The Matchup
- The Greyhounds will open the 2024 campaign on Thursday evening, as they host the Dayton Flyers at Ridley Athletic Complex at 7:00 PM.
- This will be the fourth meeting between the two programs, and the second in two years. Loyola and Dayton open the season as opponents for the second straight year. The Flyers won the matchup last season, 4-1.
Quick Hits
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Baylee DeSmit is coming off of a big 2023 season, where she was named as the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year.
- DeSmit led the league in goals (10) and points (28), while finishing in second with 8 assists.
- The Greyhounds lost five starters from last years team, including First Team All-League selection
Alex Searing. They also lost
Paige Sim,
Chloe Kuminkoski,
Delaney DeMartino, and
Kelly Hutton.
- However, the Greyhounds will return a big portion of their roster, as they return 18 players from the 2024 roster.
Greyhounds at Home
- The Greyhounds were dominant at home during the 2023 season, tallying a 9-2 record at Ridley last season.
- Over the last four seasons, Loyola has a 19-10-5 record at home, and are 4-1 in their last five home openers.
- Last season the Greyhounds outscored their opponents 22-5 in their 11 home games. This includes outscoring their opponents 19-2 in their seven-game home win streak.
- Nine wins at home is tied for the second most wins at home in a single-season, tying with 2005 when they finished 9-0 at home. The most wins at home came in 1996 when the Greyhounds went 11-0-1 at home.
Non-Conference Play
- The Greyhounds start the season against Dayton, who finished the season 13-2-5 on the season before losing in the A-10 Semifinals to La Salle.
- Loyola will then hit the road to face Longwood on Sunday, before returning home to play George Washington on August 22.
- On August 29 Loyola heads down to Blacksburg to face the Virginia Tech Hokies, before starting a five-game homestand against Northern Colorado on September 1.
- Of their non-conference opponents, Loyola only played Dayton and Longwood last season, going 1-1 in those games.
- Loyola will matchup for the first time against Northern Colorado and Wagner this season, having played against the other non-conferece foes at least once.
-
Baylee DeSmit will look to continue her fast start to seasons, as she has scored a goal in each of the last two season openers.
- In seven non-conference games in 2023, Loyola shutout their opponents in four of those games.
Scouting Dayton
- The Greyhounds will host the Dayton Flyers in both teams first game of the season.
- The Flyers are coming off of a 2023 season where they finished the season 13-2-5, but lost to La Salle in the Atlantic 10 Semifinals.
- The Flyers lost two of their top scorers, Madison Wilson and Laney Huber, from the 2023 team, but return Noel Blain, who finished the season with five goals and four assists. They also return Diana Benigno (2 goals, 6 assists) and Mairin Wessner (4 goals, 2 assists).
- Batoul Reda returns in net for the Flyers, after starting in 19 of 20 games last season. She allowed just 10 goals in 19 games played, while compiling 82 saves and a .891 save percentage. She also had 10 shutouts on the season.
- In the Atlantic 10 Preseason Poll, the Flyers were picked to finish in second place, behind Saint Louis who received all 15 first place votes.
- Diana Benigno and Kyra Karfonta were both named to the Preseason All-Conference Team.
Quick Notes
- The 2024 season will be the 14th season the Greyhounds have been in the Patriot League, going 31-43-22 during that span, reaching the Patriot League Championships in five straight seasons, which includes two trips to the Patriot League Semifinals.
- This is Head Coach
Joe Mallia's second stint at the helm with the Greyhounds. During his first stint, Mallia went 87-45-9 (54-4-5, MAAC), Winning the MAAC Regular-Season Championship four times, and the MAAC Tournament Championship three times.
- In his four season's back at the helm, Mallia has gone 33-28-14.
- The Greyhounds have gone 60-43-18 at home since the opening of Ridley Athletic Complex.
- Dating back to the beginning of the 2022 season, the Greyhounds have recorded 17 shutouts in 35 games.
Recipe for Success
- The Greyhounds recorded a shutout in 8 of their 11 wins during the 2023 season.
- Ten different players scored a goal duirng the season, contributing to a balanced scoring effort, as
Baylee DeSmit led the team with ten goals.
- The Greyhounds have won 22 of the last 25 games in which they have scored two goals or more, which dates back to Sept. 6, 2018. Loyola was 8-0-0 when scoring multiple goals last season.
- The Greyhounds are 23-1-3 when scoring first and 18-1-1 when leading at halftime since the beginning of the 2021 season.
- Since the beginning of the 2022 season, the Greyhounds are 1-12-0 when their opponent scored first.
More on DeSmit
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Baylee DeSmit had a monster year for Loyola, as she led the Patriot League in goals and points, while finishing second in assists.
- She also tied the single-season record for assists with 8, tying with seven other players to reach the single-season mark.
- Her 10 goals alsoranks tied for eighth for most goals in a single-season.
- DeSmit has also slowly climbed the Loyola all time ranks, as she enters the 2024 season in the top ten in points, goals, and assists.
- DeSmit's current ranks all-time at Loyola:
Career:
Points: 56 (9th)
Goals: 20 (9th)
Assists: 16 (T-7th)
Points Per Game: 1.06 (6th)
Goals Per Game: .377 (8th)
Assists Per Game: .301 (4th)
Single-Season (2023):
Points: 28 (T-6th)
Goals: 10 (T-8th)
Assists: 8 (T-1st)
Points Per Game: 1.65 (2nd)
Goals Per Game: .588 (T-6th)
Assists Per Game: .470 (1st)
Worth Noting
- 7 of 11 primary starters from the 2023 season are back for the Greyhounds this season, including two former All-Patriot League players in
Baylee DeSmit (2023 First Team, 2022 First team, 2021 Second Team) and
Elizabeth Gallagher (2023 Second Team).
-
Elizabeth Gallagher and
Olivia Quaranta were named captains for the upcoming 2024 season.
- Loyola has one of the last five Maryland Gatorade Girls Soccer Player of the Year honorees on its roster, as senior
Baylee DeSmit won the award in 2020.
- Junior
Olivia Quaranta is the daughter of Santino Quaranta, who made 15 appearances for the U.S. National Team and spent 11 years in the MLS (primarily with DC United). In addition to her stint at Pipeline SC in the ECNL, Quaranta was a two-year member of the Washington Spirit's Advanced Development program.
- The Greyhounds roster this season features 8 international players, spanning Australia, Germany, Netherlands, and Canada.
Preseason All League Nominees
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Baylee DeSmit was voted as the Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, announced the Patriot League on August 8. DeSmit, who was named the Offensive Player of the Year in 2023, finished the regular season leading the Patriot League in goals and points, and was second in assists. She was also named to the Preaseason All-League Team.
- The Greyhounds were picked to finish in fourth place in the Preseason Poll, receiving 110 points in the poll, behind Preseason favorites, Army, then Bucknell and Boston who were voted to finish second and third respectively.
Last Season
- After starting the season 2-2, the Greyhounds found their groove, as they won seven straight games, including their first four games in Patriot League Play.
- They struggled over their next four games, going 1-3, with their losses coming to Army, Bucknell, and Lehigh, all in close contests.
- They closed out the season with a 2-1 win over American to secure a third place finish in the regular season.
- Loyola hosted Colgate in the Patriot League Quarterfinals, but fell to the Raiders, 2-0.
- Bayle DeSmit (First Team),
Alex Searing (First Team),
Elizabeth Gallagher (Second Team), and
Delaney DeMartino (Third Team) all earned All-Patriot League nods.
Head Coach Joe Mallia
-
Joe Mallia, the winningest head coach in program history, returned to Loyola in December 2018 to lead the Greyhounds' program for a second time, and he has quickly reestablished a winning culture during his first three seasons back at the helm.
- Mallia earned his 100th victory at Loyola (and 150th overall as a head coach) following Loyola's 2-0 win at Howard on Sept. 9 last season.
- Loyola earned results in 12 of 19 games in 2019, finishing with an overall record of 7-7-5 (3-2-4 PL) and clinching the program's first Patriot League tournament appearance since 2015.
- Mallia, who spent time at UCLA, Loyola Marymount, Tennessee and Navy prior to returning to Baltimore, guided the Greyhounds to an 87-45-8 record over seven seasons from 1998-2004. During that stretch, Loyola compiled a 54-4-5 record in the MAAC, winning MAAC Championships and earning NCAA tournament bids in each of his last five seasons.
- Mallia was also an assistant at Loyola from 1994-97 before becoming head coach. In those four seasons, the Greyhounds went 47-27-7 with three MAAC titles.
