The Matchup
- The Greyhounds will continue their non-conference schedule as they will host the Kent State Golden Flashes on Sunday evening.
- This will be the first-ever matchup between the two programs, as the matchup will continue a 5-game home streatch for the Greyhounds.
Last Time Out
- The Greyhounds hosted the Columbia Lions on Thursday evening.
- The Lions got the scoring started as they took a early lead in the 9th minute.
- The Greyhounds responded in the 29th minute thanks to a goal from
Alex Searing, off of a free kick cross into the box from
Baylee DeSmit.
- After going into halftime tied up, the Greyhounds scored again in the 50th minute from
Baylee DeSmit, off of a beautful build up from
Payton Hurley and
Kelly Hutton to take a 2-1 lead.
- The Greyhounds did not hold the lead for long however as Columbia scored at the 54th minute mark, and then followed it up with another goal at the 56th minute mark to take the lead.
- The Greyhounds had a chance late to tie it, but
Chloe Kuminkoski sent the shot high as the Greyhounds lost 3-2.
Key Returners and Newcomers
- The Greyhounds will return a strong core from last years team, as there will be 9 members of the team that tallied at least 10 starts last season.
- This group is led by Preseason Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year,
Paige Sim, who started all 18 games last season.
- The Greyhounds also return
Sarah Mirr,
Chloe Kuminkoski,
Alex Searing, and
Gillian Borton who all also started all 18 games last season.
- Three of the top four scorers from last years team also return in
Baylee DeSmit (4 goals, 1 assist),
Sarah Mirr (3 goals, 3 assists), and
Ada Clare Tempert (3 goals, 1 assist).
- Other notable returners for the Greyhounds are seniors
MK Barnes, Lea Kristjansdottir, and junior
Kelly Hutton.
- On top of the deep returners for the Greyhounds, they also brought in a talented freshman class, as they brought in 5 freshman to bolster their roster, and also brought in sophomore transfer
Michaela Virgin, who comes to Loyola after a year at NC State.
Defense Wins
- In the Greyhounds two wins, they have shut out their opponents as they have won 1-0 and 4-0.
- The Greyhounds defense went 197 straight minutes without allowing a goal, dating back to the Virginia, through the beginning of the Columbia game.
Scouting Kent State
- The Golden Flashes come into the game with a 0-3-1 record on the season.
- Kent State tied their season opener against Cleveland State 1-1. They followed that up with three straight loses to Oakland, Dayton, and most recently Pitt.
Callie Cunningham has socred the lone goal for the Golden Flashes on the season.
- They are currently on a 334 minute scoreless streak, dating back to their lone goal in the opener in the 26th minute.
- In the MAC preseason poll, Kent State was picked to finish 4th out of 12 teams, earning 100 points. Buffalo, Bowling Green and Ohio were picked ahead of Kent State this year.
- Kent State is just one of four MAC teams to win the conference tournament (won it twice).
- Tianna Harris is the reigning Mac Defensive Player of the Year for the Golden Flashes, and was also named to the United Soccer Coaches Preseason Players to Watch List.
Quick Notes Entering the Weekend
- This is the first ever matchup between both programs.
- This will be the first time that the Greyhounds will face off against a team from the MAC conference.
- Three players earned Patriot League Player of the Week nods following this past week.
Sarah Mirr earned Midfielder of the Week, Alex Searning was named Defensive Player of the Week, and
Paige Sim was named Goalkeeper of the Week.
- Loyola's eight victories last season are the program's most since the 2012 team went 12-6-4 and advanced to the NCAA tournament. The Greyhounds' 18 points in Patriot League play were also their most since joining the conference.
15 returning players appeared in at least 10 games during the 2021 season, including seven of them that tallied over 1,000 game minutes (
Paige Sim,
Alex Searing,
Chloe Kuminkoski,
Sarah Mirr,
MK Barnes,
Gillian Borton, and
Baylee DeSmit)
-
Paige Sim was named the 2021 Goalkeeper of the Year and earned 1st Team All-Conference nods, and has follwed that up as being named the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year, as well as being named to the Preseason All-Patriot League team.
Recipes for Success
- The Greyhounds havve won 13 of the last 14 games in which they have scored two goals or more, which dates back to Sept. 6, 2018. Loyola was 4-0-0 in 2021 when scoring multiple goals during the season.
- The Greyhounds are 10-0-2 when scoring first and 8-0-1 when leading at halftime since the beginning of the 2021 season.
What's Next
- The Greyhounds will be back home on Thursday as they will host Howard at 7:00 PM.
- Following Howard, the Greyhounds will wrap up their home stretch with a matchup against Wake Forest on September 11th.
More on Sim
-
Paige Sim played 1,690 out of a possible 1,701 minutes last season, and she tallied 5+ saves in nine of her 18 appearances. She led the Patriot League in goals-against average (0.96), save percentage (.809) and shutouts (7) this fall.
- Sim was a first team All-Patriot League honoree during the 2021 season, was a thrid team All-Conference slection during the 2021 spring season and she was a second team selection following her freshman season in 2019.
- For her career, Sim is 17-10-10 with a 0.73 GAA, a .835 save percentage and 15 shutouts in 37 starts.
- Sims current ranks all-time at Loyola; in 3rd in saves (174, 122 from 2nd), 1st in save percentage (.809), 3rd in goals against average (0.92, .28 from 2nd), 4th in wins (19, 1 away from 3rd), 3rd in shutouts (16, 2 away from 2nd), 4th in goalie games played (43, 6 away from 3rd) and goalie games started (41, 2 from 3rd), and 4th in goalie minutes played (4,021:39 minutes, 711 from 3rd).
