Game Data
Loyola University Maryland opens the home portion of its 2013 men’s lacrosse schedule on Saturday, February 23, when it hosts the University of Maryland at Ridley Athletic Complex in a rematch of the 2012 NCAA Championship Game.
The Greyhounds and Terrapins will faceoff at 1:30 p.m. in a game that follows the Loyola-Penn State University women’s lacrosse game that starts at 11 a.m.

On The Tube
The game will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network in the channel’s first live college lacrosse game that was not part of a multi-team event. Mike Corey will call the play-by-play, while Mark Dixon will provide the analysis in the booth. Evan Washburn will be on the sidelines for additional commentary.

Series History
Loyola and Maryland will be meeting for the 22nd time in series history on Saturday with the Terrapins holding a 19-2 advantage in the previous 21 games.
Prior to last year’s NCAA Championship Game, the teams had not faced each other since Maryland won a 19-8 decision on May 23, 1998, in the NCAA Semifinals at Rutgers University.
The 2013 contest will be the first time the teams have met in the regular season since Loyola scored its first victory in the series, 10-8, on March 19, 1989, in the title game of the Loyola/George Transfer Invitational. Prior to that game, Maryland had won the first 18 meetings.

Title Game Look Back
Loyola and Maryland met at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on May 28, 2012, with the NCAA Championship on the line.
The Greyhounds jumped out to a 2-1 lead with 1:55 to go in the first quarter on an Eric Lusby goal, but the Terrapins rallied to score the next two, going up 3-2 on Kevin Cooper’s tally off a Joe Cummings assist with 10:40 remaining in the first half.
Pat Byrnes tied the score 1:18 later, and Mike Sawyer gave the Greyhounds the lead for good with a low-to-low shot at 5:57, as Maryland would not score again the rest of the game.
Loyola’s defense held Maryland scoreless for the final 40-minutes, 40-seconds of regulation despite facing  19 shots in the second half and 20 total during that span.
Eric Lusby was named the NCAA Championships’ Most Outstanding Player after scoring four goals in the Championship game and a tournament record 17 in four games. Chris Layne led Loyola with three assists in the game, Davis Butts and Sawyer both had multi-point games for the Greyhounds with a goal and an assist apiece.
Jack Runkel made six saves in goal for the Greyhounds.

In The Polls
Loyola opened the 2013 season ranked No. 1 in both the USILA Coaches and Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media polls, but after last weekend’s narrow victory at Delaware, the Greyhounds fell to No. 2 in the coaches’ version. They remain in the top spot in the media poll.
It was the first time in the polls’ existences that the Greyhounds have been ranked No. 1 in the preseason.
Maryland entered the season ranked second in both polls, and the Terrapins took over the top slot in the coaches’ poll this week.

Last Time Out
Mike Sawyer scored four goals to lead seven Loyola players who had at least two points in a 14-9 mid-week victory at Towson on Wednesday night.
Sawyer tallied the first goal of the game as four different Greyhounds scored in the first quarter while Loyola built a 6-1 advantage with 9:39 to play in the first half.
Kevin Ryan scored two of the Greyhounds’ first six goals, both on extra-man opportunities, and Sawyer added his second of the game early in the second period. Towson, however, scored three unanswered to pull within two, 6-4, with 6:41 on the first-half clock, but Sawyer and Sean O’Sullivan answered for the Greyhounds to give them an 8-4 halftime cushion.
Patrick Fanshaw and Sawyer tallied goals in the second half’s first seven minutes, and Loyola was up six, but the Tigers made it a three-goal game on two occasions in the fourth quarter.

Sawyer’s Hat Trick
With more than five minutes remaining in the first half, Mike Sawyer had recorded his first hat trick of the 2013 season and 18th of his career. He is now third among active players with career hat tricks, trailing only Colgate’s Peter Baum (28) and Army’s Garrett Thul (25).
Sawyer had not scored more than one goal in a game during Loyola’s last four outings, including the NCAA Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Championship Game, as well as Loyola’s season-opener at Delaware. His last hat trick came on May 12, 2012, in the NCAA First Round when he scored four in the second half for a total of five against Canisius.
Last season, he recorded 11 hat tricks, including a stretch of five in a row from March 7-24.

Ward Remains High Point Scorer
Justin Ward matched Mike Sawyer’s four points against Towson and remains the Greyhounds’ 2013 point leader with 10. The junior attackman had a goal and three assists against the Tigers after opening with three goals and two assists to tie his career-high with five points at Delaware.
Ward finished third on the team last season in points (43) while leading the Greyhounds with 31 assists, the fourth-most in Loyola’s single-season Division I history.
With his three assists at Towson, he moved into a tie for 22nd in school Division I assist history with 37. He has matched the output of Buzz Miller (1982-83) and Chris Basler (2007-11).

Spreading The Scoring
Nine Loyola players scored goals on Wednesday night at Towson with seven recording two or more points.
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).

Burkhart Breaks In
Blake Burkhart made his Loyola debut at the faceoff X, taking all 28 restarts and winning a career-high 17-of-28 (60.7-perecnt).
He also had a game-high eight ground balls while winning the first four of the game, 6-of-8 during the second quarter and 5-of-8 during the fourth.
Burkhart played his freshman season at Rutgers University where he was 54-of-100 at the ‘X’ in 2012 before transferring to Loyola.

Better Off The Ground
Winning the ground ball battle was a point of emphasis for Loyola entering the Towson game, and the Greyhounds were successful. They picked up 40 to the Tigers’ 30, thanks in large part to a 17-11 advantage in faceoffs.
In the season-opener against Delaware, the Blue Hens grabbed 36, and Loyola had 34.
Loyola was 10th in the NCAA last season with an average of 32.79 per game. The Greyhounds were 13-0 last year when picking up more than their opponents.

EMO Success
Loyola converted on 4-of-5 extra-man opportunities against Towson after going 0-of-2 against Delaware.
Kevin Ryan scored twice on man-up opportunities, recording the first multi-goal or point game of his career. He later added an assist on a Mike Sawyer goal in an even situation.
Another EMO attackman Brian Schultz had a goal and an assist in man-up situations, and Justin Ward scored one late.

Last-Second Layne
Chris Layne was one of two players to score more than one goal on Saturday against Delaware, and he was one of four Greyhounds to score two or more points.
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.
It was his fourth career multi-goal game as a collegian with two coming last year (against Air Force and versus Fairfield in the ECAC Championship Game). He also had a two-goal outing as a sophomore in 2010 at North Carolina against Delaware.

Acton Active On Defense
Reid Acton tied his career-high on Saturday 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.

Between The Pipes
Loyola goalkeeper Jack Runkel made 10 of his 11 saves during the second half against Delaware, marking the eight time in his career that he has posted 10 or more saves in goal. The last time came when 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. Runkel followed his performance in the Semifinal with a six-save, three-goals allowed performance in the title game against Maryland. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team for his efforts.
Runkel played to a 5.22 goals against average and .700 saves percentage in four NCAA Tournament games.

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.
He had two goals, including the winner just eight seconds into overtime, and an assist versus Denver while picking up a career-high nine ground balls.
Ratliff, who was also an USILA All-America Third Team member, an All-ECAC First Team honoree and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year.
He tallied a goal and six ground balls in the 2013 season-opener against Delaware, bringing his career scoring totals to 17 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.

Welcome To The Staff
Two new faces join Head Coach Charley Toomey and Assistant Coaches Matt Dwan and Steve Vaikness on the Greyhounds’ coaching staff for 2013. David Metzbower, a 1986 Delaware graduate and former Blue Hens assistant coach, came on board in November as the Greyhounds’ offensive coordinator, replacing Dan Chemotti who left to become the head coach at the University of Richmond. Loyola alum Steve Layne ’10 was brought on in September as the program’s Director of Lacrosse Operations.

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.

Returning From 2012
Head Coach Charley Toomey returns eight starters and 34 letterwinners from the 2012 Loyola team that won the NCAA Championship.
Back among the starters are attackmen Mike Sawyer and Justin Ward, first-line midfielders Davis Butts, Chris Layne and Sean O’Sullivan, defenders Reid Acton and Joe Fletcher and goalkeeper Jack Runkel.
The Greyhounds also return their top long-stick midfielder, Scott Ratliff, and their top three short-stick midfielders, Kyle Duffy, Josh Hawkins and Pat Laconi. A pair of second-line midfielders, Phil Dobson and Nikko Pontrello, also return.

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 .626 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.

On The Flip Side
Conversely, the Greyhounds allowed a run of three or more goals just 12 times last year, with the last coming when Canisius scored three in the second quarter. Only Denver (seven in ECAC Semifinal), Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.
In the 2013 season-opener, Delaware had one 3-0 run that the Blue Hens used to tie the game at 7-7 in the fourth quarter.

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

Sawyer Scores Four In Chilly Men’s Lacrosse Win Over Towson

TOWSON, Md. – Mike Sawyer scored four goals and seven Loyola University Maryland players tallied two or more points as the Greyhounds defeated host Towson, 14-9, on a Wednesday night when the wind chill hovered below 15 degrees.

Justin Ward had a four-point night with a goal and three assists, while Kevin Ryan (two goals, one assist) and Chris Layne (one goal, two assists) each had three. Sean O’Sullivan (two goals), Brian Schultz and Nikko Pontrello (one goal, one assist each) tallied two points apiece.

Loyola (2-0 overall) built a 4-0 lead less than 10 minutes into the game as four players scored goals.

“Anytime Loyola and Towosn play, you are going to have a physical game, and that is exactly what it was,” Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey said. “I was pleased with our energy tonight, and I thought that we came out with intensity.”

Sawyer opened the scoring by taking a Ward pass from behind and depositing a goal from just outside the crease on the right side, 2:59 into the game. Davis Butts used an 11-yard sidearm shot off a Layne assist just over 2:30 later to tack on the second goal, and O’Sullivan finished a Pontrello feed from 10 yards out at 6:42.

On the Greyhounds’ first extra-man opportunity of the night, Ryan picked up a loose ball in front of the cage and scored at 5:03 to put the Greyhounds ahead, 4-0.

After a Thomas DeNapoli goal with 1:09 left in the first quarter, Loyola tallied the first two of the second period. Sawyer redodged and got past his defender to score at 13:32, and Ryan recorded the first two-goal game of his career with another extra-man tally on a cut down the middle, this off a Schultz assist, at 9:39.

Towson (0-3), however, scored the next three goals, and Greg Cuccinello’s goal with 6:41 to play before halftime closed the Tigers’ deficit to 6-4.

The Greyhounds responded with a pair of goals, the first coming from Sawyer off a Ward assist. Sawyer shot from an extremely tight angle on the left side after Ward shot a pass from behind. O’Sullivan then notched his second of the game with 1:14 to go before halftime to push Loyola’s lead to 8-4 at the break.

Loyola scored the first two of the second half as Patrick Fanshaw dodged from right-to-left from the top middle and scored at 12:13, and Sawyer ducked out from in front of the crease, caught a Ryan pass and scored with 8:47 on the clock. His fourth of the game gave the Greyhounds a six-goal lead, 10-4.

Towson rallied again as Cuccinello and Andrew Hodgson wrapped a pair of goals around a Pontrello score, and then Hodgson and DeNapoli scored to open the fourth quarter.

DeNapoli’s shot from nine yards out on the left side with 9:40 remaining in regulation closed the gap to 11-8.

Loyola earned an extra-man opportunity, however, on a Towson illegal body check, and Ward fed a cross-crease pass to Schultz on the right doorstep, and Schultz’s goal pushed the lead back to four.

Towson again closed it to three on DeNapoli’s fourth of the game at 4:22, but two Loyola goals with an empty net, one by Ward on a man-up and the other by Layne, provided the final five-goal difference.

After winning just 7-of-21 faceoffs in the season opener at the University of Delaware, Blake Burkhart made his season debut at the ‘X’ and won 17-of-28. He also led all players with eight ground balls.

Scott Ratliff and Joe Fletcher each had four ground balls, and all but one Loyola starter had at least one off the ground. Loyola picked up a total of 39 to Towson’s 24.

Jack Runkel made 10 saves in goal for Loyola.

The Greyhounds play their home opener on Saturday, February 23, at 1:30 p.m. against the University of Maryland in a rematch of the 2012 NCAA Championship Game that Loyola won, 9-3. The game will be broadcast live nationally on NBC Sports Network.

Layne’s Game-Winner Lifts No. 1 Men’s Lacrosse Over Delaware

NEWARK, Del. - Chris Layne took the ball after a Loyola University Maryland timeout, went to midfield and dodged down the middle of the field, beating his defender. He sent a high-to-low shot into the right side of the goal with 4.4 seconds left to provide the game-winner for the top-ranked Greyhounds in a 9-8 victory over host University of Delaware.

Delaware (1-2 overall) rallied from a 7-4 deficit at the end of the third quarter to tied the score at 7-7 with three goals in the first five minutes of the final stanza on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

Eric Smith scored on an extra-man possession with 10:28 remaining to knot the score at 7-7.

The Greyhounds (1-0) took an 8-7 advantage with 8:20 on the clock as Mike Sawyer dodged to the and was doubled. He flipped a behind-the-head pass to Sean O’Sullivan on the left side, and O’Sullivan ripped a six-yard shot to put Loyola up one.

Loyola’s advantage nearly held as the Greyhounds fended off several Blue Hens challenges through the final eight minutes.

Delaware, however, took possession after a Loyola turnover with just over a minute to play, and the Blue Hens drew a flag on Loyola to go man-up.

Smith was again involved for Delaware, feeding a pass form goal-line extended on the left side to Dan Keane on the doorstep of the crease. Keane one-timed a shot, redirecting Smith’s pass from right to left and inside the far post with 26.0 seconds left.

Delaware won the ensuing faceoff, but Brendan Donovan caused a turnover, and the Greyhounds picked up possession. Sawyer stepped into the box, and Head Coach Charley Toomey called timeout with 15.4 seconds left to set up Layne’s winner.

The Blue Hens opened up a 2-1 lead with a pair of goals around Layne’s first of the day, but Justin Ward scored the first of his three to tie the game at 2-2. Davis Butts picked up the ground ball on the faceoff, ran to the crease and dumped a pass to Ward on the right side.

The pair connected again a few minutes later to give the Greyhounds their first lead of the game. This time it was Butts picking up a ground ball off a failed Blue Hens clear, and he sent it to Ward who ran it down the right side of the box. Ward fed it back to Butts who scored from five yards out to make it 3-2 Greyhounds.

Ward scored his third point in as may Loyola goals with 2:38 left in the first quarter, rolling from X around the right side of the crease. He felt his defender on his back, spun free toward the goal and beat Delaware goalkeeper Chris Herbert high-to-high.

Loyola carried that lead into the second quarter, but Delaware cut it to a goal when Alex Diachenko slipped a shot inside the far post from the right side with 8:13 remaining before the half, and the teams went to the locker room with the Greyhounds holding a 4-3 advantage.

The Greyhounds withstood a flurry of Delaware shots to open the second half, and off a clear, Layne fed Scott Ratliff who was crashing to the crease. Ratliff dumped a shot over Herbert’s shoulder.

Less than a minute later, Loyola had possession when a flag went down against Delaware. Before the penalty could be whistled, Nikko Pontrello dodged free and got the ball to Ward who went around the crease to score his game-high third.

Delaware got one back to make the Loyola lead 6-4 on a Diachenko shot from the hip with 6:13 on the clock.

The Greyhounds pushed their lead back to three, however, with 1:18 remaining in the quarter when Phil Dobson picked up a ground ball and caused an unsettled situation behind the cage. He worked the ball to Ward on goal-line extended left, and Ward sent a pass to Sawyer on the high left side. Sawyer buried the shot from eight yards out to make it 7-4.

Delaware, however, scored three in a row to start the fourth quarter, sending the game into a final frenzy.

Ward finished as the game’s high scorer with three goals and two assists, while Layne had a three-point day (two goals and an assist). Sawyer and Butts each had a goal and an assist.
Reid Acton a game-high five caused turnovers, while Ratliff led the Greyhounds with six ground balls. Acton had five off the ground.

Jack Runkel made 11 saves in goal for the Greyhounds.

Loyola takes a brief rest before it next game, traveling up York Road to face Towson University at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, February 20.

Loyola Shows Strong Effort In Exhibition Against Team USA

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. – The Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team put up a good fight against the US National Team Sunday afternoon, but the Greyhounds came up short in a 17-13 contest with the reigning FIL World Championships at ESPN’s Wide World of Sports Complex at Disney.

Junior Justin Ward paced Loyola with four points on one goal and three assists, while four Greyhounds – seniors Davis Butts, Phil Dobson and Mike Sawyer, in addition to sophomore Nikko Pontrello – tallied two goals in the exhibition game. Graduate student Harry Kutner dished out three assists, while junior Sean O’Sullivan had one goal and two assists and junior Brian Schultz had one goal and one assist. Senior Josh Hawkins and junior Kevin Ryan each tacked on one goal and senior Chris Layne rounded out the scoring with one assist.

For the US National Team, Chazz Wooeson and Sam Bradman each had three goals, while Matt Gibson tacked on two.

Matt Danowski found the back of the net first for the Red, White and Blue at the 14:01 mark, but the Greyhounds took advantage of two man-up situations to take their first lead at 9:42. Ward bounced a pass from O’Sullivan past goalie John Galloway at 12:27 before Schultz stuck a shot in the top corner from Kutner.

Ben Hunt then evened the score at 8:47.

Sawyer backed up a wide shot around the six-minute mark and sent a quick restart around the back of the goal to Pontrello, who found Ward for the score at 5:44. The Greyhounds held their lead until Kevin Leveille scored with 8.6 seconds remaining in the first quarter to knot the score at 3-3.

The USA scored another three unanswered goals to stretch its lead to 6-3 at the 7:30 mark of the second quarter, but Butts fired two-straight goals to bring Loyola within one with 4:54 to play in the half. Layne set up the first goal flipping a pass to Butts at the top of the box, who ripped a high shot past Scott Rodgers.

Butts tacked on a second goal 34 seconds later, assisted by O’Sullivan.

A third-straight goal from the Greyhounds at 2:39 evened the score for a fourth time when Dobson scored off a pass from Ward.

The US closed out the half with two goals in the final two minutes though, taking an 8-6 advantage into the break.

Pontrello started second-half scoring by slipping his second goal of the afternoon into the back of the net and then after six minutes of scoreless play, Dobson knotted the score at eight, scoring on a pass from Kutner.

A quick goal from Bradman sparked a three-goal run from the United States that O’Sullivan snapped as time expired in the third quarter, cutting Loyola’s deficit to two, at 11-9.

The US team tested freshman Jimmy Joe Granito when he entered the game in the fourth quarter, tallying two goals, but Granito was able to settle in as the Greyhounds rattled off three-unanswered to pull within one, 13-12, at the 11:35 mark. Sawyer notched his first in the run before Hawkins dodged defenders, split a double team and stuck a shot into the back of the net. Ryan capped the streak with a goal from Schultz.

The run didn’t quiet the national team though, as they slipped two goals passed senior Michael Bonitatibus to take a 15-12 advantage.

Sawyer’s second goal of the day pulled Loyola within two with 7:42 to play, but that would be as close as the Greyhounds would get as the USA closed out the game with two goals to bring the final tally to 17-13.

In goal, junior Jack Runkel led the way with nine saves, while Granito stopped four shots and Bonitatibus turned back one.

Loyola will open its 2013 season on Saturday, Feb. 16 when it travels to Delaware.

Game Data

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

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

Watch The Action

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

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

Champion Challenge

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

Exhibition Action

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

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

Television Dates Announced

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

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

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

Well-Represented In MLL Draft

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

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

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

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

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

Newtown Youth Clinic

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

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

First NCAA Championship

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

Defense Wins Championships

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

Returning From 2012

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

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

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

The Ranks Of Alumni

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

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

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

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

Preseason Accolades

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Team Captains Named

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

Between The Pipes

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

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

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

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

Defense Limits Chances

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

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

50-50

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

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

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

And, 60-60

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

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

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

Seven Earn All-America Honors in 2012

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

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

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

A Lot Of Everything

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

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

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

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

Ratliff’s Scoring

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

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

Ratliff was second nationally this season in goals and points by a long pole, and his seven assists are tops in the country. Bryant’s Mason Poli leads all long poles this year with 19 goals and 24 points.

Ward Dishes Out Assists

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

Top Spot

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

School Record In Wins

Loyola’s victory over Maryland in the NCAA Championship Game was its 18th of the season, setting a school record for victories in a year. The Greyhounds eclipsed the previous best of 13 that the 1998 squad achieved with a 13-2 record.

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

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

Sawyer Named One Of Five Tewaaraton Finalists

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

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

Midfield Scoring

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

Toomey Receives Morris Touchstone Award

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

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

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

Big Runs

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

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

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

On The Flip Side

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

Second-Half Success

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

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

Five Greyhounds Selected In Major League Lacrosse Draft

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Four Seniors Named 2013 Men’s Lacrosse Captains

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

- loyolagreyhounds.com -

CHARLOTTE – Less than 10 days after leading the Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team to its first-ever national title, NCAA Championships Most Outstanding Player Eric Lusby has been claimed by Major League Lacrosse’s Charlotte Hounds and will make his professional debut later this month.

Lusby set the NCAA Championships scoring record with 17 goals in four games, tallying at least three in each as Loyola defeated Canisius, Denver, Notre Dame and Maryland to claim the school’s first NCAA Division I title. He tallied five against both the Pioneers and Fighting Irish and then had four in the title game against the Terrapins on May 28.

He will remain a Hound at the professional level after Charlotte, which is in its first year as an expansion franchise, claimed him on the waiver wire.

“It has always been something I have wanted to do, play professional lacrosse and with the best players everywhere,” Lusby said. “This has probably been the best six months of my entire life, the success we’ve had, the time with the coaches and then winning a national championship.

“I want to thank all of the coaches at Loyola. Coach (Dan) Chemotti changed the offense a little bit this year, and it was such a fun year to be able to play in that. This was the best five years of my life, and I have my coaches and teammates to thank for that.”

Lusby’s run in the NCAA Championships capped a stellar season put together after recovering from an ACL injury to his right knee that held him out of all but two games in 2011. As a junior, Lusby injured his knee in the NCAA First Round at Cornell in May 2010, and an attempt to return togame action last season came to a close after just two games.

The Severna Park, Md., native received a medical redshirt from the NCAA and after graduating from Loyola in May 2011 with his degree in finance, he returned to action as a graduate student this season.

At his natural position of attack, Lusby became one of the top snipers in the college game, finishing sixth in Division I in goals pergame (2.84). He finished the year with 54 goals scored, a single-season record at Loyola that eclipsed the 50 scored by MLL all-time goal scored leader Tim Goettelmann in 2000 and the 52 by his teammate Mike Sawyer this year.

Lusby and Sawyer became the first pair of Loyola teammates to score 50 or more goals in a season and the first at the NCAA level since Duke’s Max Quinzani and Zach Howell in 2010, a pair of teammates who also won an NCAA title.

Lusby posted hat tricks in 11 games this season after entering the year with just two in his first three season at Loyola. He scored two or more goals in 14 of the Greyhounds’ 19 contests in 2012, helping the team tie an NCAA Division I record with 18 victories. Lusby also posted two or more assists five times this year and finished with a team-leading 71 points as his 17 assists were second-most on the team.

His 71 points are the most by a Loyola player since the Greyhounds joined Division I for the 1982 season, and they are the fourth-most all-time in school history.

Lusby was undrafted in the 2012 MLL entry draft following his injury, but he was the top pick on the waiver wire this year by the Hounds. He will join an offense that features the likes of Stephen Berger, Matt Danowski, Jeremy Boltus and Billy Bitter.

Charlotte’s roster also includes former Loyola standout Andrew Spack, a midfielder who graduated in 2007.

Lusby will most likely begin his time with the Hounds when Charlotte hosts the MLL Champion Boston Cannons on Saturday, May 16. The Cannons feature one of Lusby’s former Loyola teammates, All-Star defender P.T. Ricci.

WASHINGTON, May 31, 2012 – The Tewaaraton Foundation has announced Peter Baum of Colgate University and Katie Schwarzmann of the University of Maryland as the winners of the 12th annual Tewaaraton Award, presented Thursday at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. The Tewaaraton Award annually honors the top male and top female college lacrosse players in the United States.

Colgate didn’t enter the season on the national radar, but Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year Peter Baum ensured the Raiders quickly emerged as contenders. Baum took off after an early-season move to attack and terrorized defenses with his hybrid style. The nation’s scoring leader broke eight school and conference records and led Colgate’s second-ranked offense to a school-record 14 wins and its first-ever NCAA tournament victory.

The Portland, Ore., native is the first men’s Tewaaraton finalist and winner from west of the Mississippi, and the first in Colgate history. The junior ended the season with 97 points (67 g, 30 a), tying Duke’s Matt Danowski (2008) for the most ever by a men’s Tewaaraton finalist.

The winner of the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) Lt. Raymond J. Enners Award for Outstanding Player of the Year, Baum was also named to the USILA All-America first team and earned All-Patriot League, All-Patriot League Tournament (tournament-record 18 points) and Academic All-Patriot League honors. His 5.39 points per game and 3.72 goals per game both led the country.

Baum currently ranks second in Colgate and Patriot League history with 130 career goals and fifth in program history with 176 career points. His 67 goals and 97 points this season rank sixth and 13th all-time in NCAA history. He is the first Patriot League representative and the seventh attackman to receive the men’s Tewaaraton Award.

A returning finalist in her junior season, Katie Schwarzmann continued to make her mark in Maryland’s record book. The ACC Offensive Player of the Year was a threat between the lines and ruled the fast break. Schwarzmann finished 2012 first in the ACC and second nationally in goals (72), while ranking second on the Terrapins in points (94), ground balls (31), draw controls (52) and caused turnovers (17).

A three-time Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) All-American and three-time All-ACC performer, Schwarzmann was a member of the 2011-12 U.S. women’s national team. The Sykesville, Md., native joins Jen Adams (2001) and Caitlyn McFadden (2010) as the Terps’ Tewaaraton winners.

Schwarzmann scored in every game this season and boasted eight games with five or more points. Her 72 goals ranked fifth in Maryland single-season history. The ACC Championship Most Valuable Player tallied a tournament-record 11 goals in three games while leading the Terrapins to a fourth straight ACC crown. She was also named to the NCAA Championship All-Tournament team.

Schwarzmann is the fifth women’s Tewaaraton winner in ACC history, the third women’s winner from the state of Maryland and the eighth midfielder to receive the Tewaaraton award on the women’s side.

“Every year, there are 10 worthy candidates and it is a credit to Peter and Katie that they have been recognized as the most outstanding players this year,” said Jeffrey Harvey, chairman of The Tewaaraton Foundation. “We are thrilled to have them join this elite list of those who have received the Tewaaraton Award.”

The five men’s finalists were Baum, Duke University midfielder CJ Costabile, University of Massachusetts attackman Will Manny, Loyola University attackman Mike Sawyer and University of Virginia attackman Steele Stanwick.

The five women’s finalists were Schwarzmann, University of Florida midfielder Brittany Dashiell, University of North Carolina attacker Becky Lynch, Northwestern University midfielder Taylor Thornton and Syracuse University attacker Michelle Tumolo.

Finalists were selected from a pool of 25 men’s and 25 women’s nominees. The selection committees are comprised of 12 men’s and 10 women’s current and former college coaches.

For more information on the Tewaaraton Award, visit www.tewaaraton.com. Like and follow The Tewaaraton Foundation at www.facebook.com/tewaaraton and www.twitter.com/tewaaraton.

About The Tewaaraton Foundation

First presented in 2001 at the University Club of Washington DC, the Tewaaraton Award is recognized as the pre-eminent lacrosse award, annually honoring the top male and female college lacrosse player in the United States. Endorsed by the Mohawk Nation Council of Elders and US Lacrosse, the Tewaaraton Award symbolizes lacrosse’s centuries-old roots in Native American heritage. The Tewaaraton Foundation ensures the integrity and advances the mission of this award. Each year, the Tewaaraton Award celebrates one of the six tribal nations of the Iroquois Confederacy – the Mohawk, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca and Tuscarora – and presents two scholarships to students of Iroquois descent. To learn more about The Tewaaraton Foundation, visit www.tewaaraton.com.