BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland men's lacrosse used a pair of separate 3-0 runs, while
Evan James had a five-point game with two goals and three assists, and
Kevin Lindley scored three times Saturday as the No. 19 Greyhounds defeated host Lafayette College, 11-7, at Fisher Stadium.
Sam Shafer made nine saves in goal, and the Greyhounds' defense finished with 12 caused turnovers, led by three each from
Ryan McNulty and
Matt Hughes.
The Greyhounds had two goals and two assists from defensive players as Peyton Rezanka and
Will Sherwood each scored, and
Cam Wyers and McNulty had assists.
Sherwood's goal, which came after
Scott Middleton caused a turnover and Wyers grabbed one of his game-high seven ground balls, put the Greyhounds in front, 2-1, with 4:53 to go in the first quarter; it was also the first goal of Sherwood's collegiate career.
Lafayette, however, evened the game at 2-2 less than a minute later when Peter Lehman scored un assisted, and the teams traded goals again in the first six minutes of the second quarter.
James tallied his second of the day, dodging from 'X' to score unassisted, and Evan Lotz used a Jack Warren pass to score for the Leopards.
Lindley, however, scored unassisted at 6:25 to start a 3-0 Loyola run that would extend into the third quarter. Lindley had his defender hung up at goal-line, and he dodged topside, rolled back to the crease and scored one-on-one against Lafayette goalkeeper Ryan Ness.
With 2:09 left in the first half, James created from behind against a Lafayette zone, drew two defenders and threw to
Dan Wigley on the left side, where he let go of a sidearm shot that found the net to put Loyola up 5-3 at halftime.
Early in the second half, Rezanka caused a turnover on the defensive end, and he stayed on the field with McNulty to play offense. McNulty had the ball at the top of the box and threw a pass to Rezanka curling to the middle for a 10-plus yard left-handed shot, giving the short-stick his second career goal, both of which have come in the last two games.
The Rezanka goal gave Loyola a 6-3 cushion, but Lehman would scored at 9:54, cutting it to two.
Just over a minute later,
Adam Poitras camped on the crease as
Aidan Olmstead came up the left side of the cage. Olmstead threaded a pass to Poitras' stick for a one-timer that made it a three goal lead.
Loyola won the next faceoff and used nearly all of the 80-second clock before scoring.
Riley Seay passed up a deeper shot to continue his dodge and score with one tick left on the clock, making it 8-4 Greyhounds with 7:07 to go in the third quarter.
Lafayette, however, responded with a three-goal run of its own. Carter Cecil scored back-to-back goals for the Leopards, the first coming with two seconds left in the third and the second 1:49 into the fourth quarter, bringing Lafayette within a goal.
Loyola had two excellent offensive possessions the next two times it got the ball.
Seth Higgins grabbed a ground ball off the faceoff on the ensuing play, and after about 40 seconds, the ball got to James' stick on the left wing. He found Lindley cutting through the middle, five yards out, sidearmed a pass to him, and Lindley caught in stride and scored over his shoulder to start the run.
The next faceoff came all the way into Loyola's offensive box where James picked it up. Lafayette was flagged for interference, and the Greyhounds went on extra-man, but the Leopards killed the 30-second penalty. After the teams were even, Olmstead and Poitras ran a pick-and-pop where the former went off the latter's pick, faked a pass to the left before reversing it to Poitras. He dropped his hands for a low-to-low shot that went in for his second goal of the game at 10:59, expanding the lead to three.
Lindley added the third goal of the run, again off a James assist, as Loyola held the Leopards scoreless for the last 13:11 of the contest.
Loyola will be back in action on Thursday, April 29, with its final game of the 2021 regular-season. The Greyhounds will host Georgetown University in a 6:30 p.m. game on CBS Sports Network.
