WEST POINT, NY – The 14th-ranked Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse team held host Army to just one goal over the final 37minutes and the Blue Jays got four goals from junior Brandon Benn and three from freshman Ryan Brown in a 9-4 win over the Black Knights before a crowd of 10,340 at Michie Stadium Friday night. The win is the 19th straight for Johns Hopkins against Army.

Johns Hopkins will now wait until Sunday night to learn if it has earned an at-large bid to the upcoming NCAA Tournament. The Blue Jays have qualified for the NCAAs in each of the last 41 years. That streak is the longest active streak of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament in any Division I team sport.

The Blue Jays (9-5) led just 4-3 at the half, but scored twice in the third quarter to give themselves some breathing room. The second of Benn’s four goals opened the second half scoring as he was on the back end of a quick pass to the crease from sophomore Wells Stanwick to polish off an unsettled situation and give JHU a 5-3 lead at the 10:14 mark.

That lead held for just under five minutes, when Benn again capped a transition opportunity, this one off a slick pass to the backside from junior James Malm.

The Black Knights (8-6) ended a 27-minute scoring drought just over five minutes into the fourth quarter as Pat Brennan ripped a 10-yarder from the wing just inside the near post to slice the deficit to 6-4.

Any hopes for an Army comeback were dashed in the middle of the quarter as the Blue Jays struck for three goals in a four-minute span to put the game away.

Benn got his hands free in the slot and junior Rob Guida hit him in stride for his fourth goal of the game at the 7:46 mark and Brown polished off the second hat trick of his career with back-to-back goals in a 42-second span to close the scoring.

The Blue Jays needed just 66 seconds to open the scoring as junior Guida dodged to the middle of the field and drew a slide before slipping a pass to senior Lee Coppersmith, who ripped home a 12-yarder to stake JHU to the early lead.Fittingly, the strong defensive effort was capped when senior Pierce Bassett recorded the 500th save of his career on Army’s final shot of the game and the four goals allowed marked the third time in four games JHU has held the opposition to just four.

The one-goal lead held through the first quarter for the Blue Jays as Bassett posted four of his 14 saves on the night in the first period. His counterpart, sophomore Sam Somers, was also on his game early as he posted five saves in the opening 15 minutes.

The offenses got going in the second quarter as the teams combined for six goals, including five in the opening eight minutes of the period.

The Blue Jays doubled their lead 81 seconds into the second quarter on an unassisted goal by Stanwick, who got his hands free after dodging from behind the goal, but Army struck twice in a span of just 40 seconds to knot the game a two. Alex Newsome scooped up a ground ball in front of the cage and fired into an open net to end Army’s 18-minute game-opening scoring drought and All-American Garrett Thul fired home an extra-man goal 40 ticks later to tie the game.

Brown and Thul traded goals midway through the period to force the second tie of the game before junior Brian Benn fired home an extra-man goal of his own in the final four minutes of the half to give the Blue Jays the 4-3 halftime lead. The two third-quarter goals extended the lead and Army scored just Brennan’s goal after intermission.

#14 Johns Hopkins (9-5) 1-3-2-3/9
Army (8-6) 0-3-0-1/4

Goals: J: Benn-4, Brown-3, Coppersmith, Stanwick. A: Thul-2, Brennan, Newsome. Assists: J: Guida-3, Coppersmith, Greeley, Malm, Palmer, Stanwick. A: Ghidotti, Glesener, Perettine. Saves: J: Bassett-13, Schneider-1. A: Somers-11. Shots: J-35. A-32. EMO: J: 2-for-8. A: 1-for-7. Attendance: 10,340.

Television:  CBS Sports Network

The Game: Johns Hopkins (8-5) hits the road for the final time in the regular season as the Blue Jays head to West Point to take on Army (8-5).

A Look Back: Johns Hopkins had its two-game winning streak snapped as the Blue Jays fell to Loyola, 8-4, last Saturday at Homewood Field. Army also had a two-game winning streak snapped as the Black Knights fell to Bucknell, 12-9, in the Patriot League semifinals last Friday.

Series History: This week’s game will be the 69th in a series that dates to a 3-2 Johns Hopkins win in 1921. The Blue Jays have won 55 of the first 68 games between the two teams and have currently won 18 straight in the series.

Program Ties – I: Johns Hopkins sophomore defenseman Eddie Schurr is the older brother of Army freshman defenseman Kevin Schurr.

Program Ties – II: Johns Hopkins freshman faceoff specialist Craig Madarasz is the cousin of Army freshman LSM Brendan Madarasz.

These are the Facts: Johns Hopkins enters this week’s game against Army with an all-time record of 932-303-15 (.752). The Blue Jays own nine NCAA titles, 29 USILA titles and six ILA titles for a total of 44 national championships.

1,250 and Counting: Last week’s game against Loyola was the 1,250th in the history of the Johns Hopkins men’s lacrosse program.

That’s 102 Games Over .500: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala picked up his 169th career win with Johns Hopkins’ victory over Navy on April 20 and he now stands at 169-67 overall. Included in that mark is a 146-50 record at JHU and a 23-17 record in three seasons as the head coach at Cornell.
Pietramala ranks second all-time in school history in career coaching victories as only Hall of Fame coach Bob Scott (158 wins from 1955-74) has more victories than Pietramala while patrolling the sidelines at Homewood.

May Day: Johns Hopkins has won 14 straight regular season games in the month of May. JHU’s last regular season loss in May came on May 8, 1999, when Hofstra nipped the Blue Jays, 9-8, in overtime. Johns Hopkins is 34-10 (.773) in games played in May under head coach Dave Pietramala (2001-present).

Must be the Speech: There must be something to what Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala says in the locker room that sparks the Blue Jays as Johns Hopkins holds decided scoring advantages in the first and third quarters through 13 games. JHU has outscored the opposition 45-26 in the first quarter and 41-26 in the third. The Blue Jays also hold a 29-21 scoring margin in the second quarter and a 37-31 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Balancing Act: Johns Hopkins counts nine players with six or more goals and nine players with 12 or more points through 13 games. In all, 18 different players have found the back of the net for JHU and 22 players have at least one point.

It’s Been a While – Part I: Johns Hopkins held Navy to just four goals – and none in the final 28 minutes – in the recent 15-4 victory. This defensive effort came seven days after JHU held Maryland to four goals in a 7-4 win. This marks the first time the Blue Jays have held back-to-back opponents to four goals or less since 2008, when JHU held Hofstra (10-4) and Navy (10-4) to four goals in victories in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

It’s Been a While – Part II: More than six years had passed since Johns Hopkins last won a game when scoring seven goals or less. Prior to the 7-4 win at Maryland, the Blue Jays’ last win when scoring seven or less came on March 3, 2007, when JHU topped Princeton, 7-6, in double overtime in the Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium. Ironically, the win against Princeton that day came one week after a one-goal loss to Albany; as did this year’s win at Maryland.

The Key to Victory – Part I: Johns Hopkins is 7-1 on the year when scoring in double figures. The Blue Jays are 1-4 when scoring fewer than 10 goals. JHU scored its first win of the season when scoring less than 10 goals with the 7-4 win at Maryland.

The Key to Victory – Part II: Johns Hopkins is 8-1 on the year when holding the opposition to less than 10 goals. On the flip side, JHU is 0-4 when allowing 10 goals or more.

EMO Among Nation’s Best: The Blue Jay extra-man offense is 25-of-59 (.424) on the year and currently ranks eighth in the nation in man-up offense. Seven different players have scored at least one extra man goal for the Blue Jays with freshman Ryan Brown (8), junior Brandon Benn (6) and sophomore Wells Stanwick (4) leading the way. Brown’s eight extra man goals are already the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski had 12 and Conor Ford had eight.

Welcome Back: Junior midfielder Rob Guida returned to the lineup at Maryland after missing eight games with an injury. Guida took his customary spot on Johns Hopkins’ first midfield and scored one goal with two ground balls to his credit. He added another goal and two more GBs against Navy and now has three goals, one assist and eight ground balls on the year. Two of his goals are extra-man tallies.

Kaestner Enjoys Career Day: Senior attackman John Kaestner fueled JHU’s 15-4 win against Navy with the most productive game of his career. Starting for an injured Zach Palmer, Kaestner totaled career highs of three goals, three assists and six points to go along with three ground balls on the day.
Despite playing in just nine of JHU’s 13 games, Kaestner is tied for sixth on the team in scoring with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points. In 21 career games played before this season, he had four goals and two assists.
He also represents the third-generation of Kaestners to play at JHU as his grandfather (Benjamin “Bud” Kaestner, Jr.) and uncle (Benjamin “Hank” Kaestner, III) both played lacrosse at Johns Hopkins, are members of the All-Time Johns Hopkins Team and the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame. His uncle was a two-time recipient of the Schmeisser Award as the nation’s top defenseman (1966 & 1967), His father, John, played lacrosse at Maryland, was a three-time All-American and the 1972 recipient of the Turnbull Award, which is presented annually to the nation’s top attackman.
In addition, Kaestner’s two older sisters were also accomplished Division I lacrosse players. His oldest sister, Ashby, earned All-America honors three times at Georgetown, while another sister, Christie, played at Duke and was a First Team All-America pick for the Blue Devils.

Stanwick Leads Team in Scoring: Sophomore attackman Wells Stanwick had a nine-game streak with multiple points come to an end at Maryland as he was held scoreless for the first time this season, but he bounced back in a big way in the 15-4 win over Navy with one goal and a career-high five assists for six points. He added one assist last week against Loyola.
Stanwick continues to lead the team in scoring with 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points on the year and he has far surpassed his goal (9), assist (13) and point (23) totals from last season. He currently ranks fourth in the nation in shooting percentage (.500).
Stanwick has recorded at least two points in 10 of the 12 games he has played in this season and, despite not registering a point at Maryland, still has 37 points in his last nine games (4.1/game).
Stanwick enjoyed the finest game of his career in the 19-9 win over Mount St. Mary’s earlier this season as he totaled five goals and four assists for nine points. Previously he had never had more than two goals, three assists or four points in a game. Stanwick is the first Johns Hopkins player to post nine points in a game since Kyle Barrie had five goals and four assists in a 17-3 win over Navy in 2003. He is also the first JHU player with back-to-back six-point games since Dan Denihan did it against Villanova (8), Ohio State (6) and Maryland (7) during the 2000 season.

Poppleton Rolls On: Senior Mike Poppleton continues to enjoy a standout season as he won 15-of-17 faceoffs and grabbed 10 ground balls in the win over Navy and was 11-of-15 with six ground balls and one goal against Loyola. His effort against Navy marked the 11th time in is career he has won 14 or more faceoffs in one game.
Poppleton, who ranks second in the nation in faceoff winning percentage, is now 161-of-235 (.685) on the year and leads the team with 89 ground balls. He also improved to 351-of-545 (.644) in his career with his showing last week against Loyola and now ranks seventh in school history in career faceoffs won and attempted.

Palmer Ranks Third in Scoring: Despite missing games against Maryland and Navy after suffering an injury in practice, senior attackman Zach Palmer is still ranked third on the team in scoring with 12 goals and 12 assists on the year. He posted three goals and one assist at North Carolina and added one goal against Albany before missing the games against Maryland and Navy.
Palmer now has career totals of 71 goals and 68 assists for 139 points. He enters this week’s game against Army needing just two assists to become the 11th player in school history to amass 70 goals and 70 assists.

Benn Leads Team in Goals: Junior Brandon Benn continues to pace the team in goals (30) and ranks second in points (31) after punching up a career-high-tying five goals against Navy and two more last week against Loyola. He has scored 60 of his 65 career goals since the start of the 2012 season and has scored at least one goal in all 12 games he has played this season and 15 straight dating back to last season.
With 30 goals last season and 30 more this year, he is the first Johns Hopkins player to score 30 or more goals in back-to-back years since Dylan Schlott in 1998 (48) and 1999 (41).

What Brown Does For Us: Freshman Ryan Brown has stepped in and made an immediate impact for the Blue Jays in his first year at Homewood. Brown has 14 goals and four assists through 13 games and leads the team with eight extra-man goals. He has registered at least one point in nine of 13 games this season and his eight extra-man goals are the most by a Johns Hopkins player since 2004, when Matt Rewkowski (12) and Conor Ford(8) led a potent JHU extra man unit.
Brown fired home the first hat trick of his career and added an assist for a career-high four points in the 15-8 win over Virginia and added two goals at North Carolina. He now has six multi-point and four multi-goal games to his credit this season.

Sanders Breaks Through: Junior midfielder Rex Sanders entered the 2013 season with one career goal to his credit. He has already far surpassed that total as he has scored 13 goals through 13 games. Sanders ranks fifth on the team in goals (13) and ranks ninth in points (13).

Cattoni Emerging: Freshman Holden Cattoni played in two of the Blue Jays’ first three games, but didn’t register a point in those two outings.
That changed quickly as the hard-shooting lefty punched up back-to-back two-point games against Princeton and Mount St. Mary’s. He fired home a pair of goals against the Tigers and added one goal and one assist against the Mount. He scored an extra man goal against Syracuse, added one goal and one assist vs. Virginia, one goal against Albany and an assist vs. Navy. He now has six goals and three assists for nine points on the year.

Bassett Among National Win Leaders: Senior Pierce Bassett enters this week’s game against Army with a 7.90 goals against average and a .592 save percentage after posting 12 saves while allowing eight goals in last week’s game against Loyola. He currently ranks eighth in the nation in both save percentage and goals against average.
Bassett enjoyed one of his finest games of the season against Virginia as he posted 16 saves and allowed just seven goals in 59:02. The 16 saves are tied for the second-highest total of his career and he followed that with a 15-save performance against Albany and a 12-save showing against Maryland. He ranks seventh in school history with 487 career saves and passed Larry Quinn (462 saves • 1982-85) on the career saves list with his 12 against the Terps.
Bassett also enters this week’s game against Army tied for third among active Division I goalies in career wins after picking up number 35 against Navy.

Durkin Fuels Defense: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala has the luxury of returning the nation’s top defensive player in senior co-captain Tucker Durkin, who has picked up right where he left off a year ago and was recently named one of the 25 nominees for the 2013 Tewaaraton Award.
Durkin has been on a roll of late as the three players he has primarly covered in his last three games – Albany’s Lyle Thompson, Maryland’s Kevin Cooper and Loyola’s Justin Ward, combined for two assists in the three games. He held Thompson, the nation’s leading scorer at better than seven points per game, scoreless, while Cooper and Ward managed just one assist each.
Durkin currently ranks third on the team in ground balls (32) and leads the team with 16 caused turnovers. He is the anchor of a Johns Hopkins defense that ranks ninth nationally in scoring defense (8.08).

Lightner, Reilly Round Out Starting Defense: While senior Tucker Durkin has drawn the most headlines among JHU’s close defensemen, the Blue Jays also count talented senior Chris Lightner and junior Jack Reillyamong the key pieces to their defensive puzzle.
Lightner ranks fourth on the team with 31 ground balls and also has eight caused turnovers to his credit, while Reilly has 14 ground balls and ranks second on the team with 13 caused turnovers. Lightner had five ground balls and two caused turnovers in the recent win at Maryland.

Scoring Droughts Abound: Despite the new rules in place this season that aim to quicken the pace (and thus increase scoring), the Johns Hopkins defense has been able to hold the opposition scoreless for long stretches.
In the win at top-ranked Maryland, the Blue Jay defense was dialed in from the opening whistle and held the Terps off the scoreboard for stretches of 11:23, 22:02 and 13:13. Senior goalie Pierce Bassett and close defensemen Tucker Durkin, Chris Lightner and Jack Reilly combined to hold Maryland’s starting attack unit to one goal and one assist and the Terps’ potent first midfield managed just three goals and one assist. This is the first time this season JHU has held the opposition scoreless for 11 minutes or more three different times in one game.
The four goals the Blue Jays allowed at Maryland are the fewest Johns Hopkins has allowed against a team ranked in the top five since April 5, 1986, when JHU topped third-ranked North Carolina, 16-4
The Blue Jays followed that with another strong showing as they held Navy to just four goals on 22 shots and twice held the Midshipmen scoreless for stretches of 20 minutes or longer.

• The Blue Jays have held the opposition scoreless for 11 minutes or more 21 times this season.
• The Blue Jays have held the opposition scoreless for 15 mnutes or more 13 times this season.
• The Blue Jays have held the opposition scoreless for 20 minutes or more seven times this season.

State Rivalries: Last week’s 8-4 loss to Loyola was JHU’s first in six games this season against a team from the state of Maryland. Johns Hopkins’ record is now 61-8 (.884) under head coach Dave Pietramala in games played against teams from the state of Maryland. JHU went 5-1 this year against in-state teams.

Poll Position: The Blue Jays are ranked 14th in this week’s USILA Coaches Poll and 16th in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Johns Hopkins Athletic Communications Office uses the USILA Poll to represent JHU’s official ranking at the time of a game. Prior to falling out of the top 20 of the USILA Poll on April 26 and May 3, 2010 (JHU was receiving votes in both polls), the Blue Jays had been ranked in the top 20 in 367 consecutive polls dating back to the first poll in 1973.

More Poll Position: Including this week’s USILA Poll, there have been 408 weekly polls since the inception of the poll in 1973. Amazingly, JHU has been ranked in the top 20 in 406 of those 408 polls. The Blue Jays have been in the top 10 in 381 of the 408 and the top five in 299 of those 408. Johns Hopkins has been ranked number one 104 times since the poll debuted in 1973.

I’m Honored: The Blue Jays return four players who earned All-America honors last season in seniors Tucker Durkin, Pierce Bassett and John Ranagan and junior Rob Guida. Durkin earned First Team All-America honors on defense, while Ranagan and Guida grabbed second team honors at midfield. Bassett earned honorable mention honors in goal and he, Durkin and Ranagan are two-time All-America selections for the Blue Jays.

Odd, But True: Years ending in “3” have been kind, and unkind, to the Blue Jays. Since the formation of the NCAA Tournament in 1971, Johns Hopkins has advanced to the NCAA Championship game three times (1973, 1983, 2003) and the NCAA Semifinals once (1993) in the years ending in three. JHU fell in each of those three title games with the three loses coming by a total of four goals. In each of those instances the Blue Jays subsequently won a national championship within two years.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part I: Johns Hopkins head coach Dave Pietramala will serve as an assistant coach for the United States at at the 2014 Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) World Championships in Denver Colorado. Pietramala will serve under Richie Meade, the head coach at Navy from 1995-2011.

Representing the Stars and Stripes – Part II: Johns Hopkins sophomore defender Rob Enright was a member of the United States Team that won the 2012 FIL U-19 World Championship in Turku, Finland. Enright is the 17th Johns Hopkins player to represent the United States at the U-19 Championships since the formation of the event in 1988.

Working Overtime: The loss at North Carolina snapped a three-game winning streak for the Blue Jays in games that have gone to overtime. With the loss the Blue Jays are now 19-10 all-time in overtime under head coach Dave Pietramala.

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Army attackmen John Glesener and Garrett Thul combined to score 11 points to lead the Black Knights (7-4, 3-2 Patriot League) to a 14-7 victory over the Navy men’s lacrosse team (3-9, 1-4 PL) Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.  It was Army’s fifth straight win in a series that Navy leads, 57-32-3.

“There’s no amount of words to make you understand how it feels to lose to Army,” said Navy junior attackman Sam Jones (Annapolis, Md.).  “You play to win this game.  I love how hard my teammates play.  We just have to keep fighting, but playing hard isn’t a consolation for winning.”

“I congratulate Army,” said Navy second-year head coach Rick Sowell.  “They played on heck of a game.  We didn’t have an answer for some of the individual matchups.

“Great players can supercede good schemes and they certainly did that today.”

The story of the game from the get-go was possession.  Army nominated the faceoff category, taking 19 of the 23 draws on the afternoon.  Rookie Alex Daly was responsible for all but one faceoff as he single-handedly won the majority of the draws and keyed a pair of Black Knight goals including the game’s first goal which was scored just six seconds in.  That goal, the first of three goals by John Glesener, sparked a four-goal run by the Black Knights.

“We threw everything but the kitchen sink out there to find something that would work, but we just had no answer,” said Sowell regarding the Mids’ faceoff woes.

Navy finally got on the scoreboard with 4:03 remaining in the opening quarter when freshman Patrick Keena (Vienna, Va.) fed junior attackman Tucker Hull (Charlotte, N.C.), who faked Army keeper Sam Somers high, then low and back high for the first of his three goals.

The Mids trimmed Army’s lead to one at 4-3 scoring the first two goals of the second period.  Jones found a wide-openT.J. Hanzsche (Berwyn, Pa.) standing on the crease for an extra-man strike at 11:09 and two minutes later Jones came up with a loose ball and fired in the first of his two goals on the afternoon.  Hanzsche has now scored a goal in each of the last five contests for the Mids.

Army, however, put together its own run that featured a pair of extra-man goals including senior attackman Kip Haddock’s first goal of the season.  Meanwhile, five seconds after Army’s second extra-man goal in the run, Daly won another faceoff and fed Garrett Thul for a goal to put the Black Knights up 7-3 at the end of the half.

Navy came out of the locker room with the hot hand and rallied, scoring a pair of goals in the first 90 seconds of the game and just 30 seconds apart.  Hull slipped defenseman John Burk and threaded the needle past Somers at the 14:00 minute mark.  Junior middie Pat Durkin (Germantown, Md.) took advantage of rookie iddie Shea Mullins losing his footing and fired in his 11th goal of the season to get Navy within two at 7-5.

The Black Knights answered quickly when Thul, the nation’s second-leading goal scorer, sent a highlight reel wrap-around shot past two defenseman which triggered a five-goal run by Army to take a 12-5 lead into the final quarter.

Each team scored a pair of goals in the final quarter of play for the final, 14-6.

Hull paced the Mids with his 11th career hat trick and second of the season as he moved into 24th on Navy’s all-time scoring list with 105 points.  he now trails 23rd-place Matt Pawlikowski (1990-93) by just one point.  Meanwhile, Jones joined Hull among Navy’s 100-point scorers as he registered a pair of goals and an assist.  It’s just the fourth time in program history that classmates have reached 100 points – Brendan Schneck and Mike Hannan from the Class of ‘78, Mike Herger and Brian Keith from the Class of ‘90 and Ian Dingman and Billy Looney from the class of ‘07.

Jones is the 31st player in Navy’s 106-year history of lacrosse to score 100 points and is just the 14th to score 100 points in three seasons.  With 102 points, he stands 26th on Navy’s all-time scoring list.

Senior captain Nolan Hickey (Chaminade, N.Y.) played his final game on his home field and gave an admirable effort with 15 saves.  It was his seventh double-digit save performance of his career and the fifth game with 15 or more saves.

Glesener guided the Black Knights with seven points on three goals and four assists, while Thul punched in a team-best four goals.  Seven players were responsible for the remaining seven goals.

Navy will play its season finale next Saturday when it pays a visit to Homewood Field to face longtime rival Johns Hopkins.  Game time is slated for 4:00 pm and will be nationally televised by ESPNU with Quint Kessenich and Mark Dixon calling the action.

Game Preview
• Bragging rights will be on the line this Saturday when  Navy (3-8, 1-4 Patriot League) battles arch rival Army (6-4, 2-2 PL) in the annual Star Game … the 92nd edition of the Army-Navy Game is slated for a 2:00 pm faceoff at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis.
• Saturday’s contest will mark the final collegiate game for Navy’s 11 seniors … those 11 players and their parents, along with three support staff members from the Class of 2013, will be honored in a pregame ceremony..
• Navy is looking to bounce back after dropping an 11-8 decision to No. 1-ranked Maryland last Friday evening in Annapolis.  The Terps jumped out to a 3-0 lead, but the Mids rallied to score 5 straight and hold a 5-3 second quarter lead.  The Terps, however, regrouped in the second half and a 6-2 run would be the difference maker in the come-from-behind victory .
• Army is coming off a tough one-goal loss to Bucknell.  Although the Black Knights held a 5-3 halftime advantage, the Bison would scored five of the next six goals to take a lead it would not relinquish en route to the 9-8 win at West Point. Army was held scoreless the entire third quarter, giving way to Bucknell.
• Saturday’s contest will be televised by CBS Sports Network with Dave Ryan (play by play), Evan Washburn (analyst) and Sheehan Stanwick Burch (analyst) calling the action.  The Armed Forces Network will also carry the game for our troops bases overseas.

Army vs. Navy – The Series
• Today’s contest marks the 91st meeting between Army and Navy on the lacrosse field, meeting for the 81st-consecutive year … it’s the longest continuous lacrosse series between Navy and another team.
• Navy owns a 57-31-3 series advantage that included 13-straight wins by the Midshipmen between 1998 and 2007 … the Mids have won 14 of the last 19 contests in the series.
• The Mids also own a 52-30-3 advantage in Star Games, winning 11 of the last 15.
• Army, however, has won five of the last six games in the series, including each of the last four games overall and three-consecutive Star Games.
• Navy owns a 28-14-1 advantage in games played in Annapolist, including seven of the last eight.
• There have been only six times in the 90-game history (dating back to 1924) in which the two programs have battled twice in one season (1978 and 1981 in the NCAA Tournament; 2005, ‘06, ‘07 and ‘10 in the Patriot League Tournament).
• Navy has scored eight or more goals in 21 of the last 24 games against Army … the Mids have held the Black Knights to single digits in nine of the 13 games since joining the league in 2004 … Army has reach double digits just twice in the last nine games against the Mids.

Scouting the Black Knights
• Eighth-year Army head coach Joe Alberici has directed the Black Knights to a 6-4 overall mark, including a 2-2 Patriot League record.
• All four of Army’s losses – Massachusetts, Syracuse, Lehigh and Bucknell – have been against nationally-ranked foes … meanwhile, the Black Knights have wins over Lafayette and Colgate in Patriot League action.
• Army is coming off a tough one-goal loss to Bucknell … the Black Knights held a 5-3 halftime advantage, but the Bison would scored five of the next six goals to take a lead it would not relinquish … Army was held scoreless the entire third quarter, giving way to Bucknell.
• The Black Knights are ranked among the top 10 in scoring defense (#6), holding their foes to 7.60 goals per game, in caused turnovers (#7), posting 9.80 takeaways per contest and in ground balls per game (#10), grabbing 14.7 per contest.
• Army’s two lowest rankings are in shot percentage (#55, 24.1) and saves per game (#50, 10.0).
• Sophomore midfielder John Glesener is atop the scoring leader board for the Black Knights with 44 points on 23 goals and a team-best 21 assists.  Glesener is the only Army player with double digit assists.  He is ranked sixth nationally in points per game and 13th in assists per outing.
• Senior attackman Garrett Thul is the sharp-shooter of the team with a team-best 32 goals, including 5 extra-man strikes.  He is ranked No. 2 in the country with his 3.20 goals per game average behind Cornell’s Steve Mock who is posting 3.70 goals per game.
• Second-year midfielder Alex Newsome has scored 7 of his 14 goals on extra-man.
• Army has used 5 different face-off men this season, however, rookie Alex Daly has taken the majority.  He has won 49.7 percent (78-157) of his draws this season and is pacing the team in ground balls with 40.
• First-year starting keeper Sam Somers has been solid in goal, surrendering 6.79 goals per game and posting a 60.0 save percentage.  He is ranked No. 2 nationally in GAA and sixth in save percentage.
• All-Patriot League defenseman Brendan Buckley is one of three players on the team with double figure caused turnovers and leads the team with 18 takeaways.

Senior Salute
• The Naval Academy Athletic Association will recognize the senior class and its parents prior to start of Saturday’s contest against Army.
• Navy’s 11-player senior class has amassed a 20-30 record, including a 10-13 Patriot League mark.
• The following is a list of Navy’s seniors and their service assignments.

Jay Christopher    Navy Pilot
Bryce Dabbs    Supply Corps
Brye French    Marine Corps Ground
Nolan Hickey    Marine Corps Ground
Brendan Lewis    Naval Flight Officer
Jay Mann    Special Warfare
Evan McGoogan    Special Warfare
Austin Miller    Marine Corps Ground
Cade Norris    Special Warfare
Peter Rogers    Surface Warfare, LHD-1 WASP (Norfolk, Va.)
Chris Talarico    Marine Corps Ground

Kiernan Among Nation’s Top Poles
• Junior long stick defensive midfielder Pat Kiernan is one of the best at his position in the country.
• Kiernan leads Navy in ground balls and is second in caused turnovers.  Additionally, he is among the national leaders in both categories.  He is ranked eighth in caused turnovers per game (2.55) and 21st in ground balls (5.73).
• He is Navy’s record holder for career caused turnovers (50), a stat introduced in 2009 … with 25 caused turnovers this season, he is ranked No. 3 on the Mids’ single-season list … also ranked ninth (14, 2012) and tied for 13th (11, 2011) on the chart.
• Kiernan was a machine against Towson where he registered a career-high 12 ground balls and won 8 of his 10 faceoffs.  Meanwhile, against Lafayette he picked up 7 ground balls and forced 7 Leopard turnovers.
• He is ied for 16th on Navy’s career ground balls list with 134 alongside Eddie McKinnon (1999-02) and Joe Donnelly (1985-88) … he needs 5 to tie 15th-place Matt Pawlikowski (1990-93) … meanwhile, he is 11th on the Mids’ single-season chart with 63 grounders … it’s the most ground balls by a Navy player since 2008 when draw specialist Mikelis Visgauss grabbed 80.
• He also stands 19th on the Mids’ career faceoff wins list, winning 22 of the 43 draws (51.2) he has taken.
• Additionally, he has garnered Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week honors three times this season.
• He has produced 12 career points, including  a program-record 10 in 2012.
• He is tied for eighth in the country among active poles with 12 points behind Bryant’s Mason Poli (54 pts), Loyola’s Scott Ratliff (40), Brown’s Roger Ferguson (27), Maryland’s Jesse Bernhardt (19), Dillon Ayers of St. John’s (18), Bellarmine’s Bobby Schmitt (16) and Mark Burns of Mount St. Mary’s (13).  Syracuse’s Matt Harris and Air Force’s Kyle O’Brien also have 12 points
• He is second all-time in career points scored by a Navy defensemen, while his 9 goals are the most in program history.

Welcome to the Club!
• On March 12, Navy junior attackman Tucker Hull became the 30th player in program history to join the Mids’ elite list of 100-point scorers.  He is the first player to add his name to the list since 2011 when Andy Warner graduated with 101 points.
• Hull currently stands 25th on Navy’s all-time scoring list with 102 points, just one behind 24th-place Billy Looney(2004-07).
• Meanwhile, junior attackman Sam Jones is ONE point away from 100.  Should Jones reach that milestone, it would be only the fourth set of classmates in program history to reach 100 points.  Brendan Schneck (121) and Mike Hannan (101) from the Class of ‘78, Mike Herger (197) and Brian Keith (134) from the Class of 1990 and Ian Dingman (188) andBilly Looney (103) from the Class of 2007 are the others.
• Hull is just the 13th player in program history to reach the 100-point mark as a junior.  Mike Herger (109), Ian Dingman(102) and Brendan Schneck (121) accomplished it as sophomores.
• Hull led Navy in scoring in each of his first two seasons and is once again one of the leaders this season as he stands No. 2 in scoring with 17 points on 10 goals and 7 assists.
• As a rookie, he and classmate Sam Jones anchored an offense with 38 points on 23 goals and 15 assists.  Last season, Hull produced 47 points on 23 goals and 24 assists.
• Hull is the Mids’ first 40-point scorer since Nick Mirabito turned in 46 points on 23 goals and 23 assists in 2008 … it’s the most points scored by a Navy player since 2006 when Jon Birsner dealt out 36 assists en route to his 54-point effort.
• With his 3 assists against Detroit, Hull joined the Mids’ all-time career assists list … he produced his 46th career assist against No. 1-ranked Maryland last Friday to tie to tie Owen McFadden (1964-66) for 17th on the list … he needs 2 to tie 16th-place Brendan Schneck (1977-78).

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Game Data

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

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

Series History

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

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

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

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

In The Polls

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

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

Bellarmine is receiving votes in the media poll.

Last Time Out

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

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

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

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

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

Ward’s Big Night

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

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

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

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

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

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

Pontrello Puts Up Points, Too

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

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

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

Another Sawyer Hat Trick

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

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

Eighth To 100

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

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

Blackjack

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

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

Layne Keeps Tallying Points

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

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

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

Spreading The Scoring

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

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

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

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

Off The Ground And Running

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

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

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

Two At The ‘X’

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

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

Acton Active On Defense

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

A Lot Of Everything

The adage that a player does a little bit of everything does not necessarily apply to long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff. The Loyola senior does a lot, as he led the team last year in ground balls (88) and caused turnovers (37), was fifth in goals (12) and seventh in assists (7). His 37 caused turnovers were second-most in Loyola history – behind P.T. Ricci’s 51 in 2009 – since the stats became official that year.

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

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

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

With his game-opening goal against Canisius in the NCAA First Round, he set the Loyola single-season record for long-pole scoring, surpassing the record of 16 points set by current assistant coach Matt Dwan his senior season in 1995 when he tallied 11 goals and five assists and earned All-America honors.

Helmet Stickers

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

Well-Represented In MLL Draft

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

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

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

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

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

Newtown Youth Clinic

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

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

Preseason Accolades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Toomey Receives Morris Touchstone Award

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

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

The win over Canisius in the First Round was the 60th victory of his coaching career, becoming the fourth coach in Loyola history to win 60 or more – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001), Charles Wenzel (62-104, 1954-1970), Jay Connor (61-46, 1975-1982).  Toomey’s .640 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

Big Runs

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

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

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

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

Second-Half Success

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

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

Up Next

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

BALTIMORE- UMBC senior goalkeeper Adam Cohen made 12 of his 13 saves in the final 45 minutes and the host Retrievers utilized a 5-1 third quarter surge to knock off Rutgers, 11-7, at UMBC Stadium.

UMBC evened its early season record at 1-1, while Rutgers fell to 2-2.

Eight different Retrievers scored goals and the hosts were led by senior attackman Matt Gregoire (Crofton, Md./South River), who scored his first three goals of the season.  Linemates Joe Lustgarten (Wading River, N.Y./Shoreham-Wading River) and Scott Jones (Port Coquitlam, B.C./Terry Fox) also had strong effots for the Retrievers. Lustgarten led UMBC with four points, scoring once and adding three assists, while Jones scored twice and added a helper.

Rutgers junior attackman Scott Klimchak led all players with five goals.

UMBC defeated Rutgers by the identical 11-7 score in Piscataway, N.J. last season. Cohen also shined in that game, making 14 saves and scoring a goal late in the contest.

The Scarlet Knights jumped on top, 2-0,  less than five minutes into the contest, but UMBC closed the quarter with goals by junior midfielder Conor Finch (Westminster, Md./Boys’ Latin) and Gregoire. Jones gave UMBC its first lead of the day midway through the second quarter, but Klimchak evened the score with 4:09 remaining in the half and the teams went to the locker room knotted at 3-3.

But UMBC came out with a determined third quarter effort. Despite losing all six face-offs in the quarter, the Retrievers scored on five of 12 shots. Sophomore midfielder Derek Bertolini(Madison, Conn./Choate) gave the hosts the lead for good with an unassisted goal from deep on the right wing just 1:44 into the stanza.

After an exchange of goals, the Retrievers scored three times in the final 2:38 of the quarter to take command. Jones converted a Lustgarten feed on a man-up situation, rifling a shot past RU netminder Kris Alleyne from eight yards out.

The Retrievers’ next two goals were tough chances as Gregoire managed to dump in a Lustgarten feed from just outside the crease after initially bobbling the pass from Lustgarten with 77 seconds to play in the third. Then , freshman midfielder Pat Young (Ewing, N.J./Christchurch School) took a pass from Jones and converted an acrobatic shot while driving to the goal with 0.7 to play in the stanza.

UMBC led, 8-4, after three quarters and extended the run to 6-1 as Lustgarten scored on a fast-break 54 seconds into the fourth. But RU kept coming, as Klimchak scored twice and freshman midfielder Jacob Coretti cut the deficit to 9-7 with 5:21 remaining.

Rutgers won the ensuing draw, but Cohen made a save and triggered a fast break. Jones’ shot from the left side was saved by Alleyne, but Gregoire knocked in the rebound to restore a three-goal lead with 4:08 remaining.

UMBC held the ball for the majority of the final four minutes and freshman attackman Nate Lewnes (Arnold, Md./St. Mary’s) beat a double-team and added the 11^th goal with 1:49 to play.

Rutgers outshot UMBC, 40-35 and outdrew the hosts, 13-8.

Lustgarten now has multiple assists in his last 11 outings, one shy of Steve Marohl’s 1992 school record of 12.

UMBC faces defending national champion Loyola at the Ridley Athletic Complex on Tuesday evening.

The UMBC men’s lacrosse team opens the home portion of its 2013 schedule on Sat., Feb. 23 when they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. The opening face-off its set to take place at 1:05 p.m. on the turf at UMBC Stadium. UMBC dropped its opener, 12-9, at Robert Morris on Feb. 16, while Rutgers has won two of three contests in the early part of the season. UMBC holds a narrow 8-7 series lead and the teams have split the last eight meetings since 2001. The game will be streamed at www.umbcretrievers.tv.

SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS

- SR A Scott Jones scored four goals, but visiting UMBC dropped its season opener, 12-9, at Robert Morris (1-1) at Joe Walton Stadium.

- FR M Pat Young added two goals, JR M Zach Linkous posted one goal and one helper and SR A Joe Lustgarten  added a pair of assists in the opener for the Retrievers.

- SR M Neill Lewnes and SO LSM Seth Mackin led all players with seven and six ground balls respectively.

- Jones posted his 14th career hat trick in the game and has 65 career goals.

- Jones, Lewnes  and Ethan Murphy were named captains for the 2012-13 academic year. Jones and Murphy will serve as team captains for the second consecutive year.

- UMBC is now 26-17 in games decided by three goals or less since the beginning of the 2007 season.

- Head Coach Don Zimmerman enters his 20th season at UMBC in 2013. The Retriever mentor stands eighth in victories (213) and 15th in winning percentage (60.7%) amongst active Division I coaches.

SCOUTING THE SCARLET KNIGHTS

-  Despite a late surge, the Rutgers men’s lacrosse team fell to Air Force, 11-9, at the RU Turf Field at the Stadium Complex, Saturday. The Scarlet Knights were led by FR A Scott Bieda and FR M Jacob Coretti, who both netted two goals.

- JR A Nick DePaolera posted another five-point game, tallying a career-high five assists after opening the season with five goals against Manhattan (Feb. 10). DePaolera was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for his performance through the first two games, the conference announced Monday.

- Rutgers  defeated Wagner, 20-10, at RU Turf Field on Tuesday. The Scarlet Knights (2-1) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and wouldn’t look back.

- Rutgers opened the 2012 campaign with a 15-6 win over Manhattan on Sun. , Feb. 10. The Scarlet Knights improved to 11-0 all-time against the Jaspers.

- UMBC defeated Rutgers, 11-7, in last year’s meeting in New Jersey. The Retrievers took an 8-7 series lead over the Scarlet Knights and avenged a 12-5 loss to RU at UMBC Stadium a year ago.

Head Coach Don Zimmerman enters his 20th season at UMBC in 2013. The Retriever mentor stands eighth in victories (213) and 15th in winning percentage (60.7%) amongst active Division I coaches. The win over Binghamton on April 10, 2010 was the 200th in the career of UMBC head coach Don Zimmerman. He is now 213-138 in his 27th year as a collegiate mentor. Zimmerman is the 10th active coach to record 200 victories. He coached his 250th game at UMBC vs. Hartford on May 4, 2011.

Zimmerman’s Records

Career Record:

213-139 (.605) (27th season)

at UMBC: 140-124 (.530) (20th season)

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.

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 37-16 (.698) at home since 2006.

DON’T LOOK BACK: UMBC is now in its 46th season of varsity men’s lacrosse with a record of 338-284 (.543). The Retrievers played their 600th intercollegiate match on March 18, 2012 at Maryland. They are 221-217 (.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                     13th                  7.15

Man-Up Offense                      14th                  41.9%

FOR (HOME) OPENERS: UMBC is looking to snap a three-game slide in home openers. The last home-opening win occurred vs. Rutgers in 2009.

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 midfielder Scott 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.

Player of the Week for games ending Feb. 26, 2012. 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 is tied for 10th- most amongst current Division I players.

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 has multiple assists in his last ten outings (2 at Robert Morris), 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.

CROW ABOUT POE: JR face-off specialist Phil Poe attempted all but six draws through 11 games in 2012 and his 320 attempted were 7th 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. 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: FR M Pat Young scored the first two goals of his career, tallying twice in the first quarter at Robert Morris… SO LSM Seth Mackin garnered a career-best six ground balls… Twenty-seven Retrievers saw action in the opener vs. the Colonials.

A LOOK AT THE KNIGHTS: Despite a late surge, the Rutgers men’s lacrosse team fell to Air Force, 11-9, at the RU Turf Field at the Stadium Complex, Saturday. The Scarlet Knights were led by FR A Scott Bieda and FR M Jacob Coretti, who both netted two goals. JR A Nick DePaolera posted another five-point game, tallying a career-high five assists after opening the season with five goals against Manhattan (Feb. 10). DePaolera was named to the BIG EAST Weekly Honor Roll for his performance through the first two games, the conference announced Monday. Rutgers  defeated Wagner, 20-10, at RU Turf Field on Tuesday. The Scarlet Knights (2-1) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead and wouldn’t look back. Rutgers opened the 2012 campaign with a 15-6 win over Manhattan on Sun., Feb. 10. The Scarlet Knights improved to 11-0 all-time against the Jaspers.

UMBC VS. RU: The Retrievers took an 8-7 series lead last year, when they defeated the Knights, 11-7, in Piscataway. JR M Zach Linkous scored a career-high five goals in the contest and SR G Adam Cohen added a goal, in addition to a 14-save effort. UMBC never trailed in the contest, taking control in the second quarter and building a 8-2 advantage early in the third quarter. SR M Dave Brown added two goals and two assists for the victors.Rutgers won the last meeting at UMBC, earning a 12-5 victory at UMBC Stadium in 2011.

Led by Lucio Gonzaga, the Blast defeated the Syracuse Silver Knights, 27-13, Sunday afternoon to improve to 14-4 on the season.  Eight Baltimore players scored in the win including three goals from Gonzaga and two each from Machel Millwood and Adriano Dos Santos.

The Blast came out fast, scoring four goals in the first four minutes of the game to take an early 8-0 lead.  J.T. Noone extended the lead to 10-0 before the Silver Knights’ Andriy Budnyy got Syracuse on the scoreboard with a three-point goal.  Syracuse’s Neto scored a power play goal to end the first quarter and cut the Blast lead to 10-5.  Baltimore’s team captain, Mike Lookingland, opened the scoring just 48 seconds into the match and Millwood, Ptah Myers and Gonzaga followed suit in the next three minutes.

The teams played more than 14 scoreless minutes in the second quarter before Tony Donatelli extended the Blast lead to 12-5 just 23 seconds before halftime.

The third and fourth quarters were similar to the first with the Blast surging ahead with goal after goal.  Baltimore opened the second half with four quick, the first coming from Dos Santos at 2:35.  Millwood and Gonzaga each added their second goals of the game and rookie Marco Mangione scored a three-pointer to give the Blast a 21-5 lead after just six minutes.  Syracuse’s Neto scored his second goal of the game, with just seconds to go in the quarter, to cut the Blast lead to 21-7.

The teams combined for six goals in the final quarter with Silver Knights adding five quick points to cut the Blast lead to 21-11.  Dos Santos and Max Ferdinand scored the next two goals and Gonzaga completed his hat trick in the 10th minute.

The Blast will return to 1st Mariner Arena Friday night to host the Rochester Lancers and Saturday night to host the Missouri Comets.  Friday night fans will be treated to a FREE post-game concert by Thousand Foot Krutch.
MISLNation
Every MISL game this season can be seen live on the Internet at www.MISLNation.com.

Upcoming Games
Friday, January 25 vs. Rochester Lancers – FREE post-game concert featuring Thousand Foot Krutch
Saturday, January 26 vs. Missouri Comets

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - I hope those watching the 113th Army/Navy game Saturday afternoon didn’t come away from the game thinking “if (Navy QB) Keenan Reynolds is doing this already, imagine what he could do for the next three years.”

It’s not as if it isn’t possible that the true freshman from Antioch, TN doesn’t have grand heights attainable during his next three years of eligibility in Annapolis. It’s just that when a teenager accomplishes what Reynolds did Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field, it deserves to stand alone without any future context.

The United States Naval Academy has made wins over the United States Military Academy a bit of habit in recent years, claiming 11 straight victories. Most haven’t been quite as gut-wrenching as Saturday’s 17-13 victory.

Before Saturday, Navy hadn’t trailed Army in the fourth quarter of any game since 2001-the year Army last defeated the Midshipmen. This time the contest moved past the midway point of the fourth quarter with the Black Knights not only leading Navy 13-10, but also in possession of the football inside the Navy 20 yard line.

It was a situation wholly unprecedented for any Navy player, but it would take only eight plays for the nervous energy hanging over the Brigade of Midshipmen to turn into an exuberant celebration. More importantly, it would take four particularly key plays from Reynolds that won’t soon by forgotten by military faithful. It would take an uncommon level of confidence, moxie and ability from a young man his age to make it happen.

“Before the drive started, I told the guys, ‘this is the one’” Reynolds explained after the game. “We have to go down and score. They all looked at me and were like, ‘Let’s go!’”

“Keenan comes in, uses his man voice and calls the play, and does a really good job” WR Brandon Turner added. “And the way he talks and the way his huddle prescense is, because I played quarterback in high school so I know how important that is to what extent, he makes you want to believe in him.”

Facing 4th & 5 from the Navy 19 yard line, Army chose to trot out K Eric Osteen for a 37 yard field goal attempt instead of attempting a conversion that would leave them tantalizingly close to a game sealing touchdown. The kick would sail wide left and give the Midshipmen the ball back with 6:57 to play. The Mids would immediately find trouble, but Reynolds connected with Geoffrey Whiteside for 10 yards on 3rd & 8 to reverse fortune and gain momentum. He wouldn’t look back.

Two plays later, Reynolds escaped a crowded pocket and juked a defender before tip-toeing down the right sideline to gain 11 yards and another first down. He then through a beautiful downfield ball to Turner that the 6’4″ receiver would easily haul in 49 yards downfield to set up a 1st and goal from the Army 8 yard line. The receiver would later describe the throw as the best he had received from Reynolds all season.

On the very next play, Reynolds waltzed into the endzone on a quarterback follow to punctuate an incredible game-turning drive and fully etch his name in Army-Navy lore.

The situation was unusual for Navy against Army, but it wasn’t the first time in Reynolds’ short tenure as Navy’s starting quarterback that he was faced with adversity. In fact, Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo said after the game he wasn’t surprised at all by the remarkable heroics of the game’s Most Valuable Player.

“If he can come into the Air Force game down by eight in the fourth quarter with eight minutes left at their place and have clear eyes and not miss a beat and not seem nervous, I don’t know if he can be in a tougher situation.”

Reynolds worked mop-up duty for the Mids in early season blowout losses to Notre Dame (in Dublin, Ireland) and at Penn State. He entered a hopeless situation in the 4th quarter of a shutout loss to San Jose State in the Mids’ fourth game of the season as well. But he didn’t officially become the Naval Academy’s starting quarterback until the Midshipmen were desperate.

Sitting at 1-3 on the season, the Midshipmen found themselves 9:03 away from losing grip on their most significant preseason goals in Colorado Springs, CO October 6. They trailed Air Force 21-13, with a loss assuring they could not win back the Commander-in-Chief’s Trophy from the Falcons and meaning they would have to finish the season 5-2 just to get bowl eligible. Niumatalolo benched then starter Trey Miller in favor of Reynolds, who quickly navigated a six play, 75 yard drive that would tie things up after a two point conversion by FB Noah Copeland. Reynolds would put together another TD drive in overtime to finish off the Falcons and completely turn Navy’s season around.

Niumatalolo described Navy’s win Saturday as “indicative of the season” they had. Perhaps in no way more than in the resolution of their freshman quarterback. When everything mattered most, the young man was absolutely unflappable.

Keenan Reynolds isn’t even yet 19 years old.

It’s hard to fathom the type of poise it took to author a comeback. It’s hard to put into words the intensity of an Army/Navy game. It’s hard to imagine a young man roughly six months removed from prom clinging to the term “I.M.A.N-It’s Not About Me” in the waining moments to give his team salvation. (Reynolds said I.M.A.N. has been a rallying cry for the entire Navy football program this season.)

“There’s something about the kid, and just the way he led us on that last drive, it was unbelievable” Turner described. “In one of the biggest games as a freshman, he came in and beat one of the better Army teams the last few years. That’s incredible. That’s remarkable.”

I couldn’t say it any better.

-G