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Loyola University Maryland Athletics

Men's Lacrosse

NCAA Men's Lacrosse Action Opens Sunday At Ohio State


Game Information
Opponent
Ohio State Buckeyes | NCAA First Round
Date
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Time
5:00 p.m.
Location
Columbus, Ohio | Ohio Stadium
Getting There
Directions
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Television
ESPNU | Channel Finder
Online Media
Live Stats | Watch ESPN Video
Game Notes

Loyola


Quick Hits About The 'Hounds
  • Loyola University Maryland opens the 2017 NCAA Championships on Sunday, May 14, when it travels to Columbus, Ohio, to face The Ohio State University in the first round.
  • Faceoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Ohio Stadium on ESPNU.
  • Dating back to March 23, 2016, Loyola is averaging 12.64 goals over its last 25 games. The Greyhounds have scored less than 10 three times in that span.
  • Through 15 games this year, 10 Greyhounds have scored eight or more goals and five have 20-plus.
  • Loyola is averaging 12.93 goals per game this season having scored 194 in 15 contests. Its goals per game average ranks ninth in NCAA Division I.
  • Pat Spencer has recorded two or more points in all but one of the 33 games to start his collegiate career, and he has 19 multi-goal and 24 multi-assist games.
  • Graham Savio has won 197-of-338 faceoffs this year and is 18th in NCAA Division I with a 58.3 faceoff winning percentage; his 6.73 ground balls per game rank 14th.
  • Savio became the Patriot League's all-time leader in faceoffs won at Boston University and now has 703.

Last Time Out
  • For the second time in 10 days, Loyola men's lacrosse held Army West Point to one goal in the second half, and the Greyhounds claimed their third Patriot League Championship in four years with a 13-4 victory on April 30.
  • Army West Point scored just one goal over the game's final 45 minutes, a tally that came two minutes, 57 seconds into the second half but was midway through a 10-1 Greyhounds run. In the regular-season finale on April 21, Loyola limited the Black Knights to just a single goal after halftime, as well. The Greyhounds held Army West Point to 24 shots in the game, 10 in the second half. 
  • Army West Point committed 17 turnovers in the game, 11 that came via Loyola caused turnovers. Ryder Harkins, Jack Carrigan, Jared Mintzlaff and Alex Johnson each caused two.
  • The close defense trio of Jack Carrigan, Ryder Harkins and Foster Huggins combined to hold the Black Knights' starting attack of Conor Glancy, Cole Johnson and Nate Jones without a goal or assist in the game. That group entered Saturday's game with 71 combined goals and averaging 7.2 points per game.

In The Polls
  • Loyola is ranked 13th in the USILA Coaches Poll and 10th in the Maverick/Inside Lacrosse media version.
  • Ohio State is ranked third in both polls.

Series History
  • Sunday's game will be the eighth in series history and second time in postseason action. Ohio State and Loyola were ECAC Lacrosse League opponents from 2010-2013 prior to the Greyhounds joining the Patriot League in 2014. 
  • Loyola has won all six regular-season meetings between the programs, but the Buckeyes claimed the last decision, an 18-11 Ohio State victory in the ECAC Semifinals on May 2, 2013, at Hobart College in Geneva, New York.
  • In that game, the Buckeyes scored with 93 seconds left in the third quarter to trim Loyola's 11-9 lead to one goal going into the final 15 minutes, and Ohio State then reeled off seven unanswered in the final quarter to defeat the Greyhounds, 18-11. 
  • The Buckeyes' Dominique Alexander beat his defender down the left side and fed Carter Brown for a goal with 1:33 left in the third quarter, and Ohio State was within a goal. Alexander had a career-high five assists in the game, as well as a second-quarter goal.
  • Logan Schuss then scored two in a row, both off Planning assists, and Jesse King tallied two straight after that, giving the Buckeyes a 14-11 advantage with 7:07 left on the clock.
  • Loyola outshot the Buckeyes, 41-37, in the game, but Ohio State took 15 fourth-quarter shots to the Greyhounds five. Loyola also committed three turnovers in the final 15 minutes and had 13 in the game.

Turn On The Television
  • Sunday's game will air live on ESPNU. Joe Beninati will call the play-by-play with Ryan Flanagan handling color analysis.

NCAA Championships History
  • Loyola is making its 24th all-time appearance in the NCAA Championships, 22nd in Division I history (since 1982). The Greyhounds are 14-22 all-time in the tournament, 14-20 at the Division I level.
  • The Greyhounds are 7-8 in first-round games, and this will be their first time facing Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament.
  • The Greyhounds won the first NCAA Division I Championship, in any sport, in 2012, when they defeated Maryland, 9-3, on Memorial Day. The win completed an 18-1 season for the Greyhounds in which they tied the NCAA Division I record for wins in a season, matching the 18-2 Duke team from 2008. Loyola entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed and defeated Canisius, Denver and Notre Dame en route to the title game.

Patriot League Title
  • Loyola captured its third Patriot League crown in four years since joining the conference for the 2014 campaign. The Greyhounds outscored College of the Holy Cross and the U.S. Military Academy 26-7 in the two games this year to win the crown.
  • Jacob Stover made 24 saves, 12 in each game, and earned Patriot League Championships Most Valuable Player honors. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Jack Carrigan (10 ground balls, five caused turnovers), Pat Spencer (two goals, nine assists) and Brian Sherlock (four goals, two assists).

Defense Making A Stand
  • Over the last nine games – beginning with a March 18 win over the U.S. Naval Academy – Loyola's defense has allowed just 6.78 goals per game, limiting opponents to 29.0 shots in the process. The Greyhounds advantages of 299-235 in ground balls (33.2-26.1 per game) and 86-116 in turnovers (10.8-14.8) as they've gone 7-2 during the stretch.
  • Of its opponents 133 turnovers in the last eight games, Loyola has caused 93 turnovers; Jack Carrigan leads the way with 19 caused turnovers, while Jared Mintzlaff has 11.
  • Jacob Stover has seen more than 456 minutes between the pipes in those games, playing  to a 5.91 goals against average while posting a .615 saves percentage.

Capturing Conference Honors
  • Pat Spencer became the first player in Patriot League history to earn Offensive Player of the Year honors as a freshman and sophomore when the conference's postseason honors were announced Monday. He was joined on the All-Patriot League First Team by Brian Sherlock who also made history.
  • Sherlock is just the fourth player in Patriot League history, and the first midfielder, to earn All-Patriot League First Team honors four-straight years.
  • Four Greyhounds were named to the All-Patriot League Second Team: short-stick defensive midfielder Brian Begley, defender Jack Carrigan, midfielder Romar Dennis and attacker Alex McGovern.
  • Sherlock then became the second Loyola player in four years (Joe Fletcher, 2014) to be named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the sport.

Taking The Top Spot
  • Graham Savio became the Patriot League's lead in career faceoffs won with his first win from the 'X' during the first quarter at Boston University. He surpassed the 664 faceoff wins compiled by Colgate University's Chris Eck from 2005-2008. 
  • With 703 faceoffs won, Savio is 14th all-time in NCAA history and Loyola's all-time leader in faceoffs won.
  • Savio has been the Greyhounds' primary face-off specialist since his freshman campaign in 2014, and he opened his senior year with a career-high effort. Savio won 19-of-35 restarts and tied his career-best with 12 ground balls and Virginia and then went 19-of-31 with 10 ground balls versus Johns Hopkins. In less than three quarters of action, he was 12-of-19 at Lafayette with 10 ground balls. 
  • He tied his career-best against Holy Cross, going 20-of-28 with 10 ground balls, and against Duke All-American Kyle Rowe he was 12-of-22 with seven ground balls. In a March 18 game against Navy, Savio went 15-of-22 with six ground balls against a team that entered the game winning 64.4 percent of faceoffs. Later, he went 14-of-17 against Lehigh.
  • He also set a new career-best with two goals against Virginia, and he scored another at Johns Hopkins. He tallied his fourth of the year versus Lehigh. Prior to the 2017 season-opener, he had scored just once in his career, a goal versus the Blue Jays in 2014.
  • This season, he has won 58.3 percent of faceoffs (197-338) with 101 ground balls (6.73 per game). He is 18th nationally in faceoff winning percentage and 14th in ground balls per game.
  • The native of Greenwich, Connecticut, is fifth among active Division I players in career face-offs won (703), and his 339 career ground balls are sixth. He is also third in Patriot League history in career ground balls.

Spreading The Wealth
  • Loyola has averaged 8.9 assists in its 15 games and is fourth in Division I in assists per game entering the Championships. Of Loyola's 194 goals this year, 69.1 percent (134 total) have been assisted this season. 
  • In Loyola's 14 wins last year, 59.6 percent (96-of-161) goals were assisted. Conversely, only 41.6 percent (15-of-36) goals in its four losses came off assists.
  • This season, the Greyhounds are assisting on 71.4 percent of goals (100-of-140) in wins, 62.9 percent (34-of-52) in losses.

Lots of Options
Focal Point
  • Pat Spencer was in the starting lineup on attack for his first collegiate game at Virginia last season, and he made an immediate difference on the Greyhounds' offensive side of the ball. The sophomore from Davidsonville, Maryland, scored two goals and assisted on a pair, earning Corvias Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors after the fact.
  • Honors were a large part of his freshman campaign for the Greyhounds, one in which he was named to the USILA All-America Second Team. He also became the first player in Patriot League history to outright win the conference's Offensive Player and Rookie of the Year honors.
  • In 18 games during 2016, Spencer led Loyola in points (89), assists (52) and goals (37, tied), and against North Carolina in the NCAA Semifinals, Spencer tied Gary Hanley's 1982 record for points in a season with 89. Hanley and Spencer are the only two players in Loyola history to score 80 or more in one year; Hanley did so three times in 1979 (83), 1980 (86) and 1981 (89). Two weeks earlier versus Duke, Spencer eclipsed the school Division I mark of 71 shared by Eric Lusby (2012) and Justin Ward (2014). 
  • Spencer finished second in single-season assists with 52, just one behind the 2014 record of 53 set by Ward. Spencer was second nationally with 2.89 assists per game and 4.94 points per game.
  • Spencer has recorded two or more points in all but one of his 33 collegiate games. He has 19 multi-goal games and 24 multi-assist outings. He is the NCAA active career leader in assists (3.24) and is third in points per game (5.18).
  • Through 15 games this year, he leads Division I in assists per game (3.24) and is second in points (5.57).

Chart Climbing  
  • Despite his relatively short career on the field for Loyola, Pat Spencer is already making a dent on the school's and Patriot League's career records charts.
  • Against Lafayette (the 21st game of his career), he crossed the 100-point mark for his career and now has 64 goals, 107 assists and 171 points. Versus Bucknell (the 27th game of his career), he moved into sole possession of third at the school in career assists (Hanley, 160; Ward, 120). After the Patriot League Championship Game, he is eighth with 171 points. His 107 career assists are eighth in Patriot League history.
  • Against Army West Point in the Patriot League Championship Game, he broke Ward's single-season Loyola and Patriot League record for assists and now has 55. His 82 points this year are fifth in school single-season history and third on the Patriot League chart.

Sirico, Drapeau Post Career-Highs
  • Zack Sirico scored a career-high four goals April 15 at Boston University, and he combined that with three assists to finish one off his previous best with seven points. He followed that performance with a three-goal, one-assist outings at Army West Point and versus Holy Cross in the Patriot League Semifinals.
  • Despite missing three games this season due to an injury, Sirico is ninth in the Patriot League in goals per game (1.75), 10th in points (2.96) and assists (1.17) per game and with 21 goals and 14 assists. He has career totals of 51 goals, 47 assists and 98 points in 57 games.
  • Jay Drapeau added three goals at Boston University to match his career-best set on March 22 against Georgetown. He then came back with career-highs of four goals, two assists and six points at Army West Point in the regular-season finale. His three goals against the Black Knights in the Patriot League Championship Game increased his 2017 totals to 20 goals and 26 points.

Little Of This, Little Of That
  • With his goal at the buzzer of the first half at Lehigh in 2016, Brian Sherlock scored his 100th point in a Loyola uniform, and he is the program's active career leader in goals (96) and is second in points (144). In 2015, he was second on the Greyhounds in both goals (29) and assists (19), and he was third in all three offensive categories in 2016 with 24 goals, 13 assists and 37 points. This year he has posted 24 goals and six assists.
  • Sherlock is also the active leader in goals scored by NCAA Division I midfielders. He became the fourth player in Patriot League history, and the first midfielder, to earn All-Patriot League First Team honors all four years of his career.

Harkins Locks Down
  • Ryder Harkins was given the task of matchup up with Army West Point's two-time All-Patriot League First Team attacker Cole Johnson in the conference title game, and he did so with solid results. Harkins held Johnson without a point in the game, snapping his streak of 49-straight games with at least one point. 
  • Harkins also had two caused turnovers and two ground balls in the game.

McGovern Makes Impact In Debut
  • Alex McGovern joined the Loyola program in January after transferring to the school from the University of North Carolina where he saw action in seven games last season. He made a start on attack for the Greyhounds against Virginia and two goals and three assists to lead the Greyhounds with five points.
  • With three goals and two assists against Holy Cross in the Patriot League Semifinals, he is second on the team with 44 points on 24 goals and 20 assists.

Stover's First Five, Last Ten
  • Jacob Stover enters the NCAA Championships fifth in Division I and tops in the Patriot League in goals-against average (7.80) while ranking 10th and second in saves percentage (.556).
  • His numbers have been outstanding in the Greyhounds' last 10 games of the season. After five contests to open the year, he had a 10.41 goals-against average while saving 50 percent of shots on goal. Those numbers have moved to 6.42 and 59.5 over the last 10.

Putting The Ball Down, Then Picking It Up
  • Loyola has been credited with 10 or more caused turnovers in seven of the last eight games after having just three contests with 10-plus in the year's first seven.
  • Through the start of the NCAA Championships, Loyola ranks sixth in Division I with 9.27 caused turnovers per game. In the last eight games, the Greyhounds are averaging 10.75 per.
  • When the ball goes on the ground, Loyola ranks third in the NCAA in ground balls per game (34.27), 6.3 more than its foes.

Man-Down 'D'
  • The Greyhounds have gone man-down just 33 times this season, the seventh-fewest times in NCAA Division I, and they are tied for fourth for fewest extra-man goals allowed (7).

Get To Ten
  • Since Charley Toomey became head coach at Loyola in 2006, the Greyhounds have scored 10 or more goals on 104 occasions. With the win over Army West Point, Loyola has won 79.8 percent of those games (83-21).

Century Mark
  • Charley Toomey won the 100th game of his head coaching career Feb. 27, 2016, against Lafayette College, becoming just the second coach in Loyola men's lacrosse history to do so. Toomey is in his 12th year at Loyola and is 121-59 since 2006 at the helm of the Greyhounds program.
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Players Mentioned

Jacob Stover

#0 Jacob Stover

GK
6' 0"
Junior
Jay Drapeau

#4 Jay Drapeau

M
5' 9"
Senior
John Duffy

#5 John Duffy

M
6' 0"
Junior
Pat Spencer

#7 Pat Spencer

A
6' 3"
Junior
Ryder Harkins

#10 Ryder Harkins

D
6' 1"
Senior
Alex McGovern

#16 Alex McGovern

M
6' 3"
Junior
Brian Begley

#17 Brian Begley

M
5' 10"
Senior
Foster Huggins

#20 Foster Huggins

D
5' 10"
Senior
Jared Mintzlaff

#44 Jared Mintzlaff

M
6' 3"
Senior
Alex Johnson

#59 Alex Johnson

LSM
5' 11"
Sophomore
Romar Dennis

#3 Romar Dennis

M
6' 5"
Senior
Brian Sherlock

#6 Brian Sherlock

M
5' 10"
Senior

Players Mentioned

Jacob Stover

#0 Jacob Stover

6' 0"
Junior
GK
Jay Drapeau

#4 Jay Drapeau

5' 9"
Senior
M
John Duffy

#5 John Duffy

6' 0"
Junior
M
Pat Spencer

#7 Pat Spencer

6' 3"
Junior
A
Ryder Harkins

#10 Ryder Harkins

6' 1"
Senior
D
Alex McGovern

#16 Alex McGovern

6' 3"
Junior
M
Brian Begley

#17 Brian Begley

5' 10"
Senior
M
Foster Huggins

#20 Foster Huggins

5' 10"
Senior
D
Jared Mintzlaff

#44 Jared Mintzlaff

6' 3"
Senior
M
Alex Johnson

#59 Alex Johnson

5' 11"
Sophomore
LSM
Romar Dennis

#3 Romar Dennis

6' 5"
Senior
M
Brian Sherlock

#6 Brian Sherlock

5' 10"
Senior
M