The Loyola Greyhounds – a team once thought to be an obvious pick to make the NCAA tournament, now may find itself on the outside of the Field of 16 at season’s end.
Since the NCAA tournament committee typically places significant emphasis on how a team finishes out its schedule, the opportunity is still there for Loyola (5-4, 3-2 ECAC). But having lost its last two games, Loyola needs to return to its winning ways.
In fact, the team squandered an opportunity to positively seal its postseason fate last Saturday, but lost a 10-8 match with league-leading Georgetown (8-2, 4-0 ECAC). The Greyhounds are ranked No. 12 in the April 9 edition of the Nike/IL Media Poll. But the team will most likely drop in the rankings after its fourth loss of the season.
Loyola’s struggles against Georgetown were not unlike three of the team’s other four losses. In each contest, the Greyhounds maintained a lead in the second half, only to choke during the final minutes. They lost their first two games of the season by allowing the game-winning goal during the final minutes.
Playing on the road, Loyola managed only three scores in the second half, despite receiving a strong effort on offense from its bench. A 5-4 first-half lead turned into a 7-6 deficit by the end of the third quarter. The Greyhounds lost further control, going down by three goals just a few minutes later.
Not only did the Loyola offense slow to a crawl as the game progressed, the team failed to stifle Georgetown’s potent attack. The Hoyas and their prolific scorers took over the game, firing 33 shots toward the Loyola net.
Midfielder Andrew Brancaccio scored a game-high three goals, including two late in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach for Greyhounds. The freshman earned ECAC Rookie of the Week honors for his late-game heroics.
Armed with a strong RPI and several quality wins, the Greyhounds will look to improve their tournament resume in the next few weeks. Playing the 13th-hardest schedule in the nation and victories over No. 4 Duke (10-2) and No. 17 Syracuse (4-6) can only take a team so far. If Loyola wins its two remaining conference games, then things should fall into place for the Greyhounds.
But the team’s greatest opportunity to make a statement in college lacrosse comes on a May 5 date with No. 10 Johns Hopkins (5-4). The road game will by no means be a simple victory. It will instead allow the Greyhounds to prove that their win over Duke in early March was not a fluke and that their inability to dominate a weak conference should not affect postseason possibilities.
Surrendering the ECAC’s automatic bid to Georgetown, Loyola has the best chance of any team in the league of receiving an at-large bid. However, Massachusetts (5-5, 3-1 ECAC) can put itself in first place if the Minutemen defend their home turf against Georgetown this weekend.
Returning the Favor
Just in case Rutgers (4-5, 2-2 ECAC) wanted to know how Loyola felt after receiving a 10-goal beating nearly two weeks ago, Syracuse gave the Scarlet Knights a shellacking of their own. Ironically, the 13-goal defeat came less than a week after U.S. Lacrosse named head coach Jim Stagnitta its Coach of the Week.
Perhaps taking out their frustrations on a disappointing season, the Orange defeated Rutgers 22-9. Just five days earlier, Syracuse came close to knocking off No. 1 Cornell (10-0). The Orange capped a furious comeback by tying the score with only 28 seconds left. Just 24 seconds later, Cornell found the back of the net and escaped from the Carrier Dome with its perfect season in tact.
Against Rutgers, Syracuse did most of its damage in the first half, taking a 15-3 lead into the intermission. Attack Kenny Nims led all scorers with five goals, including three tallies in the second half.
The loss to Syracuse inflated Rutgers’ goals-against average to 10.09. Though, goalie Bill Olin still leads the league in that category, despite surrendering 11 goals in less than 20 minutes on Sunday.
Michael King can be reached at [email protected].
