Runkel Saves 11 In 8-6 Win Over Bellarmine To Open ECAC Play

BALTIMORE – Jack Runkel made a kick save on a low, hard shot by Bellarmine University’s Brogan Hill just 71 seconds into play Saturday afternoon, sparking the Loyola University Maryland defense, and the junior goalkeeper finished with a season-high 11 saves as the Greyhounds defeated the Knights, 8-6, to open ECAC Lacrosse League action at Ridley Athletic Complex.

“We challenged our locker room before the game to give (Runkel) his first shot from 12 yards out to get him started,” Head Coach Charley Toomey said. “That’s not how it played out, and they had a guy that ran down the middle, and he made a great kick save that really got us going.”

The save on Hill’s shot caromed near midfield where fourth-ranked Loyola (4-1 overall, 1-0 ECAC) picked it up, but the teams traded turnovers before Loyola cleared it to a settled offensive set off a Scott Ratliff caused turnover.

After a Mike Sawyer shot went wide, Chris Layne redodged from the right side and put a high-to-high shot past Bellarmine’s Dillon Ward to get the Greyhounds on the scoreboard at 11:23.

Neither team was able to score for nearly eight minutes until the Knights (3-1, 1-1) broke through on a man-up possession. Cameron Gardner skipped a pass to Lance Robinson on the low right side, and Robinson bounced in a shot at 3:34 to tie the game at 1-1.

Early in the second quarter, Loyola scored twice in a 22-second span to post a two-goal lead. Nikko Pontrello tallied the first when he cut to the top of the crease where Justin Ward hit him with a pass that Pontrello one-timed past Ward at 13:09.

Ward then scored 22 ticks of the clock later, rolling from X to the right side where he hit a fading jump shot to push the Greyhounds’ advantage to 3-1.

Bellarmine got one back in transition off a Dillon Ward save later in the half. Dillon Ward stopped a Pat Laconi shot, and Bellarmine quickly cleared it to its offensive end. Michael Ward ripped a 10-yard shot off a Karsen Leung assist with 3:10 to go before halftime, making it a one-goal game.

Following that goal, however, Sawyer scored for Loyola at 1:46, rolling back toward the near post after a Bellarmine double came near the middle.

The Greyhounds went  on extra-man immediately there after when Bellarmine was whistled for its third faceoff violation of the half, but Dillon Ward made a save on a Kevin Ryan shot, and the Knights cleared it successfully.

Runkel, however, picked off a Michael Ward pass from behind, and the Greyhounds called timeout in their offensive zone with just over 14 seconds to play before halftime.

Layne started the play on the far right side and sent a pass to Davis Butts at the top of the box. Butts reversed it to Sean O’Sullivan on the left, and O’Sullivan ripped a seven-yard goal to put Loyola in front, 5-2 at halftime.

The Greyhounds continued their run at the start of the third quarter, as Pontrello skipped a pass across the defense on the left side, and he scored from three yards out on a high-to-low shot with 11:37 on the clock in the third quarter.

Loyola took possession again with a faceoff win, and Sawyer scored his third during the 4-0 run, fending off a defender who was on his hands to put Loyola in front, 7-2, with 11:17 left in the third quarter.

Bellarmine, however, reeled off three in a row while holding Loyola scoreless for 20-minutes, 40-seconds.

Will Cary bookended a Michael Ward extra-man goal, and Cary’s second with 8:23 to play in regulation pulled the Knights within two, 7-5.

Justin Ward would snap the scoreless drought for Loyola rolling the crease on the left side and flipping a hard, nearly no-look shot past Dillon Ward for a goal with 5:54 left in regulation.

The Greyhounds then held off Bellarmine, allowing just one more goal by Michael Ward with 16 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Loyola outshot the Knights, 46-25, but Dillon Ward made 16 saves for Bellarmine.

Butts helped Loyola to a slim, 26-25, advantage in ground balls, leading the team with five. Joe Fletcher had four, and Pat Frazier and Runkel each had three.

The game concluded a stretch of five games in 15 days for the Greyhounds. Loyola will be back in action on Friday, March 8, when it travels to Durham, N.C., for a 7 o’clock game at Duke University.

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland plays its fifth game in 15 days to start the 2013 season, and third-straight at home, on Saturday, March 2, when it hosts Bellarmine University at 1 o’clock at Ridley Athletic Complex.

The game will be the ECAC Lacrosse League opener for the Greyhounds.

Series History

Loyola will meet Bellarmine for the fourth time in series history on Saturday with the Greyhounds winning the first three games.

The Greyhounds won the first meeting, 14-8, in Louisville during the 2010 season when current Loyola players Eric Lusby and Patrick Fanshaw each scored three goals. In 2011, the teams were tied 3-3 at halftime and 4-4 after the first minute of the third quarter before the Greyhounds scored five in a row to break the game open and go on to a 9-6 victory. Mike Sawyer scored five goals in the game, and Matt Langan tallied four assists.

Last season, Loyola trailed 4-2 at halftime when J.P. Dalton won 7-of-8 faceoffs during the third quarter and the Greyhounds went up 7-5 late in the third quarter. Bellarmine got back within a goal with 58 seconds to go in the third quarter, but Loyola scored four in a row to lead 11-6 with 5:41 remaining in regulation.

Eric Lusby scored a game-high five goals, and Davis Butts added a career-best four, for the Greyhounds, while Dalton won 15-of-23 at the ‘X’ and picked up eight ground balls.

In The Polls

Loyola sits at No. 4 in both the USILA Coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media polls.

Entering the season, It was the first time in the polls’ existences that the Greyhounds have been ranked No. 1 to start the year.

Bellarmine is receiving votes in the media poll.

Last Time Out

In a driving rain and winds that gusted to 40 miles per hour on Tuesday night, Loyola was down 4-3 to UMBC after one quarter, and the Retrievers took a 5-4 lead with 12:58 to play before halftime before the Greyhounds scored three in a row and eventually went ahead 8-6 at the break.

The teams traded goals in the first three minutes of the third quarter before the Greyhounds broke the game open with a 10-0 run that stretched into the fourth quarter.

Justin Ward scored three of his career-high seven goals during that run, and he also finished with three assists for 10 points.

Nikko Pontrello added three goals and three assists, both career highs, while Mike Sawyer tallied three goals, and Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan each had two out of the midfield.

Loyola owned a 49-30 advantage in ground balls with Scott Ratliff picking up a game-high eight. Joe Fletcher had seven, and Brendan Donovan won 19-of-31 faceoffs for Loyola.

Ward’s Big Night

The foul weather did not slow Justin Ward on Tuesday against UMBC, as the junior finished with seven goals and three assists for 10 points. His goal and point outputs were career-highs.

He became the first player to score at least seven goals in a game since Gavin Prout tallied eight in a 19-11 win at Hobart on April 28, 2001.

Ward’s 10-point effort was the first 10-point game for a Greyhound since Tim Goettelmann tallied the same amount in a 19-9 win on March 25, 2000, against Fairfield. In that game, Goettelmann scored four goals and had six assists. Later that season, he would score seven goals on May 16 in the NCAA First Round against Notre Dame.

Ward’s seven goals brought his 2013 total to a team-high 12, matching the number he put up in 19 games last season. He is also tops on the team with nine assists and 21 points through four games.

His seven goals are tied with Ohio State’s Logan Schuss and Army’s Garrett Thul for the most in a game this season, and his 10 points tie Schuss for game-high honors, as well.

With 41 career assists, Ward is now tied for 20th in Loyola’s Division I history with Mark Frye and Brian Kroneberger.

Pontrello Puts Up Points, Too

Somewhat lost in Justin Ward’s 10-point night against UMBC were the career-high numbers put up by fellow attacker Nikko Pontrello. The sophomore finished with career-bests in goals (3), assists (3) and points (6).

It was his first career multi-goal game, and his assists exceeded his previous best of two.

Pontrello now has two multi-point games this season after scoring a goal and assisting on two at Towson on February 20. In four games, he has five goals, and his six assists are second-most on the team.

Another Sawyer Hat Trick

Mike Sawyer had another three-goal game for Loyola against UMBC, meaning that the Greyhounds’ three starting attackers combined for 13 goals and seven assists versus the Retrievers.

The hat trick was the second of the season for Sawyer who also turned the feat at Towson. He now has 19 in his career at Loyola and is now third among active players with career hat tricks, trailing only Colgate’s Peter Baum (29) and Army’s Garrett Thul (25).

Eighth To 100

With his goal at 9:25 in the third quarter on Tuesday night, Mike Sawyer became the eighth player in Loyola men’s lacrosse history to score 100 in his career, the seventh in the program’s Division I history.

Sawyer joins a list that includes Gary Hanley (151), Pat Lamon (133), Gewas Schindler (120), Tim O’Shea (115), Kevin Beach (114), John Carroll (112) and Chris Colbeck (108).

Blackjack

Loyola scored 21 goals on Tuesday night against UMBC, marking the first time since April 26, 2000, that the Greyhounds had recorded 20 or more in a game. That day, they went on the road and beat Villanova, 21-7.

The game at Villanova was just 11 days after Loyola beat Massachusetts, 21-10, at home. Prior to those two games, the last 20-point outing was on April 15, 1998, against Lehigh.

Layne Keeps Tallying Points

Chris Layne had his fourth multi-point game in as many contests this season, recording two goals and an assist for the Greyhounds against UMBC after tallying the same amount three days prior against Maryland. Through four game this year, Layne has seven goals and five assists.

Last season, he had a total of five multi-point games while finishing with 11 goals and 14 assists. With his two goals against Delaware, Maryland and UMBC, Layne has more than doubled his multi-goal games during his time at Loyola to five. He also had one as a sophomore in 2010 for North Carolina.

At Delaware in the season-opener, Layne tallied the first and last goals of the game for the Greyhounds, the initial coming at 12:17 in the first quarter, and the second with 4.4 seconds left in the fourth. He also assisted on a Scott Ratliff transition goal just over five minutes into the third quarter.

Spreading The Scoring

Nine Loyola players scored goals at Towson with seven recording two or more points, and nine was also the number of scorers versus Maryland and UMBC, and seven had two or more points against the Retrievers.

Against Towson, Mike Sawyer and Justin Ward led the way with four points, Chris Layne and Kevin Ryan tallied three, while Nikko Pontrello, Sean O’Sullivan and Brian Schultz each recorded two.

The seven multi-point scorers were a step-up from the four (Layne, Sawyer, Ward and Davis Butts) who had two or more at Delaware.

Last season, Loyola had just two games with seven players scoring two or more points (Michigan, Air Force).

Off The Ground And Running

Loyola posted a 19-ground ball margin against UMBC, picking up 49, while the Retrievers had 30. Scott Ratliff led the way with a season-high eight, and Joe Fletcher matched his career-best with seven.

Four of the Greyhounds goals versus UMBC were as a direct result of unsettled transition.

Nineteen players had at least one ground ball for the Greyhounds in the game.

Two At The ‘X’

Loyola has had two primary faceoff men in their four games this season. Brendan Donovan started the season at Delaware and then took all but two of the 33 restarts against UMBC. He won 19-of-31 against the Retrievers where his 19 wins were the most by a Loyola player since Dan Kallaugher went 27-of-33 in the NCAA First Round at Albany on May 13, 2007.

In the Greyhounds’ other two games, Blake Burkhart took the majority of the restarts, winning 17-of-28, a career-high, at Towson, and 14-of-25 against Maryland.

Acton Active On Defense

Reid Acton tied his career-high on against Delaware with five caused turnovers to lead all players. He also picked up five ground balls, one shy of Scott Ratliff’s team-best six. He was part of a unit that held Delaware’s starting attack to just three goals in the game. Acton also caused five turnovers last season against Ohio State.

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 team last 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.

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

He has scored a goal in three of the Greyhounds’ four goals this year, at Delaware and versus Maryland and UMBC to bring his career totals to 18 goals and 10 assists. He is currently second among active long-poles in scoring behind Bryant’s Mason Poli who has 32 goals and 10 assists.

With his game-opening goal against Canisius in the NCAA First Round, 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.

Helmet Stickers

Loyola players are wearing three stickers on their helmets this season to remember those who have passed away. The stickers are in memory of Adam Pomper, a member of the 2012 team who passed away on June 12, 2012, Mandy O’Sullivan, mother of current players Sean and Ryan O’Sullivan who died in March 2012 from pancreatic cancer, and the 26 victims of the Newtown, Conn., shooting in December 2012 where Loyola put on a youth lacrosse clinic in January.

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.

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.

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 .640 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

Big Runs

Last season, runs of three-plus goals were critical in the Greyhounds success, as they had runs of 3-0 or better in all 19 games. In all, Loyola scored three or more in a row on 37 occasions last year.

The Greyhounds have opened the 2013 season in similar fashion as they scored three-straight in the second quarter to take a 4-2 lead against Delaware after trailing, 2-1. They then had two runs of 3-0 or better at Towson.

Against UMBC, Loyola had a 3-0 first-half run before putting together a 10-0 stretch in the third and fourth quarters.

The game against Maryland marked the first time since May 5, 2011, against Fairfield that the Greyhounds did not put up a run of 3-0 or better.

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds outscored opponents 66-22 in the third quarters of games, and 123-63 overall in the second half (including overtime), last season. The second-half scoring continued a trend from 2011 when Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56.

This year, Loyola is outscoring opponents 20-8 in the third quarter and 31-18 overall after halftime.

Up Next

The Greyhounds have their longest stretch of time without a game so far this season, a six-day break, before traveling to Durham, N.C., to face Duke at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 8.

Six Men’s Lacrosse Players Earn Face-Off Yearbook AA Honors

BALTIMORE – Six returning members of Loyola University Maryalnd’s NCAA Championship men’s lacrosse team were named to the various Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America teams, the publication announced on Tuesday.

Last week, the Greyhounds were picked as the nation’s No. 1 team by the annual magazine.

A pair of Loyola players – junior defender Joe Fletcher and senior defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins – were named to the All-America First Team, while two more Greyhounds – senior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff and senior attacker Mike Sawyer – earned Second Team recognition.

Junior midfielder Davis Butts was honors on the Third Team, and senior defender Reid Acton drew All-America Honorable Mention. Also, last week, Acton, Butts, Ratliff and Sawyer were named the team’s co-captains for 2013.

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.

Loyola opens the 2013 season, after three exhibition games, on Saturday, February 16, with a road game at Delaware.

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland’s men’s lacrosse game against Air Force will be part of the Whitman’s® Sampler® Mile High Classic, an Inside Lacrosse event, on Saturday, March 16, 2013.

The game will be played at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, home of the National Football League’s Denver Broncos. Loyola’s game is part of a doubleheader that will include a second game between Notre Dame and Denver.

Loyola and Air Force were slated to play their ECAC Lacrosse League game on the Falcons’ home field in Colorado Springs, but the game was moved to Denver to be a part of the event. Faceoff is slated for 4 p.m. (Mountain) with the Notre Dame-Denver game following.

This is the second Inside Lacrosse event the Greyhounds have been part of. Loyola played Notre Dame in the 2010 Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

The Loyola-Air Force game is slated to appear on one of the ESPN family of networks with complete details forthcoming.

Loyola University Maryland has accepted an invitation to join the Patriot League at the beginning of the 2013-14 academic and athletic year.

“It is an honor to join the Patriot League’s distinguished member institutions, all of which consistently demonstrate a profound commitment to excellence both in the classroom and on the field.That commitment is one we share at Loyola, and we see this move as a vital opportunity to continue to elevate our already outstanding athletics programs in keeping with our goal of becoming the nation’s leading Catholic, comprehensive university,” said Rev. Brian F. Linnane, S.J., Loyola’s president.

The Patriot League’s full members are AmericanUniversity, Bucknell University, Colgate University, the College of the Holy Cross, Lafayette College, Lehigh University, the United States Naval Academy, the United States Military Academy, and fellow new addition for 2013 BostonUniversity.

“Loyola University Maryland is an outstanding addition to our membership as a private institution with an excellent academic reputation and rich athletic history,” said Daniel H. Weiss, Ph.D., chair of the Patriot League’s Council of Presidents and president of Lafayette College. “The decision to add Loyola reflects the presidents’ commitment to the stability and long-term positioning of the league.”

Since 1998, the Patriot League has ranked first among all Division I conferences in student-athlete graduation rates in the NCAA Graduation Rates report. In the most recent report, Loyola had 11 teams with perfect graduation rates. A total of 15 Patriot League sports are guaranteed advancement into NCAA postseason competition each year, and all Loyola teams currently eligible for automatic bids will have the same opportunity after the move in 2013.

“Loyola athletics’ primary mission is to support the development of student-athletes who thrive academically, athletically, spiritually, and socially,” said James Paquette, assistant vice president and director of athletics at Loyola. “The Patriot League embraces and supports those values, and we are thrilled to become partners with the league. Its members’ histories of academic and athletic excellence are impressive, and consistent not only with Loyola’s past achievements, but our future ambitions as well.”

“We are delighted to expand the Patriot League membership to 10 full members with the addition of Loyola,” Patriot League Executive Director Carolyn Schlie Femovich said. “Loyola further strengthens the league in the southern portion of our footprint. With the addition of both Boston University and Loyola University Maryland for the 2013-14 academic year, we believe that the Patriot League has enriched its future both on the field of play and in the classroom.”

Currently, 16 of Loyola’s teams compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, while men’s lacrosse plays in the Eastern College Athletic Conference and women’s lacrosse plays in the Big East. All of Loyola’s NCAA Division I athletics teams will make the conference move with the exception of men’s rowing. The Patriot League does not conduct a championship in the sport, but Loyola will continue to row a regionally competitive schedule.

About Loyola University Maryland:

Established in 1852, Loyola University Maryland is a Jesuit comprehensive university comprising Loyola College, its school of arts and sciences; the Sellinger School of Business and Management; and the School of Education. Loyola enrolls 3,800 undergraduate and 2,200 graduate students from across the country and around the world.

About the Patriot League:
The Patriot League continually demonstrates that student-athletes can excel at both academics and athletics without sacrificing its high standards. The Patriot League’s athletic success is achieved while its member institutionsremain committed to its founding principle of admitting and graduating student-athletes that are academically representative of their class. Participation in athletics at Patriot League institutions is viewed as an important component of a well-rounded education.

CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Four members of the Loyola University Maryland NCAA Champion men’s lacrosse team earned Academic All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors on Friday, the conference office announced.

Graduate Student Eric Lusby (3.278, Masters of Computer Science, senior Dylan Grimm (3.281, Business Administration and International Business) and sophomores Kyle Duffy (3.538, Business Administration and Finance) and Joe Fletcher (3.777, Accounting) were honored by the league.

Lusby was named the NCAA Championships Most Outstanding Player after setting a tournament record with 17 goals in four games. He tallied four in the title game against Maryland, five each in the semifinalversus Notre Dame and quarterfinal against Denver and three versus Canisius in the first round. He finished the year with a school single-season record 54goals and earned USILA All-America Honorable Mention and All-ECAC Second Team honors. He has joined the Major League Lacrosse Charlotte Hounds to start his professional career.

Grimm anchored the Loyola defense that set a pair of NCAA Championship Weekend records, allowing just three goals in the ChampionshipGame to Maryland and a combined eight after yielding just five versus Notre Dame in the Semifinal. A starter in every game over the last two seasons, Grimm was a co-captain this season along with Lusby and two others. He finished his senior campaign with 42 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers, a total good for third on the team. During the Greyhounds’ run to the ECAC Championship, Grimm was named to the All-Tournament team after the team’s wins over Denver and Fairfield.

Duffy was a member of the Greyhounds’ rope unit that was a critical part of the defensive success throughout the year. A short-stick midfielder, Duffy played in all 19 games and finished the year with seven ground balls and four caused turnovers. He also scored his first collegiatepoints, tallying a goal and three assists during the season.

Fletcher was another key member of the Loyola defense,earning All-ECAC Second Team and USILA All-America Honorable Mention. In his first year as a starter, Fletcher emerged as one of the nation’s top shut-down defenders. He compiled 41 ground balls and was second on the Greyhounds with 26 caused turnovers. On NCAA Championship Weekend, Fletcher had nine ground balls and four caused turnovers and was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team. Additionally, he earned ECAC All-Tournament honors earlier in May.

CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Stevenson men’s lacrosse junior Kyle Holechek (Reisterstown, Md./Loyola Blakefield) was named to the 2012 ECAC Division III Men’s Lacrosse Mid-Atlantic All-Star Team on Wednesday. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be a first team all-conference selection.

A USILA Second Team All-America selection, Holechek was also named to the All-CAC First Team and led the team with 54 caused turnovers. He also led the team with 79 ground balls while adding a goal and two assists from his defensive position.

Holechek anchored a defense that allowed just 6.13 goals per game, ranking the Mustangs 10th in Division III in scoring defense.

Joining Holechek on the first team defense was Salisbury’s Andrew Sellers, Cabrini’s John McSorely and Utica’s Mick Krajacic.

The Capital Athletic Conference had eight players represented, including seven from Salisbury and one from Stevenson. The State
University of New York Athletic Conference also had eight while the Liberty League and Colonial States Athletic Conference each had three and the Empire 8 Conference had two.

Salisbury’s Sam Bradman was the ECAC Offensive Player of the Year while Union’s Sean Aaron repeated as a Defensive Player of the Year. RIT’s Brendan MacDonald received Rookie of the Year honors.

The ECAC all-star team is voted on by ECAC members.

Holechek was also one of only 12 players in Division III to be named to Lacrosse Magazine’s Jac Coyne’s All-America Team on Wednesday.

It’s a particular shame Monday’s NCAA lacrosse Championship Game was in Foxborough instead of right here at M&T Bank Stadium. It would have been a special celebration of a beloved game in Charm City.

Instead, Memorial Day became a special celebration of a deserving champion at Gillette Stadium.

I was at Ridley Athletic Complex Saturday, March 10 to see the Loyola University Maryland Greyhounds face the Duke Blue Devils. The Hounds had gotten off to a nice 4-0 start at that point in the season, reaching double digit goals in every game and holding their opponent to single digits in every game as well.

The issue at that point was the competition. Home wins over Delaware and Towson and road victories at Bellarmine and Michigan did little to convince anyone the Greyhounds were on the cusp of a breakthrough campaign.

It changed that day.

Star attackman and eventual Tewaaraton Award finalist Mike Sawyer put on an absolute clinic for Charley Toomey’s team, scoring six goals and leading the Hounds to a 13-8 win over the Devils. The Hounds were actually ranked ahead of the Devils in one of the recognized college lacrosse polls, but the victory still had the feel of an upset, as Duke was viewed as a legitimate national title contender.

From the opening whistle, it was apparent the Hounds were the more focused, determined squad. The 13-8 final didn’t even necessarily reflect the nature of the game, as Loyola held a 12-5 advantage after three quarters and appeared to let up late. The win came just after Toomey installed Jack Runkel as his starting goalie ahead of Michael Bonitatibus, a move that he would not have to reconsider at all the rest of the season.

On that day at Ridley Athletic Complex, the Loyola Greyhounds became more than just a team with a capable combination of scorers (Sawyer and graduate student Eric Lusby). They became more than just a fun team to watch. They became a legitimate threat to make a run to the Final Four.

Two and a half months later, they found themselves there. It wasn’t a fluke. It wasn’t a run of good fortune. It wasn’t about bad luck for other teams. It wasn’t about an easy schedule.

This Loyola team proved that for the 2012 NCAA lacrosse season, they were unquestionably the best team in the country.

In Monday’s NCAA Championship Game, the Hounds dominated the University of Maryland in a way that perfectly encapsulated their entire season. They showed an incredible ability to score goals at times, but also showed that their midfield unit was as capable as their attack. Their wings battled for balls when face-offs appeared to be lost. Their defense was SUFFOCATING, preventing even a single goal from Maryland for a stretch of more than two and a half quarters, stifling a unit that had tallied 16 just two days prior against those same Duke Blue Devils. On top of all of that, Runkel was spectacular for a second straight game.

They left no doubt not only about who was the best team on Memorial Day Monday, but who was the best team in the country. They were a deserving #1 seed and they worked to become a deserving national champion.

A deserving national champion that didn’t play a single game on television until the postseason.

They lost just one game along the way, an overtime heartbreaker to a fine Johns Hopkins squad. They won THREE games over ECAC rival Denver University, two of those wins coming in the Mile High City. They recorded a win over every team that reached Memorial Day weekend.

Lusby and Sawyer now have name recognition, but the work of Runkel, Scott Ratliff, Chris Layne, Josh Hawkins, Pat Byrnes, Davis Butts, Justin Ward, Joe Fletcher, Nikko Pontrello, Patrick Fanshaw, Kevin Ryan, Phil Dobson, Sean O’Sullivan, Dylan Grimm, Pat Laconi, Kevin Moriarty and J.P. Dalton were deserving of having their names typed in a column like this as well.

Loyola becomes the smallest school to ever win a national championship in lacrosse. The title is the first and only Division 1 title in any sport for the school. The team was unranked before the season started. Toomey was able to accomplish the feat after being on the losing end as a goalie in the school’s only ever run to the National Championship Game back in 1990. Lusby broke the record for most goals in a single NCAA Tournament in the process.

The word amazing keeps coming to mind.

The title drought continues for the Terrapins, as they have not held the trophy since 1974. John Tillman has been to the title game twice in his two seasons in College Park, but the inability to win the big one will now already become a topic of conversation for the Terps’ alumni and fan base. They were a remarkably young team this season and will likely be right back in the title picture a year from now. It won’t help the sting of a Championship Game loss, but they showed many signs of being a team on the verge of greatness.

Loyola however was the definition of greatness. They were exceptional. And perhaps they even earned a measure of revenge for the city of Baltimore on the field where the Ravens saw their season end months earlier in the AFC Championship Game.

Eh…they were the best lacrosse team in the country. We’ll be more than happy to have that in Charm City.

-G

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland will make its third appearance in the NCAA Semifinals on Saturday, May 26, 2012, when it takes on the University of Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m.

The team will faceoff on the field at Gillette Stadium, home of the National Football League’s New England Patriots, in Foxborough, Mass. The winner of the game will face the winner of the other national semifinal between Duke and Maryland.

On The Tube, Web And Radio

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2 with Eamon McAnaney and Quint Kessenich calling the action. Paul Carcaterra will be the sideline analyst.

The action can also be seen worldwide on ESPN3, the broadband arm of the ESPN, and on the WatchESPN app on mobile devices.

Westwood One Sports/Dial Global will provide the NCAA Radio Network broadcast of the Championships with Dave Ryan on the play-by-play and Steve Panarelli on analysis. It can be heard on Sirius/XM 91 worldwide. A complete list of stations can be found at dialglobalsports.com.

Series History

Loyola and Notre Dame will meet for the 20th time in series history on Saturday and the third time in NCAA Championships play. Loyola holds a 13-6 advantage in the all-time series, but the Fighting Irish have won the last four meetings and six of the last nine. (Complete series history on page six of the notes)

The teams last played on March 6, 2010, in another NFL stadium. They met at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, home of the Ravens, in the Konica-Minolta Face-Off Classic where Notre Dame came away with an 11-9 victory. In all, this will mark the third time the teams have played in an NFL venue. They also faced off in the 1998 IKON Classic at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium, former home of the Baltimore Colts.

The last seven meetings in the series have been decided by a total of nine goals with five of the games coming down to a one-goal difference.

Loyola and Notre Dame have played twice in the NCAA Championships, both in the first round, and each team has been the victor once. The Fighting Irish defeated the Greyhounds, 15-12, in Baltimore in the 2000 First Round, and Loyola was a 21-5 first-round winner in 1997.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 10-19 all-time in Championships play, 10-17 at the Division I level.

Saturday’s game will be the Greyhounds third appearance in the NCAA Semifinals, first since 1998 when then lost 19-8 to Maryland in Piscataway, N.J. Loyola is 1-1 in NCAA Semifinal games having defeated Yale, 14-13 in overtime, in 1990 to advance to the title game.

Sawyer Sets Goals Record

Mike Sawyer scored the first goal of Loyola’s NCAA Quarterfinal game last Saturday and broke the school single-season record for goals in the process.

Sawyer now has 51 goals this season, breaking the previous best of 50 set by Tim Goettelmann in 2000. Goettelmann went on to become Major League Lacrosse’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Earlier this season, 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. They are the only three Loyola players to top 40 this century.

In the ECAC Semifinal against Denver, Sawyer pushed his season point total to 50, a number that is now at 59, making him the first Greyhound to reach 50 in a season since Prout had 58 (37g, 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. Sawyer’s teammate, Eric Lusby, has since joined him with more than 50 points (more later).

Lusby Right Behind After 5-Goal Game

After tying his career-high with five goals in the Greyhounds 10-9 victory over Denver, Eric Lusby leads the team with 61 points and is not far behind Mike Sawyer in the goals column with 45.

Lusby recorded a career-high seven points in the win over the Pioneers and was involved in all but three of the Greyhounds goals after recording two assists. He scored back-to-back goals twice, once during the second quarter and again in the third.

Three-For-Three

Loyola completed a three-game sweep of Denver with its 10-9 NCAA Quarterfinal victory last Saturday, marking the first time in school history the Greyhounds had ever played a team three times in a season.

It is the third time a team has beaten another three times in a season (thanks to Patrick Stevens of The Washington Times for the research). Loyola joins the 1992 Maryland (vs. Duke), 2007 Duke (vs. North Carolina) and 2009 Duke (vs. North Carolina) teams to have accomplished the feat.

Faceoff Turnaround

Loyola’s J.P. Dalton dominated the faceoff ‘X’ on Saturday against Denver, winning 17-of-22 (.772) against Denver’s Chase Carraro. It was a vast departure from the first two times the teams squared off where the Pioneers went a combined 30-of-45 (.667).

In the regular-season meeting between the teams, Carraro was 13-of-14 at the X, and he went 16-of 29 against the Greyhounds in the ECAC Semifinal game.

Dalton’s 17 wins were one off his career-high set earlier this season against Air Force.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the nation this season, combining for 96 goals in 17 games this season, an average of 5.65 per game.

Sawyer has scored 51 goals, and his 3.0 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 45 goals and a 2.65 goals per game mark, a number that is 11th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 11 of goals per game nationally (Robert Morris).

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 40 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.

The duo is now the top goal-scoring tandem in Loyola single-season history, eclipsing the performance in 2000 by Goettelmann and Prout.

Two Over 40/50

Mike Sawyer (51g, 59p) and Eric Lusby (45g, 62p) became the first set of Loyola teammates to score 40 goals and 50 points in a season since Tim Goettelmann (50, 65) and Gavin Prout (41, 53) accomplished the feat in 2000.

They are one of only two duos in the nation this year – Robert Morris’ Kiel Matisz (40, 64) and Jake Hayes (42, 61) are the other – to post 40 and 50.

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 (79) and caused turnovers (34), is fifth in goals (12) and is seventh in assists (7). His 34 caused turnovers are second-most in Loyola history – behind P.T. Ricci’s 51 in 2009 – since the stats became official in 2008.

A Tewaaraton Award nominee earlier in the year, 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 All-ECAC First Team honoree and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, then scored twice in the first quarter against Canisius to go along with six ground balls and three faceoff wins in the game.

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 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.

Ward Dishes Out Assists

Justin Ward was credited with two assists in the NCAA Quarterfinal against Denver, raising his season total to 30, and his 1.76 assists per game are now tied for 19th nationally. Those numbers are tops among the remaining players on the four teams in the NCAA Semifinals.

Ward is the first Loyola player this century to reach 30 assists, and his total is the most since Brian Duffy had 34 in 1996.

NCAA Semifinals Connections

Kevin Ryan’s family will have a rare connection to Loyola’s place in the NCAA Semifinals historically after this weekend. Ryan, who scored an EMO goal in the Quarterfinals against Denver, is the cousin of Sean Quinn and Kevin Quinn who played on Loyola’s semifinal teams in 1990 and 1998, respectively. Sean was a starting defender on the 1990 team, and Kevin a midfielder on the 1998 team.

Phil Dobson, a Loyola midfielder, will face his older brother, Devon, for the first time on a collegiate lacrosse field. Devon is a defensive midfielder for the Fighting Irish.

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 Denver in the NCAA Quarterfinals was its 16th 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.

Second-Half Run

Loyola used 13 unanswered goals to break open a 4-3 halftime lead against Canisius in a 17-5 victory over the Golden Griffins in the NCAA Championships First Round.

The Greyhounds took a 4-0 lead in the first quarter before Canisius scored three unanswered in the second. Mike Sawyer corralled a rebound of an Eric Lusby shot off the pipe and scored 1:20 into the second quarter to start the run. During the stretch, Sawyer scored all five of his goals, and Lusby had two of his three.

The run was the second longest in the brief, three-year history of Ridley Athletic Complex. Only a 14-0 run to start the game on March 20, 2010, against Air Force had more goals.

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. Also, in March, Loyola’s men’s basketball team won its first MAAC title in 18 years and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1994.

Sawyer Named One Of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

Mike Sawyer was named one of five Tewaaraton Award finalists on Thursday, 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. The Award, which is given annually to the top player in college lacrosse, will be presented on May 31 at the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.

Midfield Scoring

Loyola’s first midfield line of Davis Butts (19g, 32p), Sean O’Sullivan (16, 27) and Chris Layne (11, 21) has combined for 46 goals and 34 assists this season, while the second midfield unit of Pat Byrnes (9, 7), J.P. Dalton (9, 4) and Phil Dobson (7, 2) has added 25 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.

Spreading Out The Scoring Wealth

Loyola’s first 11 goals against Denver in the ECAC Semifinal 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.

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 (3/14-3/17) and 1999 (3/6-3/8).

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

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 has guided the Greyhounds to a 16-1 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.

The win over Denver in the Quarterfinals 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 .619 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. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff, who was also named ECAC Defensive Player of the Year, 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 (51) and goals per game (3.0). Butts has scored 19 goals and assisted on 13 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 38 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 11th nationally with 45 goals (2.68 per game), and he also has 16 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 32 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers entering the NCAA Quarterfinals.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 17 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 34 occasions this season.

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 12 times this year, with the most recent 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.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 48-percent of the time (24-of-50). Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year. Loyola dropped below 50-percent for the first time this year by going 4-of-10 in the game against Denver.

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 63-22 in the third quarters of games and 117-61 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.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – Loyola University Maryland juniors Mike Sawyer and Scott Ratliff earned All-America Second and Third Team honors, respectively, from the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association, becoming the first pair of Greyhounds to earn honors other than Honorable Mention in the same season since 2000.

In addition to the honors Sawyer and Ratliff received, five other Loyola players – graduate student Eric Lusby, juniors Reid Acton, Davis Butts and Josh Hawkins and sophomore Joe Fletcher – were named Honorable Mention All-Americans.

The last time two or more Loyola players were named to teams was 2000 when Mike Battista was named to the second, Tim Goettelmann to thesecond and Gavin Prout to the third.

Seven players are the most Greyhounds to be honored in a year since seven received recognition in 1999.

Sawyer, who is also a Tewaaraton Award finalist, set aschool record last Saturday in a NCAA Quarterfinals victory over Denver with his 51^st goal of the year. His goal tally surpassed Goettelmann’s 2000 total of 50.

The junior attacker from Waxhaw, N.C., has totaled 58 points and 38 ground balls, as well, this year. He is third in the NCAA in goals per game (3.0) and second in total goals.

Ratliff earned Third Team honors as a long-stick midfielder while leading the Greyhounds in ground balls (79) and caused turnovers (34)this season. A Tewaaraton Award semifinalist, he also set the school long-pole single-season scoring record, recording 12 goals and seven assists thus far.

He is the first player from the state of Georgia, hailing from Marietta, to earn All-America honors, and he follows his father, Randy, as an All-American. Randy earned honors at the University of Maryland in 1977 and 1979.

Lusby, an attacker from Severna Park, Md., earned Honorable Mention this season after returning for his fourth year of eligibility. He played in just two games last year and received a medical redshirt following a knee injury in the 2010 NCAA First Round. Lusby has led the Greyhounds in points (61) this season, scoring 45 goals to go with 16 assists. He tied his career-high with five goals in the NCAA Quarterfinals against Denver and set a career-best with seven points.

Acton, a defender from Toronto, Ontario, was one of the top inside defenders in the nation and frequently drew the matchup against opponents’ top attacker. He has 41 ground balls and 17 caused turnovers this season and also scored a 75-yard goal in the ECAC Championship Game against Fairfield. Earlier in the year, he had primary marking responsibility against Denver All-American Mark Matthews, as Acton’s fellow Canadian’s 39 games with a goal streak was snapped.

Butts, a midfielder form Walpole, Mass., used his speed and dodging ability from the midfield to create opportunities for himself and teammates. He has scored 19 goals and has 13 assists this year, and his play on the wings of faceoffs on occasion has helped him scoop up 38 ground balls.

Fletcher, a defender from Syracuse, N.Y., earned a reputation during the season as one of the nation’s top defenders in his first year as a starter. He has totaled 32 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers, and he made one of the biggest plays of the year for Loyola, knocking down a Denver shot with less than 20 seconds to play in the NCAA Quarterfinals, securing the Greyhounds’ win.

Hawkins, a defensive midfielder from Amherst, Mass., continued to be one of the finest short-sticks in the nation, rolling up 60ground balls, good for second on the team despite missing the first four games of the year with a n injury. He also scored five goals and had two assists,helping key Loyola’s potent transition game.

Loyola will continue its season on Saturday, May 26, when it makes its third appearance in the NCAA Semifinals. The Greyhounds will take on Notre Dame at 2:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., in a gamethat will be broadcast on ESPN2.