Quick Hits About The 'Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland men's lacrosse heads to North Carolina for its third road trip of the year on Friday, March 10, where it will face Duke University at Koskinen Stadium in Durham, North Carolina.
• The 7 p.m. game will be broadcast live on ACCN+.
• The Greyhounds are in their 14th season of competition at Ridley Athletic Complex. Loyola's home field, which opened in 2010, has been a formidable advantage for the Greyhounds. They are 71-28 (.717) all-time at the stadium.
• The Greyhounds return seven of their top-10 point scorers from a year ago, led by four players who scored 15 or more goals: Adam Poitras (29), Evan James (26) Joey Kamish (19) and Seth Higgins (15). Davis Lindsey is back as the top feeder on the team after posting 20 assists while starting just three games a year ago.
• Charley Toomey is in his 18th year as head coach of the Greyhounds. Including assistant coaches Matt Dwan and Marc Van Arsdale and volunteer assistant coach Steve Vaikness, the four have 63 years of experience in their current roles at Loyola.

Looking Back

• Eric Pacheco won eight-straight faceoffs in the third quarter to fuel a 4-0 Loyola run that broke open the Greyhounds' 15-11 Patriot League-opening win over Lafayette on Saturday.
• Pacheco finished a career-best 19 of 28 with 15 ground balls after going 6 of 12 during the first half. He split the first two draws of the second half before winning the next eight, all but one where he picked up the ground ball himself.
• Joey Kamish put the Greyhounds up 7-4 a minute into the second half with a step-down goal from 15 yards on extra man, extending the Loyola lead to three for the first time in the game. Lafayette came right back with a Kalman Kraham goal at 13:03 to trim the Greyhounds' advantage back to two.
• Less than a minute later, Matthew Minicus scored his first of the game at 12:28, beginning a 4-0 Loyola run during which he would score three times. 
• Minicus led all players with four goals, and Lindsey topped the game with five points, tying his career-high in the process, with three goals and two assists. Seth Higgins added two goals and two assists, while Haberman and James each had two goals and an assist.

In The Polls

• Loyola enters Saturday's game ranked seventh in the USILA coaches' poll and sixth in the Inside Lacrosse media version.
• Duke is currently fourth in the coaches poll, fifth in the media version.

Series History

• Friday will be the 37th meeting all-time between the Blue Devils and the Greyhounds; Duke holds a 23-13 advantage in a series that dates back to 1946. With this game, the teams will have played in each of the last 24 seasons (since 2000), including four times during that stretch – 2008, 2013, 2016 and 2021 – they have also met in NCAA Championships action.
• Last year, the Greyhounds scored a 12-10 victory at Ridley Athletic Complex. Loyola took a 4-0 lead with 3:03 left in the first quarter, and after Duke scored two over a 15-second stretch later in the first, Loyola reeled off six in a row to lead 10-2 at halftime.

Higher Learning

• Five members of the Greyhounds are enrolled in graduate school programs this year while taking advantage of their final year of eligibility. Liam Bateman is pursuing his M.B.A. in accounting, while Matt Hughes, Scott Middleton, Freeman Whitaker and Cam Wyers are completing classes for their M.B.A. in business administration.

Spreading The Scoring

• Loyola has not had a player score more than four goals in a game this season, instead getting offensive contributions throughout the lineup. Against Johns Hopkins, nine players scored, and versus Maryland, Towson and Lafayette, seven found the net.
• Overall, 13 players have scored goals this season with Matthew Minicus (12), Evan James (11), Henry Haberman (6) and Adam Poitras (6) leading the way.

Backstopping The Hounds

• Luke Staudt made the second start of his collegiate career on February 11 against Maryland, and he had a huge day in between the pipes. Staudt made 19 saves against just seven goals allowed for a .731 saves percentage. His 19 saves were the most by a Loyola goalkeeper since Jacob Stover had the same number in the 2019 NCAA Quarterfinal against Penn State.
• Staudt, who entered the game with a .468 saves percentage in just over 130 minutes of action last season, was named the Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week, the Inside Lacrosse National Player of the Week and earned a spot on the USILA Team of the Week.
• He followed that game with another performance that earned him Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week honors, making 10 saves against five goals allowed versus Johns Hopkins. On February 25 at Rutgers, Staudt made 14 saves and conceded 10 goals, and four days later he made 15 saves against 11 goals at Towson.
• Staudt is tops in NCAA Division I in save percentage (.625) and fourth in goals-against average (8.61) through five games.

First Year Scoring

• Loyola has seen scoring from four members of its freshmen class as Matthew Minicus has scored at least two goals in all five games thus far, and Henry Haberman had a pair versus Maryland, one against both Rutgers and Towson and two more versus Lafayette.
• Luke Murphy found the net for the first time versus the Blue Jays, followed that with another at Rutgers and added a goal and an assist versus Lafayette. Austin Cote made his collegiate debut against Johns Hopkins with a goal and an assist. Will McCulloch also has assists against Johns Hopkins and Lafayette
• Combined, the freshmen have 19 goals and seven assists.
• Minicus enters the Duke game tied for the team lead in points (15), and he is tops with 12 goals. He had the first four-point game of his career on March 1 at Towson when he scored twice and assisted on two more goals, and he followed that with a four-goal against Lafayette.

Rezanka Racks Up Caused Turnovers

• Payton Rezanka averaged nearly two caused turnovers per game last year for the Greyhounds and earned a slew of postseason accolades. He was named a third-team All-American by the USILA, a second-team All-American by Inside Lacrosse and an All-Patriot League First Team honoree after posting 27 caused turnovers in 16 games.
• Rezanka's 27 caused turnovers were tops amongst short-stick defensive midfielders nationally. His 60 career caused turnovers rank ninth all-time at Loyola.
• His play has continued a tradition of outstanding short-stick defensive midfield play by the Greyhounds over the last decade-plus. Starting with Josh Hawkins in 2012, four different Greyhounds short sticks have earned USILA All-America honors. Hawkins (2012 and 2013 honorable mention) and Pat Laconi (2014 second team) were honored as midfielders before short sticks were separated into their own category. Matt Higgins then earned honorable mention in 2021 before Rezanka was named to the third team last year. Higgins (2021) and Rezanka (2022) were named to the All-Patriot League First Team at the position after Brian Begley was a second-team honoree as a junior in 2017 and first-team short stick in 2018.
• This year, Rezanka opened the season with two caused turnovers and an assist against Maryland before posting two caused turnovers, three ground balls and another assist in the Johns Hopkins game.

Defensive Stalwarts

• Cam Wyers and Matt Hughes have been mainstays on close defense for the Greyhounds with both starting every game over the last two seasons. The pair were also both named to the All-Patriot League Second Team a year ago, and Wyers picked up USILA All-America recognition for the second year in a row (third team in 2021, honorable mention in 2022).
• Wyers has been one of the top cover defenders throughout his four years at Loyola and has started 58 of 59 games since coming to the school before the 2019 season. He is eighth all-time at Loyola with 63 caused turnovers, and he also has 134 ground balls.
• Wyers was selected in the first round, and 13th overall, of the 2022 National Lacrosse League (NLL) draft by the Buffalo Bandits.
• Hughes came to Loyola in 2019 after playing as a freshman at Mercer in 2018. He missed the 2019 campaign due to an injury, and he played in four games during the shortened 2020 season before starting each of the last two seasons. In his 40 games with the Greyhounds, Hughes has 91 ground balls and 51 caused turnovers to check in 11th in school history in the latter.
• Hughes was named the Patriot League Defensive Player of the Week on February 13 after holding Maryland Preseason All-American Owen Murphy scoreless on five shots in the season-opener. He then had seven ground balls and two caused turnovers against Johns Hopkins, while three and three versus the Blue Jays. Against Rutgers, he held Scarlet Knights All-American Ross Scott to just one goal. He earned the conference's Defensive Player of the Week recognition again on March 6 after seven ground balls and five caused turnovers in wins over Towson and Lafayette.

First Degree Midfield

• Loyola returns all three starters on its first midfield unit with each posting more than 25 points last season.
• Adam Poitras and Evan James were second and third, respectively, on the team in goals scored with 29 and 26, respectively. Poitras added nine assists for 38 points, while James had 11 for 37. Seth Higgins put up 15 goals and 11 assists in his first year as a full-time starter.
• The trio has opened with strong production in 2023, combining for 22 goals and 14 assists in five games. James is second on the team with 11 goals, and he is tied for third with 14 points. Higgins is right behind with 12 points (5 goals, 7 assists), while Poitras has 10 points (6, 4).

Steady Production

• Evan James has been one of the Greyhounds' best point producers since the start of the 2021 season, scoring at least one in 34 of the 36 games he's played. In 2022, he earned All-Patriot League Second Team honors for the second season in a row, scoring 26 goals and assisting on 11 while starting on the Greyhounds' first midfield. In 2021, he played primarily on attack and had 32 goals and 12 assists.
• James had three four-goal games in 2022 – at Navy and at Colgate. He scored two or more goals in eight of Loyola's 16 games last year.
• This year, he has two hat tricks and two two-goal games; he has 11 career hat tricks and 24 games with two or more goals.
• Over 42 career games played, James is the Greyhounds' active leader in goals (72) and points (98) scored, and he also has 26 assists.

Breaking Out In The Midfield

• Adam Poitras had his freshman season, during which he was a starter on the Greyhounds' first midfield, cut short by the COVID pandemic after he'd scored five goals and dished out seven assists through six games.
• He played in all 16 games as a sophomore in 2021, but his production was hampered as he came back from offseason surgery. As he became healthier throughout the year, his point production increased and he had eight goals and eight assists in the last seven games of the season. That included three three-point games against Navy, Army West Point and Denver.
• In 2022, Poitras started the year with two goals and an assist at Maryland, and he went for a career-high four goals on February 26 against Rutgers, a number he tied on April 23 at Colgate. He finished second on the team with 29 goals, and he was third with 38 points.
• After his junior season of 2022, Poitras played for the Whitby Warriors of the Ontario Junior Lacrosse League and led the Warriors to both the Mann (OJLL 'A') and Minto Cup (National) titles. He was named Most Valuable Player of both tournaments, and in the Minto Cup, he tied for tournament-high honors with 14 goals and added 15 assists.
• Poitras also earned a silver medal while playing for the Canadian team at the 2022 U-21 Men's World Championships, along with Loyola teammate Josh Fairey.
• He had his first hat trick of the 2023 season at Towson when he scored the overtime game-winner, as well. He has played 43 games during his career and has 51 goals and 31 assists for 82 points.

Higgins In On Midfield Scoring, Too

• While frequently drawing the pole in the Greyhounds' first midfield in 2022, Seth Higgins has shown his ability to beat his matchup and be a consistent scorer for the Greyhounds.
• On March 19, 2022, against Bucknell, he set career-highs with three goals, three assists and six points, and he matched that goal output a week later versus Army West Point while adding an assist, too. In 16 games in 2022, Higgins scored 15 goals to go with 11 assists for 26 points. He has 12 points on five goals and seven assists in 2023 to raise his career total to 26 and 26 in 36 games.

Stepped Up Output

• Davis Lindsey missed all of his freshman season with an injury and after more than a year without playing in a game, his start to the 2022 season was slow. He did not log a point in the first four games of the year and had just two assists through six.
• Over the last nine games he played in 2022, though, he had eight multi-point games with eight goals and 18 assists. He posted to-date career-highs of two goals, three assists and five points at Georgetown on April 19, tying for the game-high point total. He then had four assists for a new best against Lehigh, and he followed that with another two-goal, three-assist outing against Bucknell in the Patriot League Quarterfinal.
• Lindsey started the last two games of the year, and he was second on the team with 20 assists and tied for fifth with 28 points. He has started 2023 with five goals and 10 assists in the first five games, leading the team in assists and tying for the team-high in points.

Toomey's Team

• Charley Toomey is in his 17th year as the head coach at Loyola and his 26th as a member of the Greyhounds' coaching staff. Overall, he is in his 30th year on the Evergreen campus, including his four seasons as a student-athlete from 1986-90.
• Toomey has a 171-86 career record. Early in the 2016 season, Toomey became the second coach in program history to reach and cross the 100-win plateau; he stands second on the program's all-time wins chart behind his college coach, Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001).
• As a head coach, Toomey has coached 50 USILA All-Americans, 101 all-conference selections, 21 conference positional or players or rookies of the year, a Tewaaraton Award winner and five finalists and 22 USILA Scholar All-Americans.
• In January 2019, Toomey was named to the coaching staff of the U.S. Men's National Team as an assistant coach. He will serve with Team USA in preparation for, and competition in, the 2023 World Championships in San Diego. 

Get To Ten

• Since Charley Toomey became head coach at Loyola in 2006, the Greyhounds have scored 10 or more goals on 165 occasions; Loyola has won 80.6 percent of those games (133-32).

Up Next

• Loyola stays on the road for its next two games, a pair of Patriot League contests at Bucknell and Army West Point on consecutive Saturdays, starting March 18.