Defense Keys Offense In 13-8 Men’s Lacrosse Win Over Georgetown

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Loyola University Maryland caused 17 Georgetown University turnovers, and six of the Greyhounds’ goals came as a direct result of transition or unsettled situations in a 13-8 victory over the Hoyas on Wednesday night at Multi-Sport Field.

The Hoyas (3-4 overall) scored the game’s first goal with a 12-yard shot by Charles McCormick, but the Georgetown lead would be short lived.

Three minutes after McCormick’s goal at 13;07, Loyola (6-2) tallied its first goal, triggered by a Jack Runkel save. Pat Laconi ran the clear and sent a pass to Scott Ratliff who dodged a defender and scored from seven yards to tie the game at 1-1.

Chris Layne gave the Greyhounds the lead, which they would hold for the rest of the game, dodging down the left alley to score at 9:26.

Ratliff and Layne’s goals were the first two of an 8-0 Loyola run that would stretch into the second half, as the Greyhounds held Georgetown scoreless for a stretch of more than 32 minutes.

Another Runkel save led to the next Loyola goal. The Loyola goalkeeper sent an over-the-top pass to Ratliff who sent it behind the cage to Nikko Pontrello. Pontrello then found Phil Dobson for a nine-yard stepdown shot, and Loyola was up, 3-1, with 6:01 to play in the first quarter.

Zach Herreweyers scored the first of his four goals midway through the second quarter, stepping back after spinning past a defender for a shot off a Pontrello pass, and Harry Kutner tallied an extra-man goal at 4:30 following a Justin Ward skip pass at 4:30.

Laconi caused a turnover less than a minute later, and Ratliff came up with the ball before switching fields with a pass to Laconi who cleared it into the box. He played give-and-go with Ward, and Laconi scored Loyola’s sixth goal at 3:46.

With just over 30 seconds to play before halftime, Reid Acton caused a turnover, and a quick clear led to a Josh Hawkins goal off a Laconi assist 5.7 seconds before the break.

Loyola extended its lead to 8-1 2:02 into the third quarter when Herreweyers ran past his defender down the right alley and scored on a short jump shot.

Georgetown finally stopped the run with back-to-back goals by Travis Comeau and Reilly O’Connor at 11:00 and 10:16.

Herreweyers tallied his third of the game 16 seconds after O’Connor’s score by rolling off a check and firing an in-close sidearm shot.

Matt Sawyer then added to the lead, making the Loyola advantage 10-3, with an extra-man goal at 8:41 with a shot from within a yard after Ward fed a pass from the top.

O’Connor scored his second of the game at 7:37, slipping a shot inside the near post, but Kutner scored his second of the game at 5:20 by beating his defender down the right alley to make it 11-4 Greyhounds.

Just 10 seconds later, Loyola went up by eight when Ratliff won the ensuing faceoff. Hawkins grabbed the ground ball and got the ball to Ward. He fed Herreweyers who used a multiple shot-fake to score his career-high fourth goal.

Georgetown scored two in a row before Ward tallied the Greyhounds’ final goal after a Ratliff caused turnover and a Hawkins clear and assist.

Hawkins, Laconi and Fletcher each had three of the Greyhounds’ 17 caused turnovers, while Ratliff and Acton each tallied two.

Fletcher led Loyola with six ground balls; Hawkins and Ratliff both posted four.

Ward finished with a goal and four assists to lead the Greyhounds with five points, while Pontrello had a goal and two assists. Herreweyers tallied four goals, and Kutner had two, while Hawkins and Laconi each had a goal and an assist in transition.

Loyola steps back in to ECAC Lacrosse League action on Saturday, March 23, for its next game, a 3 p.m. game at the Unviersity of Michigan.

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland plays its final midweek game of the 2013 regular-season on Wednesday, March 20, when it travels to Washington, D.C., to face Georgetown University.

Faceoff is set for 7 p.m. on the Hoyas’ Multi-Sport Field.

Series History

Georgetown and the Greyhounds will play for the 36th time in series history on Wednesday. The Greyhounds have a 29-6 advantage in the previous 35 meetings, thanks in large part to a 20-game winning streak from 1974-2001.

The Hoyas were victorious in five of six from 2002-2007, but the Greyhounds are currently riding a five-game winning streak in the rivalry.

Prior to last year, The last five meetings have been decided by a total of 11 goals with the largest margin of victory by either team coming two years ago when Loyola won, 11-6.

Last season, Loyola led by just one, 5-4, at halftime, and Georgetown tied the game at 5-5 1:53 into the third quarter, but a Mike Sawyer extra-man goal at 10:44 started a 6-0 Loyola run that broke open the game. Eric Lusby scored three of his game-high five goals during the run that ended with an 11-6 Greyhounds victory. Sawyer had three goals, and Sean O’Sullivan posted a goal and an assist.

In The Polls

Loyola moved up to No. 6 in the USILA Coaches and ninth in the Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media polls.

Last Time Out

The Greyhounds scored five of the second half’s first six goals and extended a 5-3 halftime lead to a six-goal advantage en route to a 13-7 ECAC Lacrosse League victory over Air Force in the Whitman’s Sampler Mile High Classic in Denver on Saturday.

Loyola trailed 1-0 after the Falcons scored the game’s first goal at 11:48, but the Greyhounds quickly rallied and tied the game 22 ticks of the clock later, and they did not trail from that point forward.

Air Force got back within a goal, 4-3, when Christopher Allen scored 33 seconds into the second quarter, but Patrick Fanshaw took a Justin Ward pass and scored to give Loyola a 5-3 advantage at the break.

The teams traded goals in the first seven minutes of the third quarter, but Loyola then scored three goals in less than two minutes as part of a 4-0 run that broke open the game.

Justin Ward had seven points with a pair of goals and five assists, while Nikko Pontrello finished with four goals and two assists. Zach Herreweyers recorded a hat trick in his first collegiate start, as well. Scott Ratliff contributed five ground balls and three caused turnovers on defense, and he scored a goal and assisted on another.

Ward, Fletcher Garner League Honors

Justin Ward and Joe Fletcher earned ECAC Co-Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors, respectively, on Monday after standout performances against Air Force (more later).

It marked the third week in a row that a Loyola defensive player has won the weekly league award after goalkeeper Jack Runkel earned the honor on March 4 and long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff brought it home on March 11. Ward’s award was the first for a Loyola offensive player this season.

The weekly honors were the first of both Ward and Fletcher’s careers.

Second Seven-Plus Point Game

Justin Ward put up his second game with seven or more points on Saturday against Air Force, logging seven with two goals and five assists in the win over the Falcons.

His five assists tied his career-high, set twice in 2012 against both Towson and Fairfield.

On February 26, against UMBC, as the junior finished with seven goals and three assists for 10 points. His goal and point outputs were career-highs. He became the first player to score at least seven goals in a game since Gavin Prout tallied eight in a 19-11 win at Hobart on April 28, 2001.

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

His five assists against Air Force moved into 12th place on Loyola’s Division I career assists chart with 48. He trails Chris Summers (2000-2003) and Sean Heffernan (1993-1994), who are tied for 10th with 49 assists.

Through seven games this year, Ward leads the team with 18 goals and 16 assists for 34 points.

Fletcher Turns Up ‘D’

Joe Fletcher earned ECAC Defensive Player of the Week honors after picking up three ground balls and causing a turnover against Air Force. More impressive was the defense Fletcher played on Air Force’s offensive quarterback, preseason All-American Keith Dryer.

Dryer entered the game with four goals and a team-leading 10 assists, but Fletcher held him without a point.

This season, Fletcher, who was a Preseason All-America First Team honoree, has 27 ground balls and seven caused turnovers.

Pontrello Puts Up Six Again

Nikko Pontrello posted his second six-point game this season on Saturday against Air Force, scoring a career-high four goals to go with two assists. He scored in the first quarter, tallied a pair during Loyola’s 4-0 third-quarter run and added his fourth in the final frame.

Earlier this year against UMBC, Pontrello posted three goals and three assists for six points against the Retrievers.

After scoring four goals and assisting on six in 17 games last season, Pontrello has already tallied 10 goals and 10 assists in seven games this year.

Ratliff Keeps Up Production

Scott Ratliff has continued his high production on defense, transition and offense that helped him earn USILA All-America Third Team and ECAC Defensive Player of the Year honors a year ago when he led the team last year in ground balls (88) and caused turnovers (37), was fifth in goals (12) and seventh in assists (7). 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.

He had one of his stat-sheet filling games against Air Force, scoring a goal and assisting on another while picking up five ground balls and causing three turnovers.

His goal and assist brought his career totals to 21 goals and 11 assists, and his 31 career points are second-most among active long-poles to Bryant’s Mason Poli. Last year, he set the school’s single-season long-pole scoring record with 12 goals and seven assists, eclipsing the previous high of 16 points on 11 goals and five assists set in 1995 by current Loyola assistant coach Matt Dwan.

Starting Debut

Freshman Zach Herreweyers made his first career start on Saturday against Air Force on attack for the Greyhounds, and he made his debut to the opening 10 an impressive one.

Herreweyers scored his first collegiate goal with 12.3 seconds left in the first quarter, and he finished with a hat trick, tallying goals for Loyola in the third and fourth quarters, as well. He also picked up three ground balls.

The freshman from London, Ontario, made his collegiate debut just a week earlier against Duke on March 8.

Herreweyers became the first Loyola freshman to score three times in a game since current senior Patrick Fanshaw scored five goals and assisted on another on March 20, 2010, also against Air Force.

Davis Off The Ground

Davis Butts is second on the team this season with 27 ground balls and has picked up five in four of the Greyhounds’ seven contests: Delaware, Maryland, UMBC and Bellarmine.

Through seven games this season, he is already more than halfway to his total of 40 a year ago. He has also scored at least one point in all but one game this year and has three goals and six assists.

Back-To-Back Hat Tricks

Mike Sawyer recorded his second hat trick in as many games last week when he tallied three over a six-minute stretch of action against Bellarmine. He also finished with three goals against UMBC earlier in the week.

Sawyer scored with 1:46 to play in the first half and then twice within 20 seconds in the third quarter, his third goal of the day putting Loyola in front, 7-2, with 11:17 left in the stanza.

He now has 20 hat tricks in his career, one of only four players currently active to reach that plateau. Colgate’s Peter Baum leads the nation with 29, while Army’s Garrett Thul has 26. Saywer is tied with Cornell’s Steve Mock with 20 each.

Eighth To 100

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

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

Layne Keeps Tallying Points

Chris Layne had his 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 seven games this year, Layne has scored nine goals and has six 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.

Two At The ‘X’

Loyola has had two primary faceoff men in their six games this season. Brendan Donovan started the season at Delaware, and he 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. He also went 7-of-14 versus Bellarmine

Blake Burkhart took the majority of the restarts, winning a career-high 17-of-28, at Towson, and 14-of-25 against Maryland. Burkhart then took all 21 face-offs at Duke, winning 12, and he made good on 14-of-22 against Air Force.

This season, Loyola is 14th in Division I with a 55.4-percent success rate at the ‘X’.

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.

Acton has logged at least two ground balls in all but one game (at Towson) this year.

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 Greyhounds then had a 4-0 run that spanned both halves to help beat Bellarmine, and they runs of 3-0 and 4-0 to beat Air Force.

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

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

This year, Loyola is outscoring opponents 28-12 in the third quarter and 46-32 overall after halftime.

WASHINGTON, D.C. —  For the second time this week, the Navy men’s lacrosse team was stung by a one-goal loss, this time a 9-8 overtime decision against long-time rival Georgetown on Sunday afternoon at Multi-Sport Field in Washington, D.C.  The Mids dropped a 10-9 decision against 15th-ranked Fairfield on Tuesday following a Sam Snow goal with just 4.1 seconds left in the contest.

“It’s another tough loss for us,” said Navy head coach Rick Sowell, who spent nine seasons (1990-98) as an assistant coach at Georgetown.  “Defensively we were doing a great job and we started off sharp on offense, but then it just sputtered.  But I think it all cirlces back to turnovers.  Until we figure out how to play better and cleaner, we are going to have games like these.  All that said, we had a chance to win the game with 30 seconds left and came up short two games in a row”

In general Navy has struggled over the years in one-goal games, finding itself in 15 one-goal contests over the last four seasons with the Mids posting a 4-11 record during that stretch.

Five of the last six meetings between the Mids and Hoyas have been decided by one goal and all five have been in favor of Georgetown.  Meanwhile, three of the last five matchups have been decided in overtime, however, this marked the first in Washington, D.C.

Although it didn’t look to be the case early on in the game after the Mids jumped out to a 3-1 first-quarter decision, it was a classic Navy-Georgetown matchup that saw the game tied four times in the second half.

The Hoyas grabbed a 1-0 lead just seven seconds into the game after faceoff specialist Tyler Knarr won the first of his 13 draws that led to a Reilly O’Connor goal.

Navy, though, bounced back scoring three goals in three minutes which was capped by the first of three goals by junior attackman Sam Jones (Annapolis, Md.) at 10:35 in the first quarter.

Neither team would score for the next 18 minutes, but Jones pushed the Mids’ lead to 4-1 after sophomore Gabe Voumard (Cape May, N.J.) fed Jones on the left crease.  Georgetown, however, trimmed the Mids’ lead to two at the half after Jeff Fountain around the cage and took Navy keeper Nolan Hickey (Garden City, N.Y.) on a low to low shot.

Fountain sent another ankle biter Hickey’s way to open the second half, climbing to within one at 4-3, but a loose ball found its way into Voumard’s stick in front of the Georgetown goal and Voumard found junior attackman Tucker Hull(Charlotte, N.C.) standing on the crease to push the Mids’ lead back to two.

Georgetown tied the game for the first time by scoring a pair of goals in just 22 seconds, the first by Brian Casey and the second by Charles McCormick who bounced his shot in from the left corner.

The Mids answered 44 seconds later when Georgetown’s John Wujciak was flagged for unnecessary roughness and freshman Patrick Keena (Vienna, Va.) and junior Tyler Nechanicky (Montgomery Village, Md.) worked together to score an extra-man goal with 4:42 left in the third period.

The game would go back and forth the rest of the way with Georgetown answering each of Navy’s go-ahead goals, including Casey’s game-tying goal with 2:22 left in regulation.

Navy won the ensuing faceoff and junior middie Pat Durkin (Germantown, Md.) had his shot blocked with 1:18 to go.  The Hoyas picked up the ground ball, however, were unable to clear the ball when Wujciak lost the ball.  Navy went the length of the field and called a timeout with 30 seconds left.  The Mids got the ball to Jones, who had the hot hand, but Jones was well defended and the Hoyas jammed up Jones who was unable to get a pass or shot off before the final horn.

Knarr beat Navy senior Evan McGoogan (Cranberry Township, Pa.) on the overtime faceoff and the Hoyas immediately called a timeout.  Casey fired off a shot that was saved by Hickey, however, the Mids were called for an off-the-ball push which put the ball back in the sticks of the Hoyas.  Georgetown worked the ball around and Navy senior defensemanAustin Miller (North Bethesda, Md.) peeled off Jeff Fountain to double Zac Guy and Guy found a wide open Fountain for the game-winner on the left crease with 2:04 remaining in the overtime period.

Jones led Navy with three goals, while Durkin added a pair of goals and Voumard scored a goal and added a pair of assists in the loss.  Hickey put together his second consecutive 15-save performance, while junior long pole Pat Kiernan(Ridgewood, N.J.) produced a team-high three caused turnovers.

Navy has turned the ball over at an alarming rate this season, committing 77 turnovers in its four games including 17 in Sunday’s loss.

“As an offense, you take what the defense gives you,” said Jones.  “There were too many times we pushed it when it wasn’t there and it cost us.  There’s no solution in terms of what they (our opponents) are doing.  We have to toughen up mentally.  It’s a gut check for us.”

“There are no excuses for our turnovers,” said Sowell.  “We’ve been playing since Jan. 9.  We can’t blame it on the weather and we can’t blame it on early season jitters.  This is our fourth game of the year and we probably do more stick work than any other team in the country.”

While Navy has held its own in the faceoff game this season, the Mids struggled mightily against the Hoyas winning just six of the 19 draws.

“Knarr had our number today,” said Sowell.  “We tried three different guys and just couldn’t get any success going our way.  It won’t be easy for us all year, but we are working every day to get better.”

The Hoyas were led by Fountain’s three goals, while Casey contributed a pair of goals and two assists.  Freshman Alex Joyce was excellent between the pipes in the first half, posting nine saves in the contest.

The Midshipmen will play their third straight road game when they make the trip to Lewisburg, Pa. next Saturday to face Bucknell in both teams’ Patriot League opener.  Game time is slated for 1:00 pm.