BALTIMORE –
Adam Poitras scored a career-high five goals, and
Evan James added four, on Friday night as Loyola University Maryland men's lacrosse defeated visiting Lehigh University, 12-10, in a Patriot League game at Ridley Athletic Complex.
The win was the 181
st of Head Coach
Charley Toomey's career, tying him with Dave Cottle (1983-2001) for the most in program history.
Poitras had a natural hat trick, scoring three goals in a row over a stretch of six minutes, 23 seconds in the first and second quarters, and James got his hat trick with two goals in the first quarter and one in the second.
Matt Heuston,
Joey Kamish and
Luke Murphy all had one goal for the Greyhounds, while
Seth Higgins, James,
Davis Lindsey and
Mustang Sally each posted an assist.
Loyola's defense forced 24 Lehigh turnovers, the most by a Greyhounds opponent this season. The Greyhounds had 11 caused turnovers in the game with
Alex Bean and
Max McGillicuddy each recording two.
Remi Reynolds led the defense with a career-high six ground balls, while Bean and
Chase Gregory each had four.
Luke Staudt made eight saves for the Greyhounds.
Lehigh (4-5 overall) scored first with a Hunter Polonkey extra-man goal 78 seconds into the game, but Heuston scored with a long dodge to get to his right-hand for a goal at 13:03.
Scott Cole scored with a ground ball and shot in an unsettled possession for Lehigh at 12:44, but James caught a Higgins pass and evened the game again at 2-2 with a goal at 8:49.
The Mountain Hawks took a 4-2 lead with goals by Andrew Kelly and Quinn Armstrong 41 seconds apart, but James drew a short stick at goal-line extended and dodged past him to score his second of the night at 5:58.
That sparked a 4-0 Loyola run that would see the Greyhounds take the lead for good.
Poitras had the first of his three-straight goals with a one-timer from a
Davis Lindsey feed 41 seconds after James' goal, and he added an unassisted goal with 39 seconds left in the opening quarter to put Loyola up, 5-4.
He then added his third goal of the night 66 ticks into the second in transition. Staudt made a save on the defensive end, and Sally capped a transition run with a pass to Poitras on the right side of the crease for a goal at 13:54.
That put Loyola in front, 6-4, but Lehigh got back within one on a Kelly goal at the 10-minute mark in the second.
Poitras and James both had unassisted goals at 8:00 and 3:46 for the Greyhounds to stretch the lead to three, 8-5, for the first time.
Lehigh pulled within two before halftime when Dakota Eierman scored 46 seconds before the end of the half, but Loyola held them off the board for almost all of the third quarter.
James assisted on a Poitras goal with 8:16 to go in the quarter, and he scored his fourth of the day with an unassisted tally at 4:41.
Eierman got his second of the game at 2:35, and Loyola took a 10-7 lead into the final period. The Mountain Hawks got within two on a Richard Checo transition goal at 13:12, but Kamish dodged down the middle of the offense and hit a high-to-low shot at 11:15 to stretch the lead back to three, 11-8.
Armstrong tallied his second goal of the game at 10:53 in the fourth quarter, but the Greyhounds again took the lead to three shortly thereafter.
James had a shot saved, but the rebound popped straight into the air in front of the crease where Murphy corralled it and dunked it for an extra-man goal at 7:19.
Armstrong would pull Lehigh within two, 12-10, 47 seconds later, but Loyola's defense would hold them off the board for the rest of the game.
First, the Greyhounds forced a turnover, and on Lehigh's second possession with under six minutes to go in the game, Staudt made a cross-body save on a low shot by Eierman.
Loyola ran out nearly all of the shot clock on its next possession, and the Sally caused a turnover behind the crease with 1:38 remaining in the game. Lehigh then committed an unnecessary roughness penalty that allowed Loyola to run the game clock down to only 12 seconds remaining.
The Greyhounds will be back at Ridley Athletic Complex on Saturday, April 6, to host Bucknell University in a 1 p.m. game.
