BALTIMORE –
Paige Sim became Loyola University Maryland women's soccer's all-time leader in shutouts on Saturday, while
Baylee DeSmit logged her third two-goal game of the 2023 season as the Greyhounds moved one step closer to clinching a Patriot League Championships bid with a 3-0 shutout of College of the Holy Cross on Senior Day at Ridley Athletic Complex.
Results later this weekend could seal the Greyhounds' fifth-straight trip to the six-team Patriot League Championships with two regular-season contests remaining.
Loyola (10-4-0 overall, 5-2-0 Patriot League) sits atop the conference standings with 15 points and will qualify for the postseason tournament with ties or losses by both Colgate University and Lehigh University. The Raiders play at Lafayette today, while the Mountain Hawks are at American Sunday.
Sim directed the Loyola defense to their eighth shutout this season as she recorded the 31
st clean sheet of her career. The 31 shutouts eclipse the previous best of 30 set from 1994-97 by Erin Gilroy.
Loyola held the Crusaders (4-6-5, 2-2-3) to only seven shots and one on goal that Sim saved.
Meanwhile, DeSmit upped her 2023 Patriot League-leading goal total to nine with a pair of goals, and she added an assist to move within one of tying the school single-season record of eight held by seven different players.
DeSmit put the Greyhounds on the board Saturday with a 19-yard blast from the center of the box.
Alex Searing intercepted a Holy Cross pass to start the counterattack for Loyola. She got the ball to
Asma Merzougui who slid a pass 15 yards forward to DeSmit and put her on for the attempt.
Loyola carried the 1-0 lead out of halftime, but it did not take even one minute to add to it. DeSmit took a free kick from the wide left side. She sent it just outside the six where Searing was to head in a goal 42 ticks into the half for a 2-0 Greyhounds advantage.
DeSmit added her brace late in the match when she intercepted a pass and took it the rest of the way for a goal in the 88
th minute to add the insurance tally.
DeSmit is now tied for ninth all-time at Loyola in career goals (19) and points (53). Her 15 career assists are tied for eighth.
The Greyhounds play their penultimate regular-season match of 2023 on Saturday, October 21, at Lehigh.
