Patriot League Championships
• Loyola secured its second-consecutive Patriot League Regular Season Championship and hosting duties for the Patriot League Tournament for a second-straight season.
• The top-seeded Greyhounds earned a quarterfinal round bye and will face fifth-seeded Army West Point in the first semifinal at 4 p.m. The Black Knights knocked off fourth-seeded Boston University on penalty kicks, 5-4, Tuesday night to advance to the semifinal round.
• Friday's second semifinal will feature second-seeded Lehigh vs. third-seeded Colgate at 7 p.m. The Raiders advanced to the semifinals by using a 3-2 win over sixth-seeded American in overtime.
• The winners of the two semifinal games will advance to Sunday's championship game at 2 p.m. Sunday's winner will claim the 2018 Patriot League title and the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
How To Watch
• The two semifinals and the championship game will be televised on a variety of over-the-air channels (OTA) via the League's partnership with Stadium. OTA availability can be found by CLICKING HERE (PDF).
• The games will also be streamed free on the Patriot League Network (PLN), along with being distributed live on Stadium's digit outlets including WatchStadium.com, Stadium iOS, tvOS and Android apps, Twitter (@WatchStadium), Facebook Watch and dedicated Stadium channels on Roku and Pluto TV.
• DJ Sixsmith will call the play-by-play, with Steven Miller providing the color analysis.
Tournament History
• This is Loyola's third-straight tournament appearance since the joining the League in 2013-14.
• Loyola finished ninth in the regular-season standings in 2013, and then seventh and 10th in 2014 and 2015, respectively. The Greyhounds earned their first postseason bid in 2016 and played that year's tournament as the No. 2 seed before claiming the top seed in 2017 and 2018.
• The Greyhounds have only faced the Colgate in Patriot League Championships, taking on the Raiders in the semifinal round of both the 2016 and 2017 tournaments. Third-seeded Colgate earned a 3-1 win at American in 2016 and then escaped with a 3-2 win in overtime last year as the No. 6 seed. The Raiders went on to win the Patriot League title in both of those years.
• Prior to joining the Patriot League, Loyola spent 24 years in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Greyhounds posted a 32-12 record in MAAC Championships games and won 12 tournament titles from 1989-2012.
Postseason Honors
• Loyola placed a League-best 10 Greyhounds on the All-Patriot League teams and had Barry Sharifi named the Patriot League Midfielder of the Year, Chase Vosvick the Goalkeeper of the Year and Steve Nichols the Coach of the Year. Gabriel Carlsson was also voted the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year for men's soccer.
• This marks the second-straight year both Sharifi and Vosvick have been voted their respective major award winners, while this is the third-straight coach of the year honor for Nichols.
• Carlsson, Brian Saramago and Jake Dengler joined Sharifi and Vosvick on the All-Patriot League First Team, while Nico Brown, Sam Brown, Josh Fawole and Davey Mason were named to the second team and Jonathan Sousa was selected to the third team.
• Jacob Denison and Carlsson were also voted to the Academic All-Patriot League Team.
No. 23 Loyola Greyhounds (12-3-1, 7-1-1 Patriot League)
• Loyola is on a seven-game win streak and has outscored its opponents, 18-4, in those games.
• The Greyhounds moved to No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches Atlantic Region rankings this week and entered the national poll at No. 23 for the first time since 2009.
• Two of the Greyhounds' three losses are to teams that have received votes in the national poll this year, while their lone tie was to Colgate, a team ranked 25th nationally to start the year.
• With a 4-1 win at American on October 24, the Greyhounds secured their 10th win for their first back-to-back 10-win seasons since the 2011 and 2012 seasons.
• Loyola outscored its Patriot League competition 18-6 this year and had a 57-16 advantage in points. The Greyhound also had a 123-74 advantage in shots and a 54-22 edge in corner kicks throughout the nine League games.
• Six Greyhounds have at least nine points this season with three scoring five-or-more goals.
• Brian Saramago, a MAC Hermann Trophy Award Watch List honoree, ranks second in the conference with 24 points this year, scoring eight goals and adding a League-best eight assists. His five assists in Patriot League games also tops the League, while his eight on the season is tied for 18th nationally.
• Josh Fawole (5g, 2a) and Barry Sharifi (4g, 4a) are tied for second on the team with 12 points each, while Nico Brown is fourth with 11 points on five goals and one assist. Gabriel Carlsson (2g, 5a) is fifth with 10 points and Sam Brown (3g, 3a) has nine points.
• Thirteen Greyhounds have contributed to the offense, with 11 scoring and 11 assisting a goal.
• Chase Vosvick has played 1408 minutes in goal and has 41 saves this year, including three on penalty kicks. He's allowed 11 goals, recorded seven shutouts, has a 0.70 goals-against average, a .771 save percentage and an active 181-minute shutout streak going.
Army West Point Black Knights (7-9-2, 4-5-0 Patriot League)
• The fifth-seeded Black Knights advanced to the semifinal round by knocking off fourth-seeded Boston University in penalty kicks, 5-4, in Tuesday night's quarterfinal round at Nickerson Field in Boston.
• Keenan O'Shea, a first-team All-Patriot League forward, leads Army West Point with 11 goals, four assists and 26 points this year.
• O'Shea was joined on the All-Patriot League Teams by Zac McGraw, a first-team defender, and Tyler Mitchiner, a third-team midfielder.
• Justin Stoll has played all 18 games, logging 1668 minutes in goal. He's allowed 25 goals for a 1.35 goals-against average, and stopped 52 shots for a .675 save percentage.
Series History
• This will be the seventh all-time meeting between Loyola and Army West Point, and the first postseason meeting.
• The Black Knights lead the all-time series, 3-2-1, but the Greyhounds have come out on top of the last two meetings; 2-1 at Ridley Athletic Complex in 2017 and 2-0 in West Point, New York, earlier this year.
Last Meeting
• Brian Saramago played a cross for Barry Sharifi to run onto in the 20th minute of a 2-0 win at Clinton Field on October 7.
• Josh Fawole then capitalized on a counter attack in the 71st minute when Sharifi popped a ball to Stephen Nichols on the left wing. Nichols centered it for Fawole to finish.
• In goal, Chase Vosvick recorded three saves to post one of his seven shutouts of the year.
Up Next
• The winners of Friday's two semifinal rounds will advance to Sunday's championship game.
• Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., with the winner of that game claiming the Patriot League Championship and the League's automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
