Defensive Midfield Scores Six In 13-7 Win Over Fairfield

 

BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland defensive midfielders Scott Ratliff and Josh Hawkins combined to score six goals on as many shots, and Pat Laconi added an assist, as the Greyhounds’ defensive midfield was in on almost half of their goals during a 13-7 victory Saturday afternoon over visiting Fairfield University in ECAC Lacrosse League action at Ridley Athletic Complex.

Ratliff, a long-stick midfielder, scored four, and Hawkins added two for Loyola (9-2 overall, 5-0 ECAC), which clinched a bid to the 2013 ECAC Championships that will be played May 2-4 at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y. Ratliff also had four caused turnovers and three ground balls, and Hawkins tallied a pair off the ground and caused one Stags turnover.

Fairfield (6-5, 3-2) took an early 1-0 lead as Marshall Johnson scored on a seven-yard shot from the top at 10:32 in the first quarter, but less than two minutes later, an extra-man goal by Loyola would start a 5-0 Greyhounds run.

A Stags push gave Loyola a man advanatage, and Harry Kutner fed Kevin Ryan who hit an over-the-shoulder shot from just in front of the crease to tie the game at 1-1 with 8:44 on the first-quarter clock.

Ratliff then picked up the ground ball on the next faceoff, and he struck with a 12-yard shot from the top of the box to give Loyola its first lead, 2-1, just nine second after Ryan’s goal.

Chris Layne scored the Greyhounds’ third goal, taking a flip from Davis Butts and running left-to-right past his defender to score at 6:27. Justin Ward then scored his first of two-straight at 3:11 with a sidearm shot from just outside the crease.

Ward added another 59 seconds later, converting a bounce shot from a tough angle on the left side after rolling from ‘X’. That goal pushed the Greyhounds’ advantage to 5-1.

Drew Frederick came off a check on the right side and scored on a low-to-low shot with 40 seconds left in the first quarter, but the Greyhounds still had enough time to score one more before the end of the first 15 minutes.

Nikko Pontrello came off a Ratliff screen, and Ratliff rolled to the right side of the crease where Pontrello hit him with 23 ticks showing for Ratliff’s second of the quarter.

Sean O’Sullivan gave Loyola a 7-2 lead at 12:09 in the second quarter when he got free down the right alley, but Fairfield got back within four at 9:40 on a Eric Warden bouncer after rolling the crease on the left side.

Ratliff quickly built the lead back to five for Loyola, flicking a shot into the net off a Ward feed at 9:12.

Later in the quarter, with a 30-second warning in place, Sam Snow came down the right side and hit an overhand bouncer at 3:46, cutting Loyola’s lead to 8-4.

Hawkins, however, pushed the lead back to five before halftime, running a slow clear and backing off a check for a hard shot from seven yards out with 56 seconds remaining before the break.

Jordan Greenfield pulled the Stags back to within four, 9-5, 1:22 into the second half with a low-to-low shot from the right side off a Snow pass, but Ratliff to a Laconi pass in transition and hit a 10-yard step-down shot at 12:44.

Mike Sawyer used a Ward pass at 10:53 to score his first of the game before Warden scored his second with a goal for Fairfield at 10:18.

The score remained 11-6 in Loyola’s favor for several minutes before Sawyer scored in highlight-reel fashion. He was knocked to the turf, and a penalty flag flew on Fairfield, but Sawyer got off a hard shot from the ground and scored at 1:29 to push the lead to six.

Ratliff then caused a Fairfield turnover with under 45 seconds left in the quarter, and Hawkins appeared to settle the play before faking a pass and running down the left alley to score with 18 seconds left in the third.

Fairfield scored the fourth quarter’s lone goal with 1:56 left in the game on a Tristan Sperry shot.

In addition to the multi-point efforts by the defensive midfielders, Ward finished with two goals and two assists, and Sawyer scored twice.

Joe Fletcher matched Ratliff and goalkeeper Jack Runkel for team-high honors with three assists, and defenders Pat Frazier and Reid Acton each caused two turnovers.

The Greyhounds play their final regular-season home game of the season on Saturday, April 13, at 1 o’clock against the University of Denver.

Game Information
Opponent	Fairfield Stags
Date	Saturday, April 6, 2013
Time	2:30 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. | Ridley Athletic Complex

Game Data

• Loyola University Maryland returns to Ridley Athletic Complex for the first time since the second day of March to host Fairfield University in a 2:30 p.m. ECAC Lacrosse League game on Saturday, April 6.
• The game is part of a doubleheader at Ridley. Loyola’s women host Georgetown University in the first game, starting at 12 noon.

Series History

• Loyola and Fairfield will play for the 16th time in series history when the teams meet on Saturday. The Greyhounds hold a 13-2 advantage in the all-time series after winning both meetings last season.
• In last year’s regular-season meeting, the Greyhounds rallied from a two-goal fourth-quarter deficit to score the last four game to defeat Fairfield, 8-6, on April 7, 2012, in the regular-season meeting between the teams. The Stags took a 6-4 lead with 11:59 left in regulation on a John Snellman goal, but Davis Butts assisted a J.P. Dalton goal eight seconds later to start the 4-0 run that led to the win in Connecticut.
• The teams met again on May 4, in the ECAC Championship Game at Denver University, and Loyola used an 8-1 run that spanned three quarters to take a 14-7 decision. Fairfield pulled within a goal when Sam Snow scored with 27 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, but Loyola got a once-in-a-lifetime goal from defender Reid Acton. Loyola goalkeeper Jack Runkel made a save on a Fairfield shot, and he passed the ball to Acton. Acton threw the ball nearly 75 yards, and it went over the stick of Fairfield goalkeeper Charlie Cipriano to make the score 5-3 with one second to go in the first quarter.
• Justin Ward had two goals and three assists in the game, while Mike Sawyer scored three goals and Chris Layne tallied two goals and an assist.

In The Polls

• Loyola remained at No. 5 in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse media poll this week while checking in at No. 6 in the USILA Coaches rankings.

Last Time Out

• Loyola held host Ohio State to just 23 shots and did not allow a Buckeyes’ goal for a stretch of 32 minutes, 54 seconds, during a 9-4 ECAC Lacrosse League victory last Saturday in Columbus.
• Ohio State scored with 3:03 left in the second quarter, tying the score at 3-3, but Loyola would score three times before halftime to lead 6-3 at the break.
• The three goals were the first part of a 6-0 run that saw the Greyhounds go ahead, 9-3, off the opening faceoff of the fourth quarter.
• Loyola’s defense held Ohio State to only 10 shots, and the Buckeyes had 10 turnovers, in the final 33 minutes of the game.
• Nikko Pontrello scored three goals, while Chris Layne had a goal and two assists for Loyola. Justin Ward added two assists, and Davis Butts, Zach Herreweyers and Scott Ratliff each scored a goal and assisted on another. Jack Runkel made nine saves in goal for the Greyhounds.

Defensively Speaking

• Loyola has allowed just 15 goals over its last three games, an average of 5.0. In the first two games, at Georgetown and Michigan, the Greyhounds gave up just one goal before halftime, and they then allowed only one after the break at Ohio State
• In the two games, Loyola’s opponents have made just 17.9-percent of their shots, converting on 14-of-78 attempts.
• The Greyhounds have forced 54 turnovers in the games, as Georgetown committed 20, Michigan had 18 and Ohio State, 16. Of those 54 turnovers, Loyola was credited with 34 caused turnovers.
• The 17 caused at Georgetown were the most this season by Loyola and the most by a Greyhounds’ team since they posted 19 in back-to-back games against St. John’s and Massachusetts in March 2009.
• Entering the game against Fairfield, Loyola is fifth in Division I with 10.0 caused turnovers per game. Four players – Scott Ratliff (20th, 1.0), Pat Laconi(37th, 1.6), Joe Fletcher (48th, 1.4) and Reid Acton (95th, 1.11) – are ranked among the nation’s top 100 in caused turnovers per game.

CLASSy Senior Candidate

• Earlier this week, Scott Ratliff was named one of 10 finalists for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award, an honor given yearly to a NCAA Division I senior who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence – community, classroom, character and competition
• Ratliff has continued his high production on defense, transition and offense that helped him earn USILA All-America Third Team and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year honors a year ago when he led the team last year in ground balls (88) and caused turnovers (37), was fifth in goals (12) and seventh in assists (7).
• He had one of his stat-sheet filling games against Air Force, scoring a goal and assisting on another while picking up five ground balls and causing three turnovers, and he turned in another with a goal, four ground balls and two caused turnovers while going 4-of-4 on faceoffs against Georgetown. Ratliff came one shy of his career-high with eight ground balls at Michigan.
• His career totals now stand at 23 goals and 13 assists, and his 36 career points are second-most among active long-poles to Bryant’s Mason Poli. Last year, he set the school’s single-season long-pole scoring record with 12 goals and seven assists, eclipsing the previous high of 16 points on 11 goals and five assists set in 1995 by current Loyola assistant coach Matt Dwan.
• Additionally, Ratliff now stands 10th in school Division I history in career ground balls (190) and second in caused turnovers (78). His caused turnovers are 12 shy of tying the school record set in 2008 by P.T. Ricci.

Acton Garners ECAC Award

• Reid Acton earned ECAC Co-Defensive Player of the Week honors last Monday, marking the fifth week in a row a Loyola player has won at least a share of the weekly laurel.
• Against Ohio State, Acton had primary marking responsibilities for the Buckeyes’ Logan Schuss who entered the game with a team-best 20 goals. Acton held him without a goal while covering him – Schuss’ lone goal came 55 seconds into the game when he was running with the midfield – allowing just five total shots by the reigning ECAC Offensive Player of the Year.
• Acton has now won the award three times in his career after picking up the honor twice last season.
• During the last five weeks, Jack Runkel, Scott Ratliff, Joe Fletcher (twice) and Acton have been named the week’s top defender. Also, during that stretch,Justin Ward and Zach Herreweyers were named Offensive Players of the Week.

Pontrello Keeps Tallying Points

• Nikko Pontrello notched his third hat trick of the season on Saturday at Ohio State, scoring a game-high three against the Buckeyes. He also had three-goal outings against UMBC and Air Force earlier this year.
• In his first season as a starter, Pontrello has scored 13 goals while assisting on the same number for 26 points, second most on the team. As a freshman in 2012, he scored four goals and assisted on six.
• He posted his second six-point game this season March 16 against Air Force, scoring a career-high four goals to go with two assists. He scored in the first quarter, tallied a pair during Loyola’s 4-0 third-quarter run and added his fourth in the final frame. Earlier this year against UMBC, Pontrello posted three goals and three assists for six points against the Retrievers.

Defensive Midfield Production

• Loyola’s defensive midfield had a productive game against Georgetown, finishing the outing with three goals, two assists, 11 ground balls and nine caused turnovers.
• Short-sticks Josh Hawkins, who was playing his first game of the 2013 season, and Pat Laconi each scored a goal and assisted on another, while causing three turnovers each. Hawkins had four ground balls and Laconi picked up one. Freshman short-stick Tyler Albrecht also had a ground ball in the game.
• Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff had Loyola’s first goal of the game, caused two turnovers and picked up four ground balls. Fellow long-stick Thomas Robinson had a ground ball after causing a turnover.
• This season, Laconi is seventh on the team with eight points, and Ratliff is tied for eighth with seven. Laconi has four goals and four assists, while Ratliff has scored six times and assisted on one goal. Hawkins’ two points were his first of the year.

Another Multi-Point Venture For Ward

• With two assists at Ohio State, Justin Ward had his 10th multi-point effort in as many games this season. He has now tallied at least two points in all 10 games this season, and he has three or more in seven those outings..
• In the Georgetown game, he became the 10th player in the program’s Division I history (since 1982) to log 50 or more assists in his career. With 54 career assists, Ward now stands 10th in school Division I history, one shy of Stephen Brundage’s 55 in ninth place.
• Ward put up his second game with seven or more points on March 16 against Air Force, logging seven with two goals and five assists in the win over the Falcons. His five assists tied his career-high, set twice in 2012 against Towson and Fairfield.
• On February 26, 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.
• Through 10 games this year, Ward leads the team with 21 goals and 22 assists for 43 points.

Fletcher Turns Up ‘D’

• Joe Fletcher earned ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honors on March 18 after picking up three ground balls and causing a turnover against Air Force. More impressive was the defense Fletcher played on Air Force’s offensive quarterback, preseason All-American Keith Dryer.
• Dryer entered the game with four goals and a team-leading 10 assists, but Fletcher held him without a point.
• This season, Fletcher, who was a Preseason All-America First Team honoree, has 37 ground balls and 13 caused turnovers.

Offensive Addition

• Freshman Zach Herreweyers made his first career start on March 16 against Air Force on attack for the Greyhounds, and he made his debut to the opening 10 an impressive one.
• Herreweyers scored his first collegiate goal with 12.3 seconds left in the first quarter, and he finished with a hat trick, tallying goals for Loyola in the third and fourth quarters, as well. He also picked up three ground balls.
• He followed that game with a four-goal outing Wednesday at Georgetown, a hat trick at Michigan and a goal and an assist at Ohio State.
• The freshman from London, Ontario, made his collegiate debut against Duke on March 8. In five games played, he is tied for fourth on the team with 11 goals.
• Herreweyers became the first Loyola freshman to score three times in a game since current senior Patrick Fanshaw scored five goals and assisted on another on March 20, 2010, also against Air Force.

Eighth To 100

• With his goal at 9:25 in the third quarter against UMBC, 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 joined 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).

Layne Keeps Tallying Points

• Chris Layne had his fifth multi-point game of the season against Ohio State, recorda goal and two assists. He has scored at least one point in all 10 of the Greyhounds’ games this year.
• Through 10 games this season, Layne has scored 11 goals and has eight 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.

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.

Preseason Accolades

• Six Loyola players were named to the Inside Lacrosse Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America teams: defender Joe Fletcher and short-stick midfielderJosh 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 Georgetown this was the 70th victory of his coaching career, becoming the second coach in Loyola history to win 70 or more, joining – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001).

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 Greyhounds then had a 4-0 run that spanned both halves to help beat Bellarmine, and they runs of 3-0 and 4-0 to beat Air Force.
• In the Georgetown game, Loyola had its longest run of the year, scoring eight straight.
• At Ohio State, the Greyhounds went on a 6-0 run that spanned the final three quarters to take control of the game.

Second-Half Success

• Last season, the Greyhounds outscored opponents 66-22 in the third quarters of games, and 123-63 overall in the second half (including overtime). 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 39-18 in the third quarter and 60-42 overall after halftime.

Honorable Mention: Auto Racing-NASCAR STP Gas Booster 500 (Sunday 1pm from Martinsville, VA live on FOX), IndyCar Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama (Sunday 3pm from Birmingham live on NBC Sports Network); Golf: PGA Tour Valero Texas Open (Thursday & Friday 3pm live on Golf Channel, Saturday & Sunday 1pm live on Golf Channel 3pm live on NBC. All golf from San Antonio), LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship (Thursday & Friday 12pm & 6pm Saturday & Sunday 5pm from Rancho Mirage, CA live on Golf Channel); Women’s College Basketball: NCAA Tournament Elite 8-Notre Dame vs. Duke(Tuesday 7:05pm from Norfolk live on ESPN), Tennessee vs. Louisville (Tuesday 9:10pm from Oklahoma City live on ESPN); Final Four (Sunday TBA from New Orleans live on ESPN); Mixed Martial Arts: UFC on FUEL TV-Alexander Gustafsson vs. Gegard Mousasi (Saturday 11am from Stockholm, SWE live on FUEL TV); Bellator MMA (Thursday 10pm from Atlantic City live on SpikeTV)

10. Maroon 5/Neon Trees/Owl City (Wednesday 7:30pm Verizon Center); Green Day (Thursday 7:30pm Patriot Center); They Might Be Giants (Saturday 9pm Rams Head Live); Brigance Brigade Foundation Benefit feat. Charm City Devils/Loving The Lie (Saturday 8pm Baltimore Soundstage); Senses Fail (Friday 8pm Ottobar); Marc Broussard (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Meek Mill (Saturday 8pm Fillmore Silver Spring); Ozomatli (Wednesday 7pm 9:30 Club), Local Natives (Friday 8pm Saturday 7pm 9:30 Club), Black Crowes (Monday 7pm 9:30 Club); Carolina Chocolate Drops (Wednesday 7:30pm Birchmere); Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/Walk The Moon (Sunday George Washington University)

I like Charm City Devils. I LOVE supporting anything involving O.J. Brigance. Nice little Saturday night then.

Loving The Lie is another excellent Baltimore band playing the event Saturday night. I throw my support fully behind that.

Genuinely believe I’ve heard more about Local Natives in the last month than I’ve heard about U2 in my life. Pretty good reason for that.

I can get behind EVERYTHING about Carolina Chocolate Drops…

9. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents Dragons (Tuesday-Sunday 1st Mariner Arena); Jon Lovitz/Chris Kattan/Tim Meadows (Thursday 7:30pm Birchmere); Louis C.K. (Saturday 8pm & 10:30pm Meyerhoff Symphony Hall); Brian Regan (Friday 8pm Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric); Shawn & Marlon Wayans (Thursday-Sunday DC Improv); Craig Shoemaker (Thursday 8pm Baltimore Comedy Factory), Bret Ernst (Friday & Saturday Baltimore Comedy Factory); Rich Vos (Thursday-Saturday Magooby’s Joke House); “That Thing You Do!” available on Blu-Ray (Tuesday)

Don’t kill me for this, but I searched “That Thing You Do!” on YouTube and discovered this video of ‘N Sync performing the song over a decade ago. I could have ignored the video, but instead I shared it with you here.

Language, but nothing not to enjoy about Louis C.K…

(Continued on Page 2…)

Fairfield, Conn.- Visiting UMBC outshot No. 13 Fairfield, 41-40, but Stag goalkeeper Jack Murphy made 17 saves and the Retrievers fell, 14-9 at Alumni Field.

UMBC junior midfielders Conor Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys’ Latin) and Zach Linkous (Jarrettsville, Md./St. Paul’s) paced the visitors in the scoring column. Finch amassed a career-best four-point day, with three goals and an assist, while Linkous recorded three goals.

Retriever junior face-off specialist Phil Poe (Harwood, Md./DeMatha) won 16 of the game’s 27 draws and recorded a season-best eight ground balls.

UMBC fell behind 3-0 early in the contest, but goals by junior midfielder David Campbell (Severna Park, Md./Severna Park), Linkous and sophomore Ty Kashur (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson/CCBC-Essex) in a span of 2:30 got the Retrievers even at 3-3 with 3:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Retriever nearly took the lead ,but a shot by freshman midfielder Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School) hit the post with 30 seconds remaining in the quarter and Fairfield corralled the ground ball. Fairfield cleared and the Stags’ Tristan Sperry scored with just four seconds remaining in the quarter to give the hosts a 4-3 edge after 15 minutes.

Fairfield carried that momentum into the second quarter, as they held UMBC to just five shots and outscored the Retrievers, 4-0.

FU led, 8-3 at the half and extended the scoring run to 6-0 as Jordan Greenfield scored his third goal of the game 90 seconds into the third quarter. UMBC tried a get a rally going, as Linkous scored on the Retrievers’ lone man-up chance of the day on a feed from senior attackman Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Wading River) and Finch netted an unassisted tally with 5:13 to play and the third.

But the comeback was short-lived, as the hosts started a 5-1 surge just 1:24 after Finch’s goal and were in control at 14-6 with 11:30 remaining in the contest .

Finch scored twice and freshman attackman Nate Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) added a goal in the final 10:48 to finalize the scoring on the day.

Murphy, the ECAC Defensive Player of the Week for the past two weeks, made 10 of his 17 stops in the second half. UMBC senior attackmen Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox) and Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River) each managed six shots, but could not dent the net.

UMBC senior goalkeeper Adam Cohen (Arnold, Md./Severn) made all eight of his saves in the middle two quarters of play.

FU’s Jordan Greenfield led all scorers with four goals and six total points in the game.

UMBC (1-3) meets No. 1 Maryland (4-0) on Wed., March 6 at Byrd Stadium. The game will be televised by ESPNU and the opening face is set for just after 5:00 p.m.

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team (1-2) continues as tough a stretch as any team in the nation on Saturday, March 2 when they travel to Connecticut to take on No. 13 Fairfield (2-2) at Alumni Field. The opening face-off takes place at 1:00. In an eleven-day span, UMBC face No. 4 Loyola (Feb. 26), No. 13 Fairfield, No. 1 Maryland (March 6) and No. 3 Johns Hopkins (March all on the road.

 

UMBC is coming off a 21-9 setback to defending national champion and fourth-ranked Loyola in miserable conditions    at Ridley Athletic Complex on Feb. 26. The Retrievers led, 4-3, after one quarter and trailed only 9-7 early in the third quarter, before the Greyhounds ran off ten consecutive goals.

 

TOP DOG: Head Coach Don Zimmerman enters his 20^th season at UMBC in 2013. The Retriever mentor stood eighth in victories (213) and 15th in winning percentage (60.7%) amongst active Division I coaches after the 2012 campaign. The win over Binghamton on April 10, 2010 was the 200th in the career of UMBC head coach Don Zimmerman. He is now 214-139 in his 27th year as a collegiate mentor. He coached his 250th game at UMBC vs. Hartford on May 4, 2011.

 

Zimmerman’s Records

Career Record:

214-140 (.605) (27th season)

at UMBC: 141-125 (.530) (20th season)

WINNING THE TIGHT ONES: UMBC is now 26-17 in games decided by three goals or less since the beginning of the 2007 season. UMBC had won eight straight overtime decisions from 2007-09 until dropping a Feb. 20, 2010 triple overtime decision to Delaware. UMBC’s previous overtime loss was an 11-10 setback at Penn early in the 2006 season.

 

In 2012, UMBC was 2-4 in games decided by one or two goals. The Retrievers have won 17 of its last 23 one-goal decisions.

 

UMBC is now 16-6 in Don Zimmerman’s 19+ seasons in overtime and in his career, Coach Zimmerman is 18-8 in extra time in 26 seasons.

 

HOME, SWEET HOME: UMBC is 39-16 (.709) at home since 2006.

 

FOR (HOME) OPENERS: With the 11-7 win over Rutgers on Feb. 23, UMBC snapped a three-game slide in home openers.

 

NOTING: The 21 goals allowed by UMBC to Loyola on Feb. 26 is the most permitted by a Retriever team since allowing 27 goals to Towson in the 1996 campaign.

 

BEASTS OF AMERICA EAST: UMBC is 36-11 in nine years of America East competition and 20-4 at UMBC Stadium. UMBC has never lost back-to-back regular season contests in league play.

 

In 2012, the Retrievers (3-2 AEC) posted a winning league record and earned a spot in the four-team America East Conference Championships for the ninth consecutive year.

 

DON’T LOOK BACK: UMBC is now in its 46th season of varsity men’s lacrosse with a record of 339-285 (.543). The Retrievers played their 600th intercollegiate match on March 18, 2012 at Maryland. They are 222-218 (.505) in their 32nd year at the Division I level, achieving win No. 200 vs. Ohio State on March 21, 2009. Before the win over Towson on April 1, 2008, the last time the program was last over the .500 mark at the Division I level was when at the end of its third season (1983) when the record was 19-18.

 

2012 RANKINGS:

Assists per game                      13^th                   7.15

Man-Up Offense                        14^th                   41.9

 

PLAYER NOTES

 

TEAM CAPTAINS: The UMBC men’s lacrosse team has selected seniors Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox), Neill Lewnes (Annapolis, Md./St. Mary’s) , and Ethan Murphy (West Seneca, N.Y./West Seneca East) as its captains for the 2012-13 academic year. Jones and Murphy will serve as team captains for the second consecutive year.

2012 AMERICA EAST ALL-CONFERENCE: Junior attackman Scott Jones and sophomore face-off specialist Phil Poe earned America East Conference First Team honors in a vote of the league’s six head coaches. Two Retrievers- senior defender Aaron Verardi and junior midfielderScott Hopmann- earned Second Team honors, while freshman A/M Derek Bertolini was selected to the All-Rookie team. Junior defender Ethan Murphy was also honored by earning a selection to the league’s All -Academic squad.

 

Sixty-six Retrievers have been honored by the America East Conference on all-league teams since 2004.

 

 

UMBC senior goalkeeper Adam Cohen (Arnold, Md./The Severn School) was named America East Men’s Lacrosse Player of the Week for games ending Feb. 24, 2013. Cohen led the Retrievers in the squad’s 11-7 victory over Rutgers at UMBC Stadium on Feb. 23. Over the final three quarters, the Retriever netminder made 12 of his 13 saves and allowed only five goals over the same span of time.

The 13 stops were one shy of his 14 made at Rutgers in 11-7 victory in 2012. He also received America East Conference Player of the Week honors after his performance in that contest a season ago

In that contest, Cohen scored UMBC’s final goal of the day with 1:39 remaining at Rutgers and it is believed to be the first goal scored by a Retriever goalkeeper in 32 years of NCAA Division I competition.

SR A Scott Jones had hat tricks or better in four of his last six outings of the 2012 season, scoring a total of 18 goals in that span. He had scored in 14 consecutive games (35g-10a-45pts, 3.21 ppg) until being held off the board at Vermont on April 7. Jones had multiple points in 12 of those contests and finished the 2012 season 8th in the nation with 2.77 goals per contest.

 

With his four-goal effort in the opener at Robert Morris, he now also has 14 career games with three or more goals and was tied for 10^th- most amongst current Division I players (prior to Feb. 23). Jones is the team’s leading active scorer with 83 points (68-15-83).

 

HELPING HANDS: In 2012, SR A Joe Lustgarten led America East and finished 4th nationally with 2.23 assists per game. He became the 21st player in school history to post 25 assists in a season (29)-the last player to tally 25 or more was Drew Westervelt, who recorded 36 in 2007. Lustgarten had multiple assists in 11 consecutive outings, which is the longest streak in a single season since Steve Marohl, the NCAA record-setter with 77 assists, had multiple helpers in 12 straight in the 1992 campaign. He was held off the board completely at Loyola on Feb. 26.

 

CROW ABOUT POE: JR face-off specialist Phil Poe attempted all but six draws through 11 games in 2012 and his 320 attempted were 7^th in the nation. His 174 face-off victories are the second-most in school history, behind only Russ LeClair’s 210 wins in 1984.

 

 

Poe was named America East Conference Player of the Week for games ending April 21, 2012. Poe tied a school record by winning 22 face-offs in the 17-16 overtime victory over Albany. Moreover, his 15 ground balls recorded are the most since Nick Brownlee scooped a school-record 18 vs. VMI in 1997 The 22 face-off wins tied for the sixth-most in a Division I single game in 2012.

 

Poe’s 87 ground balls on the 2012 season is the most for a Retriever since Nick Brownlee had 108 in 1997. Poe won 14 or more draws in nine of the 13 contests in 2012. He finished 11th in the country with 6.31 ground balls per game.

 

NOTING: SR A Matt Gregoire, who did not play at RMU due to injury, debuted and posted his third career game with three or more goals vs. Rutgers… FR M Pat Young scored the first two goals of his career, tallying twice in the first quarter at Robert Morris… SO LSM Seth Mackingarnered a career-best six ground balls in that game… Twenty-seven Retrievers saw action in the opener vs. the Colonials and 28 appeared vs. Rutgers… JR M David Campbell and FR ANate Lewnes scored their first goals in the black and gold vs. the Scarlet Knights.

 

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENT: Fairfield (2-2) dropped its second consecutive game, falling 9-2 at home to Hofstra on Feb. 26. Jack Murphy took the loss in net for the Stags, stopping 13 shots in the contest. Murphy has taken home the ECAC Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Week award for two consecutive weeks, stopping 28 total shots in a 10-9 win over Navy and a 10-9 loss at North Carolina. FU opened the season with an 8-6 victory over Bryant. JR A Jordan Greenfield (8g, 2a) and SR M Sam Snow (7g, 3a) share team-high scoring honors for the Stags.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Last season, Fairfield senior attackman John Snellman scored 44 seconds into overtime and the 20^th-ranked Stags nipped UMBC, 10-9, at UMBC Stadium. Scott Jonesscored the game-tying goal with 40 seconds to play in regulation and recorded a season-best four-goal effort. The meeting was the first between the two teams since 1999.

UMBC and Fairfield played a home-and-home series in 1998 and 1999, with the Retrievers capturing both contests. UMBC triumphed, 13-5, at home in ’98 and won, 10-8, in Connecticut in 1999.

UP NEXT: UMBC faces current No. 1 Maryland at Byrd Stadium on Wed., March 6. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU and the opening draw takes place at 5:00 p.m.

FAIRFIELD, Conn. –  Preseason All-American midfielder Sam Snow scored Fairfield’s last three goals of the contest, including the game-winner with 4.1 seconds left, leading the 15th-ranked Stags (2-0) to a 10-9 victory over the Navy men’s lacrosse team (2-1) on a rainy Tuesday afternoon in Fairfield, Conn.

“No doubt this was a hard-fought game,” said second-year Navy head coach Rick Sowell.  “We had the shot to go ahead and just came up one play short.”

In one of the most exciting fourth quarters in recent memory, the game featured seven ties including five in final quarter of play.  After a scoreless third period, the two teams headed into the final quarter of play deadlocked at 4-4.  Neither team was able to get more than a one-goal lead in the final stanza as the teams went toe to toe over the final 15 minutes.

Junior attackman Tucker Hull gave the Mids a 5-4 lead just 34 seconds into the fourth period, but Fairfield’s Jordan Greenfield answered just seven seconds later after the Stags won the faceoff.

After being held without a point in the first three quarters, Snow came alive in the fourth and punched in the first of his team-high four goals with 13:06 remaining to push the Stags ahead, 6-5.  Snow’s goal was set up after Navy senior midfielder Bryce Dabbs’ pass to teammate Pat Durkin went awry and Nick Guida fed Snow.  To add insult to injury, Dabbs was called for a one-minute unreleasable illegal body check.  Navy, though, was able to kill off the penalty.

Four minutes later, sophomore midfielder Gabe Voumard put the Mids on his shoulders and scored back-to-back goals over a 35-second span to give the Mids a 7-6 advantage with 8:46 to play.  Voumard’s first goal was scored when Hull’s shot bounced off the pipe and into Voumard’s stick, while his second of the run came when he powered past his defender down the left alleyway.

Fairfield tied it at 7-7 when Greenfield fed Eric Warden from eight yards out on the right wing with 7:07 to go.

Navy junior attackman Sam Jones put the Mids back up at 8-7 when Hull fed Jones who found himself wide open in tight with just goalkeeper Jack Murphy to beat.

Snow scored back-to-back goals (5:04, 3:56) to give the Stags a 9-8 lead, including a tough-to-defend low-to-low shot with 3:56 remaining in the contest.  Voumard, however, answered with his fourth goal of the game at the 1:23 mark when he again powered his way past his defender and scored from seven yards out.

Navy’s Evan McGoogan won the ensuing faceoff but instead of Navy playing for the final shot, Dabbs took a 15-yard shot from the left wing that went straight into the stick of Murphy.  Fairfield, in turn, was able to set up for the final shot, as Greenfield found Snow in the middle of the field and was able to get off a diving ankle-biter for the game-winner with 4.1 seconds left in the contest.

The game spoiled a sensational performance by senior team captain Nolan Hickey who made a career-high 15 saves, including multiple door-stop shots.   On the opposite side, Murphy was also stellar in goal taking away 14 potential goals by the Mids.

While Voumard paced Navy with four goals, five other players contributed goals including senior midfielder Jay Mannwho became the 15th different Navy player to score a goal this season.

“I was a little disappointed early with Gabe in his lack of aggressiveness, but the light went on and he had a big fourth quarter for us,” said Sowell.  “He showed today that he certainly is capable of being a force.  We are expecting him to continue to step forward and be a leader on this team.”

Snow led Fairfield with four goals, while Greenfield chipped in two goals and two assists.

Meanwhile, Navy’s man-down defense was stellar, facing two one-minute unreleasable penalties and seven overall flags.  The Stags went 0-for-7 on extra-man, as the Mids have now squelched 18 of the 20 man-up opportunities by their foes.

“We’re committing foolish penalties which is a concern and we have to learn how to play with better control,” said Sowell.  “That said, I’m proud of the way we’ve been able to fight through these situations.”

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland visits Bridgeport, Conn., for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day game in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference action on Monday, January 21, 2013.

The Greyhounds will tip-off against Fairfield University at 7 o’clock at Webster Bank Arena at Harbor Yard.

 

Jesuit Basketball Spotlight

The game against Fairfield is the third of six games the Greyhounds play this season as part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight. The team’s two meetings with Saint Peter’s were also JBS games.

As one of 28 Jesuit Catholic universities around the nation, Loyola is a proud participant in the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight again this season.

 

Series History

Loyola and Fairfield will meet for the 55th time on the hardwood Monday night with the Stags entering the game with a 36-18 advantage in the previous meetings.

The Greyhounds won this season’s first meeting between the teams, rallying from a late second-half deficit to force overtime. Loyola held Fairfield scoreless for the final 4:47 of regulation and the first 1:39 of the extra period.

Fairfield led 47-41 with 4:47 on the second-half clock, but the Stags would not score again in regulation as Loyola went on an 8-0 run that spanned into overtime where Jordan Latham scored the first basket. Although the Stags tied the game after Latham’s bucket, Dylon Cormier put Loyola in front for good at 2:49.

The Greyhounds outrebounded Fairfield, 13-2, in the final 9:47 of the game, and the Stags did not have a board in the final 4:47 of regulation.

Neither team led by more than six in the game.

Erik Etherly led Loyola with 20 points, while Dylon Cormier had 19.

The teams split their regular-season meetings last year, each winning on the other’s home court, but Loyola won the rubber match, 48-44, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., in the MAAC Championship game.

 

Last Time Out

Four Loyola players scored in double figures, and the Greyhounds logged season-highs in field-goal percentage and assists on Thursday night during a 72-58 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference win over Marist in Reitz Arena.

Dylon Cormier made all but one of his eight shots, including two 3-pointers, and he added a career-high tying six assists to his game-best 19 points. Julius Brooks also tied his career-high with 12 points, while Erik Etherly scored 14 and Anthony Winbush added 10.

Loyola logged 19 assists in the game, led by Cormier’s six. R.J. Williams had four in his season-debut, and Robert Olson tallied the same number.

Marist cut Loyola’s one-time eight-point lead to four, 20-16, with just over 10 minutest to go in the first half, but six Greyhound points in a row put Loyola up 10, and the Red Foxes would not be closer than six the rest of the way.

 

Shooting Back On Track Thursday

Loyola had its two lowest field-goal outputs in its last two games prior to playing Marist on Thursday night when it made 19 on January 11 against Fairfield and the same number two days later at Rider.

The Greyhounds, however, rewrote the story against the Red Foxes, logging a season-high 29 baskets and a 60.4-percent effort from the field.

 

In Large Part Because Of Assists

The Greyhounds’ good shooting performance against Marist could be credited in large part to a season-best 19 assists. With 29 field goals, Loyola had assists on 65.5-percent of its made shots.

Dylon Cormier tied his career-high with six assists, marking the second time in five games the junior guard has hit that total (also January 4 against Rider).

R.J. Williams and Robert Olson also had four assists, and Erik Etherly passed out three.

 

R.J. Williams Returns To Court

Sophomore guard R.J. Williams made his 2012-2013 debut on Thursday night against Marist and played 27 minutes. He hit a pair of 3-pointers, one in each half, and finished with six points and four assists. He also had a steal and blocked the second shot of his career.

All four of Williams’ assists were to post players in the paint.

 

Cormier Paces Shooting

Dylon Cormier made all but one of his eight shot attempts against Marist and finished with a game-high 19 points. He connected on both of his 3-point attempts, helping Loyola made 29-of-48 from the field and 5-of-7 from behind the 3-point arc.

 

Brooks Also With Career-High

Julius Brooks tied his career-high with 12 points against Marist, matching the total he scored on December 15 in a win over Mount St. Mary’s.

Brooks also made a career-best six field goals on just eight attempts. Three of his baskets came on dunks. He also led Loyola with five rebounds.

 

Scoring In The 70s

Loyola scored 72 points against Marist, marking the fifth time this season and sixth time the team has scored 70 or more points. The Greyhounds are undefeated in those six games.

Dating to the start of the 2011-2012 season, Loyola is 16-1 when scoring 70 or more points, the lone loss coming in an 83-79 defeat to Rider on February 24, 2012.

 

Holding Opponents Under 60

The Greyhounds limited Marist to 58 points, the 10th time this season they have held an opponent to 59 or fewer on the scoreboard. Loyola has won all 10 of those games.

Including the 2011-2012 season, Loyola has held opponents to 59 or fewer 21 times, all victories.

Loyola leads the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference this season in scoring defense, allowing an average of 60.9 points per game. Last season, the Greyhounds allowed an average of 64.2 points per game.

 

Trimmed Minutes

With the return of R.J. Williams to the rotation, no Loyola player was on the floor for more than 32 minutes against Marist, the first time this season that has happened in a game.

 

Closing In On 1,000 Points

Erik Ethelry and Dylon Cormier are both within 15 points of 1,000 in their Loyola careers. Etherly (991) leads need nine points to reach 1,000, while Cormier (986) is 14 short of the milestone.

Ethelry crossed the 1,000-point threshold for his collegiate career against Marist. Including the 12 points he scored as a freshman at Northeastern University, Etherly now has 1,003 as a collegian.

Earlier this season, Robert Olson scored his 1,000th career point against Saint Peter’s (January 6).

Should Cormier and Etherly reach 1,000 points, it would be the first time in program history the Greyhounds would have three active 1,000-point scorers.

 

Olson Sets Career-Highs

Robert Olson led all scorers on Sunday afternoon at Rider, setting a career-high in scoring for the second time in a month. He finished with 25, eclipsing his previous best of 22 against Mount St. Mary’s on December 15, 2012.

Olson also set career-highs at Rider in field goals made (10), field goals attempted (22) and 3-pointers attempted (13).

Olson, who became the 32nd player in Loyola history to score his 1,000th point when he reached the mark in the second half against Saint Peter’s on Sunday, January 6, scored 14 points in the first half against Rider. He also had two steals in the game.

 

Brooks’ Board Work

Julius Brooks led Loyola and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds at Rider, matching his season-high for 2012-2013 (also vs. Saint Peter’s, December 8). He then pulled down five to lead the team against Marist.

It was the ninth time this season that Brooks has logged four or more rebounds, and the Greyhounds are now 8-1 in those contests.

 

Late Defense

Loyola did not allow Fairfield to score for the final 4:47 of regulation and 6:36 overall as the Stags were 0-of-6 during the timeframe.

Overall, the Stags made just seven field goals in the second half (26.9-percent), and Fairfield did not shoot a free throw during the period after going to the line 14 times before the break.

 

Rebounding On The Boards

At the under-4 timeout in the second half, Fairfield had a 33-26 advantage on the boards, but the Greyhounds rebounded to win the battle on the glass, 39-35.

Fairfield managed just two rebounds, while Loyola had 13 during the final nine minutes of the game, including overtime.

The Stags did not have a single rebound in the last 4:47 of regulation, and one of the overtime rebounds came when the ball deflected off a Loyola player out of bounds. The second rebound was an offensive board for the Stags with just five seconds to go in regulation and Loyola up five.

The Greyhounds moved to 7-2 this season when outrebounding its opponents.

This season, the Greyhounds are leading the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in rebounds (37.2) and rebounding margin (+3.6).

Seven Greyhounds are averaging more than three rebounds per game.

 

Doing What He Does, A Little Of Everything

Anthony Winbush has continued to contribute in just about every way possible, something he has done throughout the year. Versus Fairfield, Winbush led Loyola with nine rebounds and five assists, while contributing a pair of steals and a blocked shot.

Winbush is leading the team this season in rebounds per game (7.0), total rebounds (105) and assists per game (2.6). No other player in the MAAC is leading his team in both categories. He is also fourth on the team with a 6.4 points per game average.

 

Cormier Getting To The Line

Through 19 games this season, Dylon Cormier has shot 141 free throws, an average of 7.4 per game.

Cormier has also made 74.5-percent of his free throws this season (105 total), good for 31.7-percent of his 331 points this year.

Last season, Cormier went to the free-throw line a total of 160 times, making 108.

In his two-plus seasons at Loyola, Cormier has made 266-of-380 (70-percent) from the line, totals that are both 16th in school history.

 

Guards To The Boards

Robert Olson and Dylon Cormier, Loyola’s starting guards, combined for 15 rebounds against Fairfield. Olson grabbed a career-high eight – he had recorded seven on seven occasions – and Cormier was two off his season and career-high with seven.

This season, Cormier is averaging 4.8 rebounds per game, good for 16th in the MAAC, while Olson is just behind with 4.6 per game.

Olson has pulled down five or more boards 10 times this year, and Cormier has reached or exceeded that total nine times.

 

Congratulations Graduate

Erik Etherly became the most recent Loyola men’s basketball player to graduate, completing his undergraduate requirements in December for a bachelor of arts in communications with an emphasis in marketing and public relations. He joins Anthony Winbush – who graduated in May 2012 – as a graduate student on the Loyola roster this season. He will start his masters in education leadership this month.

 

Olson Gets To 1,000

Robert Olson became the 32nd player in Loyola men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 points in his career against Saint Peter’s on January 6. He entered the game needing 10 points to reach the plateau, and after scoring eight in the first half, he finished a fast break 2:29 into the second with a layup.

Entering the game against Rider, he has 1,019 points, 498 of which have come on 3-pointers and 165 on free throws.

 

Fourth To 100 Blocks

Erik Etherly matched his career-high with five blocked shots against Saint Peter’s, and in the process he became the fourth player in program history to swat 100 shots.

He joins Brian Carroll (1997-2001, 213 blocks), Shane Walker (2009-2012, 135) and George Sereikas (1989-1993, 117) in the 100-block club.

 

Back-To-Back 20-Point Games

Loyola has seen players score 20 or more in back-to-back games twice over the course of the last three games. Dylon Cormier scored 25 at Memphis and 21 versus Rider, while Erik Etherly had 21 in the Rider game and 24 against Saint Peter’s.

It was the third time in Cormier’s career that he has scored 20 or more in back-to-back games after he scored 20 against both Coppin State (November 14) and UMBC (November 17) and 22 and 26 at Siena (December 3) and at George Washington (December 7), respectively, all during the 2011-2012 season.

For Etherly, it was the second time over his tenure at Loyola that he’s scored 20 or more in consecutive appearances. He also did so with 21 against both Niagara and Siena in the 2012 MAAC Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively, en route to being named the MAAC Championships Most Outstanding Player.

 

Winning Combinations

Loyola is now 8-0 when it shoots 45-percent or better in a game, and Loyola is now 9-0 when scoring 65 or more points this season. The Greyhounds recently held both Saint Peter’s, Fairfield and Marist to 58 points, marking the marking the 10th time – all wins – that they have held an opponent short of 60.

 

26th To 400

Anthony Winbush collected a game-high nine rebounds against Mount St. Mary’s, and his final made him the 26th player in Loyola men’s basketball history to grab 400 in his career.

The graduate student, who received a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending injury after eight games in 2010-2011, also has scored 455 points in his career.

This season, he leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, and he is 21st all-time at Loyola with 435 career rebounds.

 

Telling Factors

Three stats stand out in the Greyhounds six losses this season. Loyola is now 2-6 when its opponents register a better shooting percentage, and 2-6 when its foes shoot more free throws in a game. Also, Loyola has averaged just 7.0 assists in the five losses.

In the games they have lost, the Greyhounds have shot 36.2-percent from the field, while their opponents hit at a 46.4-percent clip.

Opponents are shooting eight more free throws (26.3-18.3) per game in the six losses, as well.

 

Sharing The Ball

Loyola is now 8-0 this season when it has 12 or more assists. Conversely, the Greyhounds are averaging just 7-0 assists in six losses this year and 13.1 in 13 wins.

 

Cormier’s Career-High

Dylon Cormier had a career-high scoring night at Coppin State, tallying 27 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He made 11-of-12 from the line, 5-of-6 in the final five minutes of the game.

Cormier eclipsed his previous career-best of 26 set last season in a win at George Washington.

The junior guard also was one off his career-high in rebounds, grabbing eight boards for the second-straight game, and he dished out four assists in a career-high 39 minutes of action.

 

Doubling Up

Anthony Winbush notched the first double-double of his career on November 28 at Coppin State, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.

His 12 rebounds represented the 12th time in his tenure at Loyola that he has posted 10 or more rebounds, and it was the fourth time he has scored 10 or more points.

He also set a career-high in rebounds, eclipsing the 11 he posted in his seventh career game on November 29, 2008, at Vermont. Winbush also set a career-high in minutes played (37) and matched his previous best in free throws made (five) and attempted (six).

 

Late Game Heroics

Loyola’s games against Albany and Rhode Island, both wins, came down to the last four seconds of regulation (and then some).

On November 18, Albany tied the game with 3.1 ticks on the clock, Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos set up an inbound play in a timeout. Graduate student Anthony Winbush threw a baseball pass 80 feet to Dylon Cormier  who was inside the opposite foul line. Cormier caught the pass, laid it in with his right hand and was fouled in the process by Albany’s D.J. Evans with 1.5 seconds left.

Cormier made the free throw to provide the final margin, and Albany’s inbound pass went off the hands of Evans and out-of-bounds to secure the win.

Robert Olson then sank a 3-pointer with 3.7 on the clock at Rhode Island to force overtime where the Greyhounds would win by four.

 

MAAC Preseason Poll & Player of the Year

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference unveiled its preseason coaches’ poll and the league’s Preseason Player of the Year on Friday night in a live Preseason Awards Show on ESPN3. Loyola was named the team to beat in 2012-2013, and Erik Etherly was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches. (Complete poll and All-MAAC teams at left).

This is the first time Loyola has been selected No. 1 in the MAAC preseason poll in 24 years in the league, nor had a Greyhound player been named Preseason Player of the Year prior to Etherly.

Three Loyola players were named to the various Preseason All-MAAC teams as voted on by the coaches of the league.

Erik Etherly earned an All-MAAC First Team nod, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson were named to the Second Team.

 

Classy Senior

Senior guard Robert Olson was named one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award last week. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Olson was the Greyhounds’ third-leading scorer last season with 11.1 points per game and enters this season Loyola ranked fourth at Loyola in 3-point percentage (138-of-336, .4107) sixth in career 3-pointers made (138) and eighth in 3-pointers attempted (336). Last season, Olson was one of four Loyola players to earn All-MAAC honors, picking up Third Team mention and later All-Tournament honors.

 

High Marks

The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

 

Turnaround…Check

Loyola completed the turnaround from finishing the 2003-2004 season with the lowest RPI in NCAA Division I basketball. The Greyhounds finished that season with a 1-27 record the season before Jimmy Patsos took over as head coach.

Since then, Loyola has gone 131-128 and culminated the turnaround by winning a school Division I record 24 games  in 2011-2012.

Patsos is one of only three coaches at the Division I level in the last 20 years to take over a program that had won zero or one game the year prior to then win 100 games at the school. He joins Steve Cleveland (BYU) and Pat Douglass (UC-Irvine) as the others.

 

Patsos Named Coach & Man Of The Year

Jimmy Patsos became the first Loyola coach to earn The Rock/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors by a vote of his peers in the league.

Patsos guided the Greyhounds to a school Division I high 24 wins and a program MAAC record 13 victories. He earned his 100th career coaching victory in November 2012 and led the Greyhounds to the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Championships.

Later in March, Patsos was named the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award for his work on and off the court, an honor presented by CollegeInsider.com.

 

Century Mark

Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.

Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List
1.	349	Lefty Reitz	1937-1944, 1945-1961
2.	165	Nap Doherty	1961-1974
3.	135	Jimmy Patsos	2004-present
4.	85	Mark Amatucci	1982-1989
5.	72	Gary Dicovitsky	1976-1981

 

 

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.

Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.

 

What’s Next

Loyola makes another Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference road trip on Friday, January 25, to play at Manhattan College in Riverdale, N.Y. The game is slated to start at 7 o’clock, and it will be broadcast nationwide on ESPNU.

Opponent	Fairfield Stags
Date	Friday, January 11, 2013
Time	7:00 p.m.
Location	Baltimore, Md. | Reitz Arena
TV	ESPNU

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland hosts the final contest of a three-game homestand on Friday, January 11, when Fairfield University comes to Reitz Arena for a 7 o’clock tip-off.

The three-game homestand is Loyola’s longest of the season. The Greyhounds will not have back-to-back home contests the rest of the year.

 

On The Tube

The Greyhounds and Stags will play in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPNU. The game is the first of three over the next five weeks that Loyola will play on the network.

Doug Sherman will call the play-by-play, and Tim McCormick will handle color analysis duties.

 

Jesuit Basketball Spotlight

The game against Fairfield is the third of six games the Greyhounds play this season as part of the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight. The team’s two meetings with Saint Peter’s were also JBS games.

As one of 28 Jesuit Catholic universities around the nation, Loyola is a proud participant in the Jesuit Basketball Spotlight again this season.

 

Follow The Action

The audio can be heard on LoyolaGreyhounds.com.

 

Series History

Loyola and Fairfield will meet for the 54th time on the hardwood Friday night with the Stags entering the game with a 36-17 advantage in the previous meetings.

The teams split their regular-season meetings last year, each winning on the other’s home court, but Loyola won the rubber match, 48-44, at the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., in the MAAC Championship game.

Erik Etherly averaged 14.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocked shots per game against the Stags, while Robert Olson tallied a 13.0 points per game average in the three games last season.

Two of the games were closely contested contests with Loyola defeating Fairfield, 66-63, in Bridgeport, Conn., on January 13, 2012, and later in the Championship Game. The Stags’ victory in Reitz Arena, however, was not as close with Fairfield coming out on top, 68-51.

In Loyola’s two wins over the Stags, the Greyhounds shot better from the field (.402-.358) and had a significant advantage in 3-point field goal percentage (.455-.292).

 

Last Time Out

Three Greyhounds scored 17 or more points, and Loyola used a pair of lengthy runs to defeat Saint Peter’s, 74-58, on Sunday afternoon in Reitz Arena. Erik Etherly finished with 24 points, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson tallied 18 and 17 points, respectively.

The Peacocks never led in the game, but they cut Loyola’s early 11-point advantage to just two, 17-15, with 10:27 to play in the first half. Cormier, however, scored the next five points, sparking a 15-0 run that was capped by a couple of Anthony Winbush free throws at 3:27.

Loyola was up 13 at halftime and led by 19, 55-36, with 11:50 to play on an Etherly layup. Saint Peter’s, however, got back within 11, 62-51 with just under five minutes to play.

 

Olson Gets To 1,000

Robert Olson became the 32nd player in Loyola men’s basketball history to reach 1,000 points in his career last Sunday against Saint Peter’s. He entered the game needing 10 points to reach the plateau, and after scoring eight in the first half, he finished a fast break 2:29 into the second with a layup.

Entering the game against Fairfield, he has 1,007 points, 498 of which have come on 3-pointers and 157 on free throws.

 

Olson’s 3-Pointers

With 166 career 3-pointers, Olson is fourth all-time at Loyola in made baskets from behind the arc. He will tie Brett Harvey (2006-2010) for third with eight more threes.

Nearly half of his field goals made (166-of-342, .48.5-percent of made baskets) have been 3-pointers.

Olson is also fourth at Loyola in 3-pointers attempted (433).

 

Fourth To 100 Blocks

Erik Etherly matched his career-high with five blocked shots against Saint Peter’s, and in the process he became the fourth player in program history to swat 100 shots.

He joins Brian Carroll (1997-2001, 213 blocks), Shane Walker (2009-2012, 135) and George Sereikas (1989-1993, 117) in the 100-block club.

 

Three Over 15

Loyola had three players score 15 or more points against Saint Peter’s, marking the second time this season the Greyhounds have accomplished the feat. Erik Etherly led all players with 24 points, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson had 18 and 17, respectively

The first time it happened, Etherly had 22 against UMBC, while Cormier and Tyler Hubbard each tallied 17.

 

Cormier Keeps Going

Dylon Cormier scored in double figures for the 10th straight game and 15th time in 16 games this season for the Greyhounds, logging 18 against Saint Peter’s.

The junior guard is tops on the team with 17.6 points per game, scoring 15 or more points in 12-of-16 games.

Cormier also leads the Greyhounds in assists (41, 2.6 per game) and steals (31, 1.9) and is third on the team in rebounds per game (4.8). His 1.5:1 assist:turnover ratio is also best on the squad.

 

Back-To-Back 20-Point Games

Loyola has seen players score 20 or more in back-to-back games twice over the course of the last three games. Dylon Cormier scored 25 at Memphis and 21 versus Rider, while Erik Etherly had 21 in the Rider game and 24 against Saint Peter’s.

It was the third time in Cormier’s career that he has scored 20 or more in back-to-back games after he scored 20 against both Coppin State (November 14) and UMBC (November 17) and 22 and 26 at Siena (December 3) and at George Washington (December 7), respectively, all during the 2011-2012 season.

For Etherly, it was the second time over his tenure at Loyola that he’s scored 20 or more in consecutive appearances. He also did so with 21 against both Niagara and Siena in the 2012 MAAC Quarterfinals and Semifinals, respectively, en route to being named the MAAC Championships Most Outstanding Player.

 

Box Score Filler

Anthony Winbush continued his solid all-around game, leading the Greyhounds in both assists and rebounds versus Saint Peter’s. He scored eight points and logged team-highs of eight rebounds and four assists in 37 minutes of action.

The graduate student has topped the team in rebounds seven times this season and assisted on five occasions.

In 13 game, Winbush has averaged 7.1 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 32.8 minutes of action.

 

Winning Combinations

Statistically, several things went the Greyhounds’ way against Rider and Saint Peter’s that have been good signs this season.

Loyola is now 7-0 when it shoots 45-percent or better in a game. After scoring 71  and 74 points, Loyola is now 8-0 when scoring 65 or more points this season. The Greyhounds also held Saint Peter’s to 58 points, marking the marking the eighth time – all wins – that they have held an opponent short of 60.

 

When Winbush Scores 10+

Anthony Winbush scored 10 points for the Greyhounds against Rider, the fourth time this season he has tallied double figures in points. Loyola has won all four of those games.

The Greyhounds have won each of the last six games Winbush has scored 10 or more, dating back to a 59-50 loss against Iona on January 11, 2010. Over his career, he has scored in double figures 16 times, and the Greyhounds are 13-3 in those games.

 

Offensive Board Work

A high emphasis was placed on offensive rebounds in the Greyhounds’ practice and shootaround preceding the game at Memphis, and the team responded.

Loyola had a season-high 23 offensive rebounds, 16 in the first half, against Memphis. Dylon Cormier led the team with five offensive rebounds, and Erik Ethelry had four.

The Greyhounds’ 23 offensive boards eclipsed their previous season-high of 21 set on November 23 at Rhode Island.

Loyola pulled down offensive rebounds at a 54.7-percent clip against the Tigers, garnering four more on the offensive glass than Memphis did on the defensive boards (19).

The 23 offensive rebounds are the most by a Loyola team since it had 25 in a December 1, 2011, win over Marist.

 

Overall Rebounding

Loyola outrebounded the Tigers, 42-29, marking just the fourth time in 12 games that Memphis had been outdone on the boards this season.

The 13 rebound differential was the greatest Memphis has encountered this season, as the three previous times it had been outrebounded were by one (Samford, Lipscomb) and two (Virginia Commonwealth). Entering the game, Memphis had been outrebounding opponents by 6.2 per game.

This season, the Greyhounds are leading the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in rebounds (37.1) and rebounding margin (+3.6).

Seven Greyhounds are averaging more than three rebounds per game.

 

26th To 400

Anthony Winbush collected a game-high nine rebounds against Mount St. Mary’s, and his final made him the 26th player in Loyola men’s basketball history to grab 400 in his career.

The graduate student, who received a medical redshirt after suffering a season-ending injury after eight games in 2010-2011, also has scored 455 points in his career.

This season, he leads the team with 7.0 rebounds per game, and with 11 more rebounds, he will move into 25th all-time at Loyola.

 

Telling Factors

Three stats stand out in the Greyhounds five losses this season. Loyola is now 1-5 when its opponents register a better shooting percentage, and 2-5 when its foes shoot more free throws in a game. Also, Loyola has averaged just 6.8 assists in the five losses.

In the games they have lost, the Greyhounds have shot 36.7-percent from the field, while their opponents hit at a 47.2-percent clip.

Opponents are shooting nearly nine more free throws (26.4-17.6) per game in the five losses, as well.

 

Sharing The Ball

Loyola is now 8-0 this season when it has 12 or more assists. Conversely, the Greyhounds are averaging just 6.8 assists in five losses this year and 12.9 in nine wins.

 

Brooks With A Career-High

Julius Brooks scored 10 points in the second half to lead the Greyhounds after the break against Mount St. Mary’s, a total that would have equaled his career-best. He also had a bucket in the first half, and with his career-high five field goals, the senior post player finished with a career-best 12.

It marked the second time in his career that Brooks has scored 10 or more and the first since he did it against Niagara in his freshman season of 2009-2010.

Brooks has averaged 8.3 points in the Greyhounds’ last three games after scoring six against Niagara on December 5 and seven versus Saint Peter’s on December 8.

 

Etherly Returns To Action

Erik Etherly made his first appearance for Loyola since November 23 against Mount St. Mary’s after recuperating from a shoulder injury that sidelined him for five games, a span in which Loyola won three.

The Preseason MAAC Player of the Year came off the bench against Mount St. Mary’s, entering the game in the second minute of play, and he finished with 16 points and four rebounds in 24 minutes of action.

He made 6-of-11 shots, plus 4-of-6 from the line, and also dished out a pair of assists.

The Greyhounds averaged 7.5 points per game fewer (68.3-60.8) in the five games without Etherly, but they also allowed four fewer points (57.2-61.2) in the same span.

Loyola averaged more rebounds (39.8-35.2) during Etherly’s absence, but the team’s field-goal percentage has slipped form .440 to .380 in the respective stretches.

During Etherly’s absence, Anthony Winbush raised his scoring average from 6.7 points to 9.2 points, and the graduate student led the team in rebounds (7.2 per game in those five).

 

On The Defensive

Loyola held Mount St. Mary’s to just 24.1-percent (7-of-29) from the field and 18 total points in the first half,  both season-lows for a Greyhounds’ opponent.

The Greyhounds also limited The Mount to 23.5-percent (8-of-34) from 3-point range after the Mountaineers entered the game leading NCAA Division I in percentage of points scored from behind the arc with more than 43-perecnt.

Through 12 games, Loyola is tops in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in scoring defense, allowing opponents just 59.2 points per game. The Greyhounds have held more than half their opponents (7-of-12) this year to fewer than 60 points.

Loyola is also tops in the league in field-goal percentage defense, limiting the opposition to 39.9-percent from the field.

The Greyhounds are also tops in the MAAC in blocked shots (5.2 per game)., Jordan Latham is second individually with 1.4 blocked shots per game.

 

When Olson Scores 20+

Loyola improved to 5-1 in games over the last three-plus years when Robert Olson scores 20 or more points. Just once has the guard reached the 20-point plateau in a loss, a January 2012 setback at Iona.

 

Winbush Goes The Distance (Almost)

Anthony Winbush played all but 21 seconds of the win over Saint Peter’s on December 8, logging a career-high in minutes played (he was credited with 40).

He finished one off his career-high in points, as he led the Greyhounds with 16 on 5-of-8 from the floor. He made both of his 3-point attempts and 4-of-6 from the free-throw line.

The graduate student also tied Julius Brooks for game-high honors with eight rebounds, seven coming on the defensive glass.

Since missing the first three games of the season, Winbush is fourth on the team in scoring (8.3 ppg) and second in rebounding (6.8). He also leads the team in assists per game (2.63) this season and is second in steals per game (1.25).

 

Latham Breaks Out

Jordan Latham took little time on December 1 to set a career-high in scoring, tallying his 10th point of the game with 9:30 to play in the first half against Florida Gulf Coast. He finished with a game-high 17 points to easily outdistance his previous high of nine set just a week prior at Rhode Island.

Latham made 7-of-10 shots from the field and 3-of-4 from the line while making his first start since November 11 at the University of Washington.

 

Cormier’s Career-High

Dylon Cormier had a career-high scoring night at Coppin State, tallying 27 points on 7-of-14 shooting. He made 11-of-12 from the line, 5-of-6 in the final five minutes of the game.

Cormier eclipsed his previous career-best of 26 set last season in a win at George Washington.

The junior guard also was one off his career-high in rebounds, grabbing eight boards for the second-straight game, and he dished out four assists in a career-high 39 minutes of action.

 

Doubling Up

Anthony Winbush notched the first double-double of his career on November 28 at Coppin State, scoring 12 points and grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds.

His 12 rebounds represented the 12th time in his tenure at Loyola that he has posted 10 or more rebounds, and it was the fourth time he has scored 10 or more points.

He also set a career-high in rebounds, eclipsing the 11 he posted in his seventh career game on November 29, 2008, at Vermont. Winbush also set a career-high in minutes played (37) and matched his previous best in free throws made (five) and attempted (six).

 

Late Game Heroics

Loyola’s games against Albany and Rhode Island, both wins, came down to the last four seconds of regulation (and then some).

On November 18, Albany tied the game with 3.1 ticks on the clock, Loyola Head Coach Jimmy Patsos set up an inbound play in a timeout. Graduate student Anthony Winbush threw a baseball pass 80 feet to Dylon Cormier  who was inside the opposite foul line. Cormier caught the pass, laid it in with his right hand and was fouled in the process by Albany’s D.J. Evans with 1.5 seconds left.

Cormier made the free throw to provide the final margin, and Albany’s inbound pass went off the hands of Evans and out-of-bounds to secure the win.

Robert Olson then sank a 3-pointer with 3.7 on the clock at Rhode Island to force overtime where the Greyhounds would win by four.

 

MAAC Preseason Poll & Player of the Year

The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference unveiled its preseason coaches’ poll and the league’s Preseason Player of the Year on Friday night in a live Preseason Awards Show on ESPN3. Loyola was named the team to beat in 2012-2013, and Erik Etherly was tabbed the Preseason Player of the Year by the coaches. (Complete poll and All-MAAC teams at left).

This is the first time Loyola has been selected No. 1 in the MAAC preseason poll in 24 years in the league, nor had a Greyhound player been named Preseason Player of the Year prior to Etherly.

Three Loyola players were named to the various Preseason All-MAAC teams as voted on by the coaches of the league.

Erik Etherly earned an All-MAAC First Team nod, while Dylon Cormier and Robert Olson were named to the Second Team.

 

Classy Senior

Senior guard Robert Olson was named one of 30 candidates for the prestigious Senior CLASS Award last week. An acronym for Celebrating Loyalty and Achievement for Staying in School®, the Senior CLASS Award focuses on the total student-athlete and encourages students to use their platform in athletics to make a positive impact as leaders in their communities.

Olson was the Greyhounds’ third-leading scorer last season with 11.1 points per game and enters this season Loyola ranked fourth at Loyola in 3-point percentage (138-of-336, .4107) sixth in career 3-pointers made (138) and eighth in 3-pointers attempted (336). Last season, Olson was one of four Loyola players to earn All-MAAC honors, picking up Third Team mention and later All-Tournament honors.

 

High Marks

The Loyola men’s basketball team scored the highest amongst squads in the State of Maryland in the most recent NCAA Graduation Success Rate report. The Greyhounds checked in with a 91-percent GSR, tops among the state’s nine Division I schools, for players who entered the school between 2002-2005.

 

Turnaround…Check

Loyola completed the turnaround from finishing the 2003-2004 season with the lowest RPI in NCAA Division I basketball. The Greyhounds finished that season with a 1-27 record the season before Jimmy Patsos took over as head coach.

Since then, Loyola has gone 131-128 and culminated the turnaround by winning a school Division I record 24 games  in 2011-2012.

Patsos is one of only three coaches at the Division I level in the last 20 years to take over a program that had won zero or one game the year prior to then win 100 games at the school. He joins Steve Cleveland (BYU) and Pat Douglass (UC-Irvine) as the others.

 

Patsos Named Coach & Man Of The Year

Jimmy Patsos became the first Loyola coach to earn The Rock/Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year honors by a vote of his peers in the league.

Patsos guided the Greyhounds to a school Division I high 24 wins and a program MAAC record 13 victories. He earned his 100th career coaching victory in November 2012 and led the Greyhounds to the No. 2 seed in the MAAC Championships.

Later in March, Patsos was named the Skip Prosser Man of the Year award for his work on and off the court, an honor presented by CollegeInsider.com.

 

Century Mark

Head Coach Jimmy Patsos became the third coach in Loyola history to win 100 games when the Greyhounds defeated UMBC, 73-63, on the road last season. Patsos, who is now in his ninth season, took over a team that finished 1-27 during the 2002-2003 season. He won his 100th game in his 215th career game.

Last season, Patsos moved into third-place all time at Loyola in victories, trailing only Lefty Reitz (349 wins, 1937-44, 1945-61) and Nap Doherty (165, 1961-74).

Loyola All-Time Coaching Wins List
1.	349	Lefty Reitz	1937-1944, 1945-1961
2.	165	Nap Doherty	1961-1974
3.	133	Jimmy Patsos	2004-present
4.	85	Mark Amatucci	1982-1989
5.	72	Gary Dicovitsky	1976-1981

 

 

Baltimore Bred And More From Nearby

Since taking over as head coach in 2004, Jimmy Patsos has put an emphasis on recruiting locally, and it has never shown as much as on this year’s roster. Four players – junior guard Dylon Cormier (Cardinal Gibbons), junior forward Jordan Latham (City) and sophomore guard R.J. Williams and freshman forward Josh Forney (St. Frances) are products of schools within the city limits.

Six more players played in high school within 50 miles of Loyola, as the crow flies (thanks daftlogic.com): Jarred Jones, John Carroll, 20.5; Tyler Hubbard, Montrose Christian, 32.6 miles; Robert Olson, Georgetown Prep, 33.9; Anthony Winbush, T.C. Williams, 43.7; and Erik Etherly, Annandale, 47.9.

 

What’s Next

The Greyhounds return to the road for the first time in 2013 to take on Rider University for the second time in 10 days. The teams will play Sunday, January 13, at 2 p.m., in Lawrenceville, N.J.

Honorable Mention: Soccer-MISL Baltimore Blast @ Chicago Soul (Friday 8:30pm from Hoffman Estates, IL live on MISLtv.com), Baltimore Blast @ Milwaukee Wave (Saturday 7:30pm from Milwaukee live on MISLtv.com); Boxing: Friday Night Fights-John Molina vs. Dannie Williams (Friday 9pm from Santa Fe live on ESPN2); Women’s College Basketball: Miami @ Maryland (Thursday 7pm Comcast Center)

10. Jimmie’s Chicken Shack 20th Anniversary Show (Friday 8:30pm Rams Head Live), Bloc Party (Saturday 9pm Rams Head Live); Kris Allen (Monday 8pm Rams Head on Stage); Yellowcard (Friday 5pm 9:30 Club); David Murray Big Band & Macy Gray (Thursday 8pm Howard Theatre); Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club (Saturday 7:30pm Creative Alliance); Dropkick Murphys “Signed and Sealed in Blood” available in stores/on iTunes (Tuesday)

You know someone who is camping out for his spot to check out the JCS anniversary show…

I was never a huge Yellowcard fan, but I know they’re about to hit the road with our boys from All Time Low, so I’m back on the bandwagon. Plus this song always kinda kicked ass…

Say what you want about Macy Gray being a weirdo. Don’t say she isn’t a talented chick.

You may remember Dropkick Murphys as the band that put a Christmas tune on their album that was coming out in January. BRILLIANCE.

9. Jim Gaffigan (Saturday 7pm & 9:30pm Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric); George Lopez (Saturday 8pm D.A.R. Constitution Hall); Christian Finnegan (Thursday-Sunday DC Improv); “Dredd“, “Frankenweenie” & “Archer Season 3” available on Blu-Ray/DVD (Tuesday); “Zero Dark Thirty“, “Gangster Squad” & “Promised Land” out in theaters (Friday); Baltimore County Winter Restaurant Week (Friday-Monday throughout Baltimore County)

Want to move into “best friend” territory with me? Get me Archer Season 3. NOW.

On the list of spots participating in BCWRW? Costas Inn. Oysters Rockefeller for all!!!

(Continued on Page 2…)

Opponent	NCAA Championship Game | Maryland Terrapins
Date	Monday, May 28, 2012
Time	1:00 p.m.
Location	Foxborough, Mass. | Gillette Stadium
TV | Radio	ESPN | ESPN3 | Sirius XM 91
Series Record	Maryland leads, 18-2
Last Meeting	Maryland 19, Loyola 8 – NCAA Semis – Piscataway, N.J.

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland will play for the NCAA Championship for the third time in the school’s 73 seasons of lacrosse history when it takes on the University of Maryland at 1 p.m. on Monday, May 28.

Despite just 30.67 miles (as the crow flies according to DaftLogic.com) separating the campuses, the game will be played 338 miles from Loyola’s campus at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

On The Tube, Web And Radio

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 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 Maryland will meet for the 21st time in series history – the Terrapins hold an 18-2 lead in the previous 20 games – and the second time in NCAA Championships play. (complete list of games on page six of notes)

The teams have not squared off since Maryland won a 19-8 decision on May 23, 1998, in the NCAA Semifinals at Rutgers University. Monday’s game will be just the third meeting of the teams since 1989 and the third since Loyola joined NCAA Division I in 1982.

Loyola won the initial meeting between the schools, 17-6, on April 6, 1940, but the Terrapins then won 17 in a row before the Greyhounds scored a 10-8 victory on March 19, 1989.

NCAA Championships History

Loyola is making its 20th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 18th at the Division I level. The Greyhounds are 11-19 all-time in Championships play, 11-17 at the Division I level.

Monday’s game will be Loyola third appearance in an NCAA Championship Game and second at the Division I level.

Loyola, with current Head Coach Charley Toomey as the team co-captain and goalkeeper, last played in the title game on May 28, 1990, when Syracuse defeated the Greyhounds, 21-9.

The Greyhounds also took part in the NCAA Division II-III Championship Game on May 17, 1981, when it lost to Adelphi, 17-14.

As an institution, Loyola has won one national title, the 1976 NCAA Division II Men’s Soccer crown.

Five, Twice In A Row

Eric Lusby scored five goals in the NCAA Semifinal against Notre Dame, duplicating a performance he had in the Quarterfinal round against Denver. Lusby is the first Loyola player to score five in consecutive games since Mike Sawyer did it against Bellarmine (March 5) and Duke (March 11) during the 2011 season.

Lusby’s Tournament

Eric Lusby is thus far the leading scorer in this year’s NCAA Tournament, tallying 13 goals and five assists for 18 points. He is three goals shy of tying the tournament record of 16 set in 2006 by Matt Ward and matched in 2007 by Duke’s Zach Greer.

His 13 are tied for seventh all-time. Loyola’s Chris Colbeck scored 14 in the 1990 tournament and is tied for fourth with Paul Rabil (Johns Hopkins, 2008) and Gary Gait (Syracuse, 1988). Gait is also third with 15 in 1990.

He has hat tricks in all three games Loyola has played after scoring three in the First Round against Canisius and five in both sequential games.

Runkel Stops 15

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 has played to a 5.97 goals against average and .622 saves percentage in three 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.

As a unit, Loyola forced Notre Dame into 14 turnovers, although the team was credited with just seven caused turnovers.

Joe Fletcher caused three of the turnovers and picked up a career-high seven ground balls, while Reid Acton, Scott Ratliff, Josh Hawkins and Runkel each had a caused turnover.

50-50

Eric Lusby and Mike Sawyer became the first duo in Loyola history with 50 goals each in the same season. Sawyer now stands with 51 goals, a Loyola single-season record, while Lusby has 50, tied with Tim Goettelmann for second in season history at the school.

They are two of three players in the NCAA this season to score 50 or more goals, joining Colgate’s Peter Baum (67). Last season, just one player (Robert Morris’ Trevor Moore, 50) had 50 or more.

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 are also the only Loyola players to reach 60 points in the same season.

With his six-point effort on Saturday afternoon, Lusby set the school Division I record for points in a season with 67, eclipsing the 66 (29g, 37a) Brian Duffy had during the 1995 season.

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

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.

Sawyer Sets Goals Record

Mike Sawyer scored the first goal of Loyola’s NCAA Quarterfinal game against Denver 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 60, 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).

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.

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 101 goals in 18 games this season, an average of 5.61 per game.

Sawyer has scored 51 goals, and his 2.83 goals per game average is sixth-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 50 goals and a 2.78 goals per game mark, a number that is eighth in the country. Loyola is the only school to have two players in top 10 nationally.

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.

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 (83) and caused turnovers (35), 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 that year.

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 an assist on an Eric Lusby goal against Notre Dame raising his season total to 31, and his 1.72 assists per game are 21st nationally. Those numbers are tops among the 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.

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 Notre Dame in the NCAA Semifinals was its 17th 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.

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 (20g, 33p), Sean O’Sullivan (16, 27) and Chris Layne (11, 22) has combined for 47 goals and 35 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.

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 17-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play. The NCAA Championship Game will be Toomey’s 100th as a head coach.

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.

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 second nationally, in goals (51). Butts has scored 20 goals and assisted on 13 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also regularly playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 39 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 third nationally with 50 goals, and he also has 17 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 39 ground balls and 25 caused turnovers entering the NCAA title game.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its 18 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 36 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.

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

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 65-22 in the third quarters of games and 119-63 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.