Quick Hits About The 'Hounds

• Loyola University Maryland men's lacrosse continues its swing of intrastate rivals on Saturday, February 17, when it makes the short trip to Johns Hopkins University for a 1 p.m. game at Homewood Field. 
• Luke Staudt has averaged 13.5 saves per game with a .562 saves percentage through the season's first two games against Georgetown and Maryland.
• Loyola returns eight starters from last year's team including all six on attack and midfield. The Greyhounds lost just six total goals scored from a year ago, all of which came from players on the defensive side of the ball.
• The Greyhounds are in their 15th 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 72-28 (.720) all-time at the stadium.
• Charley Toomey is in his 19th year as head coach of the Greyhounds. Including assistant coaches Matt Dwan and Marc Van Arsdale and Steve Vaikness, the four have 67 years of experience in their current roles at Loyola. Ryan McNulty returns for his second season as director of operations.

Looking Back

• Fourth-ranked Maryland held No. 12 Loyola scoreless in both the first and third quarters, and the Terrapins went on to an 11-4 non-conference victory on Saturday afternoon at SECU Stadium.
• Maryland took a 4-0 lead after the first quarter, but Loyola (1-1) came out strong in the second. Joey Kamish initiated the offense from the high left side and threw to Matthew Minicus at the top-middle where scored 4:30 into the frame to put the Greyhounds on the board.
• Not two minutes later, Matt Heuston made a run of more than 20 yards before uncorking a bouncer that snuck inside the far post at 8:42.
• Henry Haberman then made it a one-goal deficit for the Greyhounds, taking a short-stick to 'X' and spinning to the goal once topside for a tally at 6:34.
• Maryland would cut off the 3-0 run, however, 36 seconds later with a Ryan Siracusa score from Eric Spanos. The Terrapins would add another goal from Braden Erska with 4:17 left in the first.
• The Terrapins extended their run to 4-0, scoring all three goals in the third quarter and the first of the fourth.
• Luke Staudt made 15 saves in goal for Loyola.

Watch The Game

• Saturday's game will stream live on ESPN+. It will be aired on ESPNU in tape-delayed format on Sunday, February 18, at 12 noon (EST).

In The Polls

• Loyola enters the game ranked 17th in the USILA Coaches Poll and 20th in the Inside Lacrosse media version. Johns Hopkins checks in at 10th and ninth in the two rankings, respectively.

Series History

• The Greyhounds and Blue Jays will be meeting for the 60th time in series history on Saturday when they take the field. Johns Hopkins holds a 49-10 advantage, but Loyola snapped a 13-game Blue Jays' winning streak in the series with an 8-4 win at Homewood Field on April 27, 2013. The Greyhounds then won meetings between the teams in 2014 (13-10) and 2016 (9-8) for their first-ever three-game winning streak in the series. Although, Johns Hopkins stopped that stretch with a 14-13 overtime victory on February 18, 2017, Loyola again won three in a row with a 12-5 victory at Ridley in 2018, 2019's 18-12 win at Homewood Field and a 10-7 decision in 2020 at Ridley. The teams did not meet in 2021 due to the COVID-19 adjusted schedule.
• Last year, the Blue Jays pulled out an 11-10 victory at Homewood Field, but Loyola got back into the win column with a 13-8 last season at Ridley Athletic Complex.
• Overall, Loyola has won seven of the last nine games – dating back to 2013 – after winning just three times in the first 50 games.
• Johns Hopkins is Loyola's second most-played opponent behind only Towson (62).

On The Attack

• Loyola's starting attack of Evan James, Matthew Minicus and Adam Poitras led the Loyola offense in the opener against Georgetown, combining for 13 goals and five assists on 29 shots.
• James, who will move between the attack and midfield throughout the year, scored a career-high nine points with five goals and a personal-best four assists. He earned Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week honors after the game.
• Poitras, another player who will move positions as the game demands, had four goals and an assist, while Minicus scored four times.

Lots Of Scoring Returns

• Loyola entered the 2024 season with 96.8 percent of its scoring from a year ago intact on the roster. Only six of the Greyhounds 185 goals from 2023 do not come back, and all of those tallies came from defensive players.
• Six players scored 12 or more goals, and nine had 10 or more points during the year.

Preseason Honors

• Evan James and Adam Poitras both picked up Preseason All-America recognition prior to the 2024 campaign. USA Lacrosse Magazine named the pair to the honorable mention attack after James scored 31 goals and had 10 assists, and Poitras totaled 34 and 15, a season ago.
• Four Greyhounds were recognized on the Preseason All-Patriot League Team with Luke Staudt being named the conference's Preseason Goalkeeper of the Year. He was joined on the team by Matthew Minicus (attack), James (midfield), and Mustang Sally (short-stick defensive midfield). 

Sparking The Attack

• Evan James and Adam Poitras made the shift to starting on attack for the Greyhounds after the regular-season game at Boston University on April 15, 2023, with James moving to one spot down low for the April 18 game against Georgetown with Poitras making the move April 22 versus Colgate.
• James started the trend with two goals against the Hoyas. Poitras and he both put up four-goal games four days later against the Raiders with Poitras' quartet coming with three assists. Poitras had another four-goal game to close the regular-season at Lehigh. James then set a Patriot League Championships single-game record with six goals in the quarterfinal at Navy. Both had four-goal outings at Boston University in the Patriot League Semifinals; James posted three assists in that game, and Poitras had one.
• Including the start of this season, they have scored 43 goals (James 23, Poitras 20) and dished out 16 assists (10, 7) in the 15 total starts on attack. Of the 15 starts, they have combined for eight four-goal games.

No Slacking Sophomore

• Matthew Minicus was not just been among the leaders in scoring for Loyola last year, he was one of the top first-year players in the nation for goals scored per game. Minicus led Patriot League first-year players in goals (33) and points (49), and he finished the year tied for the team-lead in points and second in goals.
• He had the first four-point game of his career on March 1, 2023, at Towson when he scored twice and assisted on two more goals, and he followed that with a four-goal against Lafayette. Minicus was named the Patriot League Offensive Player and Rookie of the Week, and he also earned a spot on the USILA Team of the Week, after scoring seven goals at Bucknell. He picked up his second Patriot League Rookie of the Week honor on April 24 after combining for six goals and three assists versus Georgetown (2 and 1) and Colgate (4, 2).
• This season, he opened the year with a four-goal effort – all coming in the second half – during a win over Georgetown, and he scored once at Maryland.

Back As The Backstop

• Luke Staudt started the 2023 season as hot as a goalkeeper could be, posting double-digit save performances, including one with 19 stops in the season-opening win against then-No. 1 Maryland. 
• After five games (Maryland-Lafayette), he had 70 saves against 44 goals allowed for a .614 save percentage. Over the next seven games he played (Duke-Colgate), his save percentage dipped to .417.
• Staudt did not play in the regular-season finale at Lehigh, but he came back in stellar form in the Patriot League Quarterfinals at Navy, making 18 saves on 25 shots on goal (.720) to finish one off his then-career-high. He came back in the semifinal with 20 saves on 31 shots on goal (.645) against Army West Point. 
• Overall last year, he led the Patriot League and was No. 6 in the nation in saves percentage (.554). This year, he opened with 11 saves in a win over Georgetown and was named Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Week, and he followed that performance with a 16-save outing at Maryland.

New Look Defense

• Loyola debuted a new look (personnel-wise) defense in the opener against Georgetown with several players seeing their most-extended playing time for the Greyhounds on close defense or the rope unit.
• Alex Bean and Mustang Sally were the stalwarts having been starters at close defense and short-stick defensive midfield, respectively, last year. Max McGillicuddy has been a bit part of the Greyhounds short-stick rotation for the last two seasons, but he moved up to the top rotation this year. Michael Callahan, Jacob Sullivan and Brett Daubert all saw their first extended playing time as short sticks.
• Chase Gregory made his collegiate debut as the first long-stick midfielder on the field after missing all of last year with an injury. Diego Roman continued to see considerable time at the position, too.
• Remi Reynolds, who transferred from Rutgers after last season, started on close defense along with Bean and Joe Houlihan who made one start last year.
• Together, the defense has yielded 10.5 goals per game in two outings this year.

Scoring Where He's Needed

• 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. Poitras finished second on the team in 2022 with 29 goals, and he was third with 38 points.
• After that 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.
• Poitras moved to start on attack late in the 2023 season, and he finished the year leading the team in points (49) and goals (34); he has played 57 games during his career and has 83 goals and 43 assists for 126 points. He put up a career-high seven points against Colgate last season, tying his career-high marks in goals (4) and assists (3), and he matched the four-goal mark less than a week later at Lehigh and did so again at Boston University in the semifinals.
• In the 2024 opener against Georgetown, he was again an attack starter, scoring four goals and assisting on one.
• The athletic gene pool runs strong in his family. His younger brother, Matthew, was a second-round draft pick of the Boston Bruins in 2022 and has five goals and 10 assists this year for the NHL team through 33 appearances.

Steady Production

• Evan James has been one of the Greyhounds' best point producers since the start of the 2021 season, scoring at least once in 47 of the 55 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.
• Last year, he had five hat tricks and seven games with two or more goals; he now has 15 career hat tricks and 27 games with two or more goals. 
• He started the last six games on attack in 2023 and had 18 goals, including four on five shots against Colgate and a Patriot League Championships record six at Navy. He then had a four-goal, three-assist game at Boston University in the semifinal.
• Over 56 career games played, James is the Greyhounds' active leader in goals (97) and points scored (134). His 97 goals scored are good for 14th in school history.

Don't Slow Your Mustang Down

• Mustang Sally enters the 2024 season as a Preseason All-Patriot League player at short-stick defensive midfield after posting excellent numbers both on the defensive and offensive sides of the ball.
• He caused 20 turnovers, leading all short sticks in NCAA Division I, and had six goals and four assists for 10 points.
• In two-plus seasons as a short-stick for the Greyhounds, Sally has posted 35 caused turnovers and 46 ground balls to go with seven goals and six assists. He had a goal and an assist in the first half of the season opener against Georgetown

Toomey's Team

• Charley Toomey is in his 19th year as the head coach at Loyola and his 27th as a member of the Greyhounds' coaching staff. Overall, he is in his 31st year on the Evergreen campus, including his four seasons as a student-athlete from 1986-90.
• Toomey has a 178-94 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 52 USILA All-Americans, 104 all-conference selections, 21 conference positional or players or rookies of the year, a Tewaaraton Award winner and five finalists and 28 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 was an assistant for the gold-medal winning team at 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 171 occasions; Loyola has won 80.7 percent of those games (138-33).

Up Next

• Loyola will be back at Ridley Athletic Complex for games against Rutgers University (February 24) and Towson University (February 27) to close the month before starting Patriot League play on Saturday, March 2, at Colgate University.