The Matchup
- The Greyhounds will continue non-conference play as they hit the road for the first time this season and travel to face Longwood.
- This will be the second meeting between the two programs, with their first meeting coming last season, where Loyola won 3-1.
Baylee DeSmit recorded two goals in the win for the Greyhounds.
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.
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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 Longwood
- The Greyhounds travel to face Longwood, in what will be the Lancers first game of the season.
- The Lancers are coming off of a 2023 season in which they finished 5-7-5 on the year, and 3-2-3 in Big South play.
- Longwood was picked to finish in fifth place in the Big South Preseason Poll, earning 43 points.
- The Lancers two top goal scorers from last year will return in Peyton Curney (5 goals) and Julia Gil (4 goals).
- The Lancers will have a new face in goal this season, as Mary Kate Levush graduated, after starting 15 games last season.
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 during 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 23-2-3 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
-
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)
