ANNAPOLIS, Md. –
Kenan Everhart scored with 2:27 left in regulation to give Loyola University Maryland men's lacrosse a one-goal lead,
Max Watkinson made a save on a Navy shot with seven seconds left, and the Greyhounds' defense held off the Midshipmen's last second effort, giving Loyola a 13-12 victory in the Patriot League regular-season finale at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
With the win, the Greyhounds earned a share of the Patriot League Regular-Season title for the first time since 2019. Loyola will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Patriot League Championships and play in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal on Friday, May 1.
The Greyhounds will take on either No. 3 Boston University of No. 6 Lehigh in the semifinal that will be hosted at Army West Point.
Loyola's victory came after a 4-0 Navy run that started late in the third quarter and went into the fourth, closing a 12-8 Greyhounds' lead into a 12-12 tie.
Mac Haley tied the game with 7:41 to play with his second-straight goal, but the teams were scoreless for more than five minutes.
Watkinson made a save on a Jack NIchtern shot with 3:12 left on the clock, and Loyola cleared to its offensive side of the field.
After a Loyola timeout with 2:53 on the clock,
Luke Murphy got free in front of the goal, but his shot went wide left right into the stick of
Connor Wilbur at X. Wilbur threw to Everhart in the middle, and he went low-to-low for his third goal of the game.
Wilbur finished with a career-high four assists, while Everhart also had four points with adding an assist to his hat trick.
Mason Cook led the Greyhounds with four goals, and
Brady Quinn added a career-high tying three goals.
Quinn and Cook gave Loyola a 2-0 lead in the game's first four minutes, but Navy came back to tie less than five minutes later with two unassisted goals.
Quinn tallied his second of the day with 1:53 on the first-quarter clock, but William Goers evened it at 3-3 for Navy with his second of the day 66 ticks later.
The game appeared headed to the second quarter knotted at 3-3 after a
Joe Houlihan transition shot went wide with two seconds left in the quarter. Everhart picked up the ball off the end line to restart, threw it to
Brady Rogoff on the right side of the crease, and Rogoff scored his first career goal with a second to play.
The goal sparked Loyola's momentum, but Navy cut it off by scoring three in a row to lead 6-4 with 6:34 to go in the first half after a Ryan Landolphi goal.
Cook broke the run with a goal at 5:25, sparking a 7-0 Loyola run. Quinn and Everhart added unassisted tallies, and Murphy caught a
Matthew Minicus feed to score on the doorstep with 59 seconds left in the half, giving Loyola an 8-6 advantage.
The Greyhounds added the first three goals of the second half, first on a man-up goal by Cook, then when Loyola rode back a clear and Cook scored at 12:03.
Michael Callahan fed
Chase Gregory for a goal at 10:37, pushing the margin to 11-6 Loyola.
Navy scored two in a row, but Everhart had his second of the night at 6:29 in the third, moving the margin to 12-8.
The Midshipmen responded with four-straight goals, and Haley's score midway through the fourth tied the game tied the game at 12-12.
Watkinson made a game-high 16 saves, seven that came in the fourth quarter.
