BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland's starting attack combined for 11 goals and six assists Tuesday night, and the Greyhounds led wire-to-wire for a 17-13 victory over visiting Towson University at Ridley Athletic Complex.
Kenan Everhart set new career highs in all three categories with five goals, four assists and nine points, while
Matthew Minicus and
Mason Cook each had three goals and an assist.
Carson Hall tied his career-high with 17 faceoff wins and set a new best with nine ground ball to help Loyola control the possession game, and
Max Watkinson made 14 saves in goal.
Luke Murphy and Cook scored the first two goals of the game in the opening five minutes, three seconds before Towson got on the board with a Mikey Weisshaar goal at 8:43.
Connor Wilbur one-timed an Everhart assist from behind to score 57 seconds later, kicking off a 6-1 Loyola run that would see the Greyhounds (3-2 overall) lead 8-2 after a Minicus goal 2:15 into the second quarter.
During the run, Everhart had three goals and an assist, and both Cook and Minicus tallied one.
Cook recorded his fifth hat trick in as many games this season with a goal 30 seconds before halftime, but Towson got back within five, 9-4, on a Joe Meidling goal 11 ticks later, sending the teams to the locker room.
The Greyhounds got three of the second half's first four goals in the opening 4:20 of the period, first when Murphy grabbed a ground ball off a rebound and scored, then when
Miles Halter rolled the crease for his first of the season. Everhart capped the stretch with a goal off a Cook assist at 10:40, and the Greyhounds were up, 12-5.
Towson came back with four-straight goals, however, to pull within three, 12-9, at 2:46 in the third quarter.
Just under two minutes later, Loyola took advantage of a Towson penalty, and
Will McCulloch curled to the middle on extra-man, caught a Minicus feed and scored his second goal in as many games.
Alex Roussel would score 20 seconds later with 47 seconds left in the third quarter, and it was a three-goal spread again, but the Greyhounds pushed the margin to four before the end of the frame;
Will Musgrove scored his first career goal with 10 ticks to go in the quarter.
Minicus scored twice, and Everhart added another goal, in the first eight minutes of the fourth quarter, extending Loyola's run to 5-1 and putting the Greyhounds ahead, 17-10.
Brady Quinn had a career-high three assists in the game, and Wilbur matched his high with three points on a goal and two assists.
The Tigers entered the game winning almost 59 percent of faceoffs, but the Greyhounds took 19 of 34 with Hall leading the way at 17 of 26. The Greyhounds also had a 44 to 36 edge in ground balls.
Tuesday's game kicked off a five-game homestand for Loyola. The Greyhounds will be back at Ridley on Saturday, March 7, to host Providence College at 12 noon.
