BALTIMORE – Bailey Savio set a Patriot League and Loyola University Maryland record with 18 ground balls on Saturday, and Joey Kamish scored the game-winning goal with less than two minutes to play as the Greyhounds edged Rutgers University, 11-10, at Ridley Athletic Complex.
 
Earlier in the game, Kamish scored his first collegiate goal, and his third of the day came with 1:53 left in regulation in an unsettled situation after a Rutgers turnover.
 
Rutgers attempted to clear the ball after a Greyhounds shot was saved, but at midfield, Adam Poitras checked the ball away from Zach Masessa, and it rolled over the midline. Cam Wyers came out of the scrum with a ground ball for Loyola.
 
He threw it to Kamish who ran into the box and sent a high-to-high shot into the upper-right corner to put Loyola (2-1 overall) up, 12-11.
 
Savio, who went 23 of 24 at the faceoff 'X' Saturday, won the draw, and Loyola ran out as much of the 80-second shot clock as it could. Its only shot went wide, and the Greyhounds then took a shot-clock violation. The Scarlet Knights (2-2) came down the field and called a timeout with 4.9 seconds left on the clock.
 
Following the break, Ross Scott took the ball in front of the Rutgers bench and dodged toward the goal while defended by Loyola's Ryan McNulty.
 
McNulty got his stick on a Scott shot form inside 10 yards that bounced toward goal where Colton Teitelbaum picked it up and away from harm at the final buzzer.
 
 The Greyhounds' win came after they were down three times during the fourth quarter, including trailing 10-9 when Brennan Kamish, Joey's older brother, scored with 5:27 left on the clock.
 
Aidan Olmstead evened the game at 10-10 with a run from 'X' behind the cage to get topside and score his third of the game.
 
Savio gave Loyola a chance throughout the contest as he lost just one faceoff, going 23 of 24 against three different Rutgers players. His 95.8 percent success rate from the 'X' is the second-best in NCAA Division I this season, and his 18 ground balls are also second-most.
 
He won both of the draws in the first quarter as the Greyhounds scored the period's only two goals. Peter Swindell put Loyola on the board as he dodged his defender from the top-right and got to the middle for a 10-plus yard shot that found the net.
 
Swindell then was on the assisting end of the Greyhounds' next goal as he hit Kevin Lindley rolling to the middle where he caught and scored at 5:46.
 
Joey Kamish then gave the Greyhounds a 3-0 lead 2:33 into the second quarter when he drew a double-team at goal-line before rolling back to his right to free his hands and shoot to score his first collegiate goal.
 
Tommy Coyne put Rutgers on the board with an unassisted goal at 9:10, but Joey Kamish pushed the lead back to three when he caught a feed from a fellow freshman, Adam Poitras, and scored in traffic in front of the goal just over a minute later.
 
The Scarlet Knights then tallied two-straight goals as Kieran Mullins and David Sprock scored back-to-back goals one-minute, 42-seconds apart. Sprock's goal made it 4-3 in Loyola's favor, but minutes later the Greyhounds started a run that would cushion the lead before halftime.
 
McNulty started the stretch when he scored at 2:45 in the half. The long-stick midfielder stayed on after faking a run-off to the box, and when he got back into the offense, Olmstead hit him with a pass for a 12-yard shot.
 
Savio won the ensuing draw, and Scott Middleton picked up the ground ball for Loyola. He raced into the box and nailed a high bouncer for his first collegiate point.
 
Olmstead then made it 7-3 Greyhounds before the half when he came from 'X' and scored his first of three during the game with 24.9 seconds left.
 
Loyola would need all of that padding as Rutgers scored the second half's first five goals. Sprock had three during the run, including the last two that tied the game with 4:32 left in the third quarter and gave the Scarlet Knights an 8-7 advantage with 12:34 left in regulation.
 
Olmstead broke the scoreless stretch of 18:46 with his second unassisted goal of the day at 11:38.
 
Kieran Mullins got the Scarlet Knights back in front with a goal off a Sprock assist at 9:27, but Swindell tallied his second of the day, this off another Olmstead assist, with 6:34 on the clock.
 
The elder Kamish, Rutgers' Brennan, scored off a Sprock helper 67 seconds later, and the lead against belonged to the Scarlet Knights.
 
Olmstead would go on to tie the score just under two minutes later before Joey Kamish's shot provided the Loyola winner.
 
Joey Kamish and Olmstead each scored three goals for the Greyhounds, and Olmstead's five points and two assists were team-highs. Swindell added two goals and an assist.
 
On the defensive side, McNulty had three ground balls, while Payton Rezanka logged a career-high with four caused turnovers. Sam Shafer made nine saves and had four ground balls in goal, and Teitelbaum made one save.
 
The Greyhounds continue their homestand with a Wednesday night outing on February 26 at 7 o'clock against Towson University.