The Matchup
Loyola men's soccer begins their Patriot League regular season and postseason championship defense on the road in non-conference play as they travel to face NC State.
This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs, and the first since 2019.
Lockdown Defense
Loyola's defense was a major part of them reaching the NCAA tournament, as they tallied 11 shutouts on the year, the program's most in a season since 2008, and the Greyhounds allowed one goal or fewer in 15 of 20 contests during the 2021 season.
Loyola posted six-straight shutouts against Patriot League opponents from Oct. 12 through Nov. 9, keeping conference teams off the scoreboard for 639:58 consecutive minutes prior to American's first-half goal in the Patriot League Championship game.
The Greyhounds will have a tall task in replacing Four-time Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year
Chase Vosvick, as he tallied a career-high ten shutouts in 2021 (tied for fifth in Division I), along with 30 total shutouts in his career with the Greyhounds.
Returners and Newcomers
The Greyhounds will return 21 players from the 2021 team. Key returners include Jordiy Luchies who was the only player to start all 20 games, leading goalscorer
Kelan Swales,
Daniel Tshiani,
Matthew Lala,
Albert Kang, and
Jake Mayer.
The Greyhounds have also brought in a deep and talented freshman class that includes 9 players in total.
They also brought in two transfers in goalkeeper
Konstantinos Parisis who transferred to Loyola from Wilmington University. They also brought in transfer defender
Thomas Gray, who comes to Loyola from William Carey University, and lastly transfer defender
Milan Miric, who comes from Dayton.
Scouting North Carolina State
The Wolfpack finished the 2021 season with an 7-8-2 (1-5-2) on the season.
This included an ACC tournament birth, where they went on to lose to Notre Dame in the first round 1-0.
The Wolfpack received 19 points in the preseason poll and were picked to finish 6th in the Atlantic Division and recieved the least amount of votes in the poll.
Sophomore Luke Hille was named to the 2022 ACC Preseason Watch list. Hille was the leading scorer during the 2021 season, where he totaled 6 goals and one assist on the season.
On the year, the Wolfpack averaged 1.47 goals per game on 13.1 shots during the 2021 season. They held opponents to 1.24 goals per game and 10.2 shots per game.
Quick Notes
The Greyhounds were 8-0-1 last season when scoring multiple goals. They were also 7-0 when leading at halftime and 7-0-1 when they outshot opponents.
The Greyhounds are 1-5-2 against ACC teams since the beginning of the 2016 season, with their win coming against Pittsburgh and their two ties coming against then #5 West Virginia in 2021, and then #2 Wake Forest in 2019.
Loyola posted shutouts in six of its seven Patriot League victories this season, and the Greyhounds allowed one goal or fewer in 8 of 9 conference games overall.
Loyola allowed just four goals in its nine regular season Patriot League games, six fewer than the next stingiest conference school (Bucknell - 10).
Of the 21 returners, 13 of them started in at least one game during the 2021 season, with 5 of them tallying at least 14 starts.
Swales and Luchies Earn Preseason Patriot League Awards
Loyola's
Kelan Swales (Offensive Player of the Year) and
Jordy Luchies (Defensive Player of the Year) recieved Preseason Patriot League Awards. Along with Swales and Luchies,
Albert Kang also was named to the Preaseason All-Patriot League team.
The Greyhounds lead the Patriot League with three nominees on the All-Patriot League team, as they also recieved all possible first place votes (18) to repeat as Patriot League Champions during the 2022 season.
Steve Nichols, whose staff includes assistants
Jamie Darvill,
Jesse Haislip and
Matt Little, was voted by his peers as the conference's Coach of the Year for a fourth time after he was previously recognized three-straight seasons from 2016-18.
Loyola is 38-13-6 overall against conference opponents during the past six years under Nichols, a 1992 Loyola graduate who rejoined the program as head coach in 2014.
More on Swales and Luchies
The Leeds, England native, Swales is a two-time First Team All-Patriot League nominee. Swales has also been named to the United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-Atlantic Region, as well as the Academic All-Patriot League Team.
Swales has tallied 8 goals and 8 assists in two seasons for the Greyhounds, including 3 game winning goals during the 2021 season.
Swales comes into the 2022 season with the most points from any returners.
The Emmen, Netherlands native, Luchies comes into his sophomore season after being named to the 2021 First Team All-Patriot League team.
Luchies was an anchor on the back line for the Greyhounds and was a crucial part of the Greyhounds defense.
Luchies also tallied 1 assist during the 2021 season, and was the lone Greyhound to start in all 20 games.
