BALTIMORE – The IWLCA released its final coaches' poll of the 2020 season on Thursday afternoon, with Loyola University Maryland closing the year with a No. 3 national ranking.
The Greyhounds (5-0) were one of eight remaining unbeaten teams in Division I when the NCAA announced on March 12 that it would cancel the 2020 spring sports championships due to the COVID-19 public health threat. Loyola's No. 3 end-of-year ranking is the program's highest since 2003.
Four of Loyola's five victories on the year came against nationally-ranked opponents, including wins over two squads listed in the end-of-year top 10. The Greyhounds topped then-No. 4 Florida by a 17-6 final on Feb. 22 and bested then-No. 9 Penn by a 19-15 margin in their last contest of 2020. Despite the challenging schedule, Loyola concludes the shortened season ranked eighth nationally with a +7.6 scoring margin, outscoring opponents by a total of 88-50.
The Greyhounds were also third nationally in fewest turnovers per game (11.4), fifth in assists per game (8.8), fifth in points per game (26.4), fifth in save percentage (.528) and fifth in free position percentage (.560).
Individually, Loyola was led offensively by
Livy Rosenzweig (10 G, 17 A, 27 DC),
Sam Fiedler (19 G, 5 A),
Emily Wills (12 G, 9 A),
Jillian Wilson (17 G, 2 A, 30 DC) and
Elli Kluegel (15 G, 3 A). Fiedler was honored as the US Lacrosse National Player of the Week after totaling eight points (7 G, 1 A) in the win at Florida, while Wilson and Wills combined for five weekly Patriot League awards.
Shay Clevenger (16 GB, 7 CT) and
Katie Detwiler (10 GB, 4 CT, 21 DC) were among the defensive standouts, with the duo winning each of the last four Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week awards (Detwiler 3x, Clevenger 1x).
Kaitlyn Larsson was a two-time Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week after registering 53 saves, a .525 save percentage and a 9.78 goals-against average.
Loyola has now finished in the top 10 of the final IWLCA coaches' poll in seven of the past 10 seasons under head coach
Jen Adams.
IWLCA Division I Coaches' Poll – March 19
| Rank |
Institution |
Points |
FPV |
Record |
Last Poll |
| 1 |
North Carolina |
625 |
25 |
7-0 |
1 |
| 2 |
Notre Dame |
597 |
0 |
7-0 |
2 |
| 3 |
Loyola |
566 |
0 |
5-0 |
3 |
| 4 |
Syracuse |
553 |
0 |
7-1 |
4 |
| 5 |
Stony Brook |
515 |
0 |
4-1 |
5 |
| 6 |
Northwestern |
493 |
0 |
4-3 |
6 |
| 7 |
Southern California |
469 |
0 |
6-0 |
7 |
| 8 |
Florida |
459 |
0 |
6-2 |
8 |
| 9 |
Dartmouth |
413 |
0 |
5-0 |
10 |
| 10 |
Penn |
379 |
0 |
4-1 |
9 |
| 11 |
Maryland |
367 |
0 |
3-3 |
11 |
| 12 |
Michigan |
352 |
0 |
5-1 |
12 |
| 13 |
James Madison |
292 |
0 |
5-1 |
14 |
| 14 |
Princeton |
279 |
0 |
3-2 |
13 |
| 15 |
Virginia |
261 |
0 |
7-3 |
15 |
| 16 |
Denver |
246 |
0 |
7-1 |
16 |
| 17 |
Richmond |
237 |
0 |
7-0 |
17 |
| 18 |
Duke |
234 |
0 |
6-3 |
18 |
| 19 |
Boston College |
156 |
0 |
4-3 |
20 |
| 20 |
UMass |
132 |
0 |
4-1 |
21 |
| 21 |
Navy |
118 |
0 |
2-4 |
19 |
| 22 |
Penn State |
111 |
0 |
5-2 |
22 |
| 23 |
Stanford |
89 |
0 |
3-4 |
24 |
| 24 |
Virginia Tech |
86 |
0 |
7-2 |
23 |
| 25 |
Colorado |
44 |
0 |
3-2 |
25 |
