BALTIMORE – Hannah Hoefs ripped a shot inside the left post in the 71st minute to give Loyola University Maryland all the scoring it would need in a 1-0 Patriot League win over the U.S. Military Academy on Saturday at Ridley Athletic Complex.
 
Hoefs' goal was just the sixth the Black Knights (6-2-5 overall, 2-1-1 Patriot League) have allowed in 13 matches this season and the first of their Patriot League slate. Army West Point entered the match ranked 10^th in NCAA Division I in goals-allowed average (0.381).
 
Sumer Rahe made three saves in goal and had her third clean sheet of the season.
 
The Greyhounds (4-7-0, 1-3-0) earned the corner kick after Rahe came far out of the box and launched a long clearance down the right side of the field. Kate Reese made a run onto the ball and forced an Army West Point defender to knock it over the endline for a Greyhounds' corner.
  Nicole Rivas hit a hard corner to the middle of the box, and Reese headed it backwards. Hoefs stepped into the shot from 10 yards out on the left side and angled it inside the near post past Army West Point goalkeeper Sydney Cassalia's dive.
 
"I thought this was a typical, hard-fought Patriot League game on both sides of the field, and I'm very pleased we came out of it with three points," said Loyola Head Coach Naomi Meiburger. "I thought Mary (Theresa Corcoran) did a great job for us in the midfield, coming in and breaking up Army's direct play. It was the kind of game where a team would need to score off a set-piece, and we were able to get that ability to score."
 
The goal would prove to be all Loyola needed, but the Greyhounds kept the pressure on while looking for an insurance tally.
 
Ann-Kathrin Wolfram had time-and-room in the 75^th minute just outside the box, but her cross to an unmarked Loyola defender running in from the right was snuffed out by Cassalia.
 
Jourdan Ziff then had a fantastic run down the left win, evading two Army West Point players en route to the corner of the six at the endline, but Cassalia again handled Ziff's cross to a waiting teammate.
 
The Black Knights had a free kick attempt from just over 20 yards out in the middle of the field, but Sydney Witham's attempt was blocked in the 88^th minute. She then had a strike a minute later that went wide to the right of the goal.
 
Army West Point had a slim 8-5 advantage in shots, and the teams evenly split 12 corner kicks in the match.
 
The Greyhounds return to Ridley Athletic Complex on Monday, October 1, for their third match in six days. They will face Delaware State University in a 7 o'clock contest that will close Loyola's regular-season non-conference schedule.