BALTIMORE – The U.S. Military Academy scored twice within eight seconds, just under five minutes into Saturday's game, and the 11^th-ranked Black Knights went on to build a 5-1 first-quarter lead, going on to a 12-7 Patriot League victory over host Loyola University Maryland at Ridley Athletic Complex.
 
Army West Point (5-2 overall, 3-1 Patriot League) got on the board with 10:18 left in the first quarter on a Danny Kielbasa unassisted goal, and the Black Knights scored eight seconds later as Ethan Branagan won the faceoff going forward, and he fed Nickolas Edinger for a goal.
 
Loyola pulled back within a goal when Evan James used a Joey Kamish high-to-low feed on extra-man to score on the crease at 8:10, but Kielbasa's second goal of the game at 5:09 started a 3-0 Army West Point run that would see the Black Knights lead 5-1 when Aidan Byrnes scored the first of his four goals.
 
The Greyhounds stopped the scoreless stretch with another extra-man goal, this time as Kamish scored with a shot from the wide left side off Peter Swindell's pass.
 
Army West Point came back to score the second quarter's first two goals to go up 7-2 on a Gunner Philipp tally with 6:50 left in the half.
 
Loyola (5-4, 3-2) closed to within three before halftime, scoring the last two goals of the period. Kevin Lindley dodged from the wide right side to score at 5:39, and Dan Wigley beat his defender from behind for a goal exactly one minute later, making it 7-4 in the Black Knights' favor.
 
Army West Point, however, did not allow a Loyola goal in the third quarter, going on a 4-0 run that saw it take an 11-4 advantage when Byrnes scored with 11:57 left in regulation.
 
Aidan Olmstead scored 1:25 later to break the run, but Army West Pointwent back up by seven on another Byrnes score with 8:39 on the clock. Loyola posted the game's last two goals – a transition score by Cam Wyers and an Evan James tally off an Olmstead feed – but the Black Knights finished with a 12-7 victory.
 
Loyola outshot Army West Point, 45-35, but Black Knights' goalkeeper Wyatt Schulper had 16 saves in the game.
 
Bailey Savio dominated at the faceoff 'X' for Loyola, winning 15 of 22 (.681) while picking up 12 ground balls to raise his average of the last four games to 11.75 ground balls.
 
Loyola continues its homestand on Saturday, April 17, when it faces the U.S. Naval Academy in a 1 p.m. game at Ridley Athletic Complex.