals scored (21). A versatile player, Butts also saw plenty of action on the wings of faceoffs and in the defensive midfield where he picked up 40 ground balls.

Acton will enter 2013 having started on the Greyhounds’ defense each of the last three years. The Preseason All-America Honorable Mention candidate who received the same award last season finished the 2012 season with 44 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers, while helping Loyola record a 7.21 goals allowed per game average, the fifth-best mark in Division I. The Greyhounds set a pair of defensive records during Championship Weekend, holding Notre Dame and Maryland to a combined eight goals in the two games and allowing the Terrapins just three in the title match.

Loyola will see outside competition for the first time in 2013 in just over two weeks. The Greyhounds travel to the Orlando area to face the U.S. National Team on Sunday, January 27, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at DisneyWorld. The regular season commences for Loyola on Saturday, February 16, at the University of Delaware.

There were a number of great choices for WNST’s fifth annual “Local Sportsperson of the Year” in 2012.

Let me remind you that there are only a few qualifications for the honor.

First, the person must be local. They must be an athlete, coach or front office member for a pro, college or high school team in the state of Maryland. Individual sport athletes who represent the state of Maryland also qualify.

Second, the person must stand out from other people over the course of the 12 calendar months. The accomplishments of that individual must be comparable to if not greater than the accomplishments of others in the area.

And finally, that person’s year must stand out from other years during their tenure/career in the area.

If you’ve forgotten, 2012 is the fifth year we’ve given the honor, with our past winners being Michael Phelps (2008), Todd Bozeman (2009), Greivis Vasquez (2010) and Rob Ambrose (2011).

There were a handful of candidates whose 2012 accomplishments would make them easy winners almost any year.

-Loyola basketball coach Jimmy Patsos lead the school back to the NCAA Tournament after inheriting a program that could only be described as “in the doldrums.” The sweat equity Patsos put into building a MAAC Championship program is perhaps unmatched, as the coach spent almost as much time shaking hands and kissing babies as he did running drills until finally reaching the ultimate goal for a low-to-mid major program.

-Even with the success Patsos had, perhaps he wouldn’t even be deemed the most qualified candidate as his own school. Charley Toomey lead the Greyhounds to one of the most improbable National Championship runs in recent lacrosse history. The Hounds came into the season unranked, but ran off 12 straight wins to open the season and finished the campaign with only one loss-a one goal defeat and the hands of Johns Hopkins. The Hounds posted a dominant national title victory over Maryland to deliver the first national championship in school history (any sport) at the D1 level.

-Adam Jones wasn’t just the Baltimore Orioles’ MVP, an All-Star and a Gold Glove Award winner in 2012. He was the anchor of a team that finally snapped a decade-and-a-half long playoff drought and perhaps most importantly endeared himself to Baltimore baseball fans forever by inking a six year contract extension to ensure fans he wouldn’t be breaking their hearts by donning pinstripes in the next few years.

-Ray Rice is likely headed to another Baltimore Ravens Team MVP honor and also warmed the hearts of purple & black fans by signing a five year contract extension of his own. Rice picked up his third Pro Bowl nod while being the rock for an offense poised to break the franchise record for most points scored in a season and helping to claim a second consecutive AFC North title for the first time in team history.

Like I said, there were plenty of great candidates.

But when it came to picking a winner, Baltimore fans were right. It actually was quite easy.

Buck Showalter actually came just ONE POINT shy of winning this honor before. The 34-23 finish he guided the Orioles to in 2010 nearly nabbed him the award, and the contentiousness of the fighting between contributors here at WNST actually lead to a change in how we selected our recipient.

In a way, Showalter has essentially owned this town ever since his first game as skipper in orange and black. Fans swooned when he famously proclaimed “I know the save rule and, quite frankly, it doesn’t carry much weight with me. I like the win rule a little bit better” following his late inning handling of Mike Gonzalez and Alfredo Simon in a win over the Los Angeles Angels.

Perhaps even more admirably, Showalter showed immense class each and every time he was asked about the seeming reluctance for Orioles fans to return to Oriole Park at Camden Yards in droves after the misery that had experienced in rooting for an organization that seemed disinterested in returning a quality product to Baltimore. Even as the Orioles were in the mix for the AL East crown in late August in front of small crowds during a series against the Chicago White Sox, Showalter continued to say things like ”it would be pretty presumptuous on anybody’s part to think that they’re going to trust us that quickly”. He didn’t just save baseball in this town, he remained as classy as possible in the process.

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Toomey Named USILA Coach Of The Year

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland Head Men’s Lacrosse Coach Charley Toomey was named the 2012 recipient of the F. Morris Touchstone Award as the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Coach of the Year, the association announced today at the Intercollegiate Men’s Lacrosse Coaches Association convention at the Marriott Waterfront hotel.

Toomey guided the Greyhounds to an 18-1 record and the school’s first-ever NCAA Division I Championship in 2012 after Loyola started the year unranked in many preseason polls.

He is the second Loyola coach to receive the award in its 55-year history. Dave Cottle received the honor in 1988.

Toomey, who is now in his eighth season as head coach at Loyola, molded a Greyhounds team that finished the 2011 season at 8-5 and out of the NCAA Championships into one that scored nearly five goals more than its opponents during its run to the title.

The Greyhounds, which did not feature a First Team USILA All-American last year, won their first 12 games of the season before losing in the regular-season finale. They capture the ECAC regular-season and tournament titles and then rolled through the NCAA Tournament with four wins.

Loyola boasted the No. 8 scoring offense (12.05 goals per game) in the nation and the No. 5 scoring defense (7.21 goals allowed per game).

On Memorial Day weekend at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., Loyola set an NCAA Championship Game record by holding the University of Maryland to just three goals in the title game. The Greyhounds also set a Championship Weekend mark by holding the Terrapins and the University of Notre Dame to a combined five goals.

Toomey, who graduated from Loyola in 1990, was also named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time last season.

In addition to the award Toomey received, former Loyola assistant coach Dan Chemotti was named the Division I Assistant Coach of the Year. Chemotti departed Loyola in October to become the first-ever head coach at the University of Richmond.

Toomey and Loyola will open the 2013 regular season on Saturday, February 16, at the University of Delaware.

Four Seniors Named 2013 Men’s Lacrosse Captains

BALTIMORE – Four seniors – defender Reid Acton, midfielder Davis Butts, long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff and attacker Mike Sawyer – were named team captains for the 2013 Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team, Head Coach Charley Toomey announced.

“We are excited about these young men leading our program,” Toomey said. “They have had outstanding careers at Loyola, and we feel great about them leading the team into the 2013 season.”

All four earned All-America honors form the United State Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association last season during the Greyhounds’ run to the NCAA Championship. Sawyer was a second-team honoree, while Ratliff earned third-team laurels. Both Acton and Butts received honorable mention.

Acton will enter 2013 having started on the Greyhounds’ defense each of the last three years. He finished the 2012 season with 44 ground balls and 20 caused turnovers, while helping Loyola record a 7.21 goals allowed per game average, the fifth-best mark in Division I. The Greyhounds set a pair of defensive records during Championship Weekend, holding Notre Dame and Maryland to a combined eight goals in the two games and allowing the Terrapins just three in the title match.

Butts was a first-line midfielder for the Greyhounds for the second year in a row. He excelled as a dodger and finisher and ranked fourth on the team in points (35) and third in goals scored (21). A versatile player, Butts also saw plenty of action on the wings of faceoffs and in the defensive midfield where he picked up 40 ground balls.

Ratliff continued to be one of the top long-stick midfielders in the nation and set a Loyola scoring record for the position last year. He finished with 12 goals and seven assists, exceeding current Loyola Assistant Coach Matt Dwan’s previous record for a long-stick midfielder set in 1995. In addition to his scoring, he tallied 88 ground balls and 37 caused turnovers while earning ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, ECAC Championships Most Valuable Player, NCAA All-Tournament Team and team co-defenisve player of the year honors.

Sawyer was a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player last season when he scored 52 goals and assisted on 10 more and was named the team’s Offensive Most Valuable Player. During the regular-season, he led the ECAC in goals and goals per game while earning All-ECAC First Team honors. He became the second player to score 50 or more goals in a season and was joined by a third on last year’s team.

After a trio of exhibition games, the Greyhounds will open their 2013 season on Saturday, February 16, at Delaware.

- loyolagreyhounds.com -

Six-time NCAA Champion Metzbower Named Assistant Coach

BALTIMORE – David Metzbower, who as an assistant coach at Princeton University won six NCAA Championships and contributed to 230 wins, has been named a men’s lacrosse assistant coach at Loyola University Maryland, Head Coach Charley Toomey announced today.

Metzbower will join the defending national champion Greyhounds beginning Monday, November 12. He spent 20 years as an assistant coach, offensive coordinator and goalie coach at Princeton, the final seven as theTigers’ associate head coach.

“We are very excited to welcome David, his wife, Mimi, and his daughter, Jordan, and son, Derek, to the Loyola family,” Toomey said. “It is not often that you are able to bring someone onto your staff who is such a quality coach and a man of outstanding character who also has a Jesuit education background.

“David has a tremendous amount of experience at the offensive end of the field with his work at Princeton, and in recruiting in the Ivy League, something that is going to help us tremendously as we transition to the Patriot League.”

Metzbower joins the Loyola staff in place of Dan Chemotti who last week was named the first-ever head coach at the University of Richmond.

“I am excited to get back to college lacrosse, especially at Loyola,” Metzbower said. “I looked at this as a great opportunity to be a part of Charley’s staff and work with a team that is coming off a nationalchampionship. Loyola has a lot of returning talent, and I look forward to being on the field with the players and working with them.”

Originally form the Baltimore area and a graduate of nearby Loyola Blakefield High School, Metzbower graduated from the University of Delaware in 1986 after a standout career as an attackman.

He quickly joined the Blue Hens’ coaching staff and spent 1987-1989 on the sidelines in Newark.

In 1990, Metzbower joined the Princeton staff as the top assistant to then-Head Coach Bill Tierney and helped create dynamic offenses that averaged 181.6 goals per year over a 20-season span.

Metzbower helped the Tigers win six NCAA Championships, reach the NCAA Semifinals 10 times and the NCAA Quarterfinals on 16 occasions, win 14 Ivy League titles and achieve a cumulative 230-65 record.

He helped develop the top five goal scorers in Princeton history, the top four in career points, 22 All-Ivy attackmen, seven Ivy League Players of the Year, 27 first-team All-Americans and 74 All-Ivy First Team members. Under Metzbower, Kevin Lowe (1994) and John Hess (1997) won the Lt. Col. J.L. Turnbull Award as the outstanding attackman in Division I, and Sims twice won the Lt. Donald McLaughlin Award as the top midfielder in Division I (1998 and 2000).

As Princeton’s goalie coach, he directed three players – Scott Bacigalupo (1992-1994), Trevor Tierney (2001) and Alex Hewitt (2006) – who won the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Award as the top Division I goalkeeper a combined five times.

Metzbower left the program in June 2009 as associate head coach after turning down an offer to be the Tigers’ head coach and served as an assistant coach at the Haverford School in 2010.

Most recently, he was the head coach at Malvern Preparatory School in suburban Philadelphia.

Metzbower and his wife, Mimi, have two children, a daughter, Jordan, and a son, Derek.

Chemotti Named Head Coach At Richmond

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland Assistant Coach Dan Chemotti has been named the first head coach at the University of Richmond, the Virginia school announced on Monday.

Chemotti finished his fifth season at Loyola in 2012 as the Greyhounds won an NCAA Division I-record tying 18 games and won the school’s first NCAA Championship.

Due to the weather caused from Hurricane Sandy, Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey will be unavailable for comment. Following is a statement from Coach Toomey:

“We are very happy for Dan who is taking a step to become a head coach, one that he has wanted for a long time. I believe that the mark of a great coach is to leave a place better than you found it, and Dan is certainly doing that. We will be grateful for his contributions at Loyola and wish him the best at Richmond. We will begin a national search to fill the vacancy immediately.”

BALTIMORE – The Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team will participate in the Champion^® Challenge, a US Lacrosse event, and face the United States National Team in an exhibition game on Sunday, January 27, at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.

The game will pit the defending NCAA (Loyola) and Federation of International Lacrosse (U.S.A.) champions in a game that will be featured on ESPNU and ESPN3.com.

“We are very excited about the opportunity to go down to Florida to play against the best of what the United States has to offer,” said Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey. “We will use this game as a stepping stone for some tough early season matchups.”

Loyola won its first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship in May, defeating the University of Maryland, 9-3, in the title game on Memorial Day in Foxborough, Mass. The U.S. National Team claimed the most recent FIL World Championship in 2010 and will bring approximately 45 players to the Challenge in January for evaluation prior to tryouts for the2014 U.S. Men’s National Team.

The Champion^® Challenge will also feature a Men’s National Team game against the University of Notre Dame, which Loyola edged, 7-5, in the NCAA Semifinal. The U.S. Women’s National Team will face Northwestern University, the defending NCAA Champion, and Syracuse University, as well, during the weekend of competition.

Further details about the event, including a game time, will be released at a later date.

Men’s Lacrosse Team Receives NCAA Championship Rings

BALTIMORE – The 2012 Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team gathered Friday night with their coaches, University administration and families to celebrate one final the Greyhounds’ first NCAA Division I Men’s Lacrosse Championship.

Head Coach Charley Toomey and the Greyhounds’ staff presented the championship team with their rings that feature 34 jewels and a large Loyola ‘L’ in the middle.

“This is an opportunity tonight to remember the journey this team went on,” Toomey said at the podium before presenting the rings. “This is a time to remember the successful team this was.”

The Greyhounds also handed out team awards before the ring ceremony commenced.

Eric Lusby, who was named the NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, was named the Team’s Most Valuable Player, while the program also handed out two awards for the first time to Lusby’s fellow senior captains.

J.P. Dalton was named the winner of the Joe Boylan Award for Leadership and Inspiration, and Dylan Grimm was the inaugural recipient of the Dr. Paul Bagley Award for Dedication and Sacrifice.

Mike Sawyer earned Offensive MVP, and Scott Ratliff and Joe Fletcher shared Defensive MVP honors. Pat Byrnes was tabbed the Most Improved Player, and Nikko Pontrello earned Rookie of the Year laurels. Ratliff alsopicked up the team’s Groundball Award.

Layne ’10 Named Director Of Men’s Lacrosse Operations

BALTIMORE – Former Loyola University Maryland All-American Steve Layne ’10 was named the men’s lacrosse program’s first Director of Lacrosse Operations, Head Coach Charley Toomey announced.

Layne, who lettered for the Greyhounds from 2007-2010 and was a starter for his final three seasons, earned All-ECAC Lacrosse First Team honors in 2010 and Second Team laurels as a junior the year prior.

Following his senior season in which he had 32 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers and helped the Greyhounds advance to the NCAA Championships for the third time in his career, Layne was named an USILA All-American. As a team, Loyola finished third nationally in scoring defense that season.

In his four years on the Greyhounds’ defense, Layne picked up 107 ground balls and caused 46 turnovers.

Layne will assist Toomey and the Loyola coaching staff with many administrative duties including travel, academics and video coordination.

“We are delighted to have Steve, a former captain and All-American, back involved with the Loyola Lacrosse program on a daily basis,” Toomey said. “We are excited to work with him and believe he will be an asset not only to our team but also to the coaching community.”

He has worked as a coach with the HEADstrong Lacrosse Club in his native Philadelphia area, and the Malvern Prep alum was also a coach of the Philadelphia Youth Lacrosse All-Stars.

Layne graduated from Loyola in 2010 with a bachelor of arts in history and a minor in business marketing.