Vol. 12: All Aboard the Greyhound(s) — the Patriot League Runs Through Loyola
Vol. 12: All Aboard the Greyhound(s) — the Patriot League Runs Through Loyola
No. 8 Loyola set the NCAA record for most consecutive conference wins this year with 65 and counting in Patriot League play.
Loyola has defeated its last two opponents—Bucknell and Lafayette—by a combined score of 41-4 and ranks third nationally in scoring margin. Photo courtesy: Loyola Athletics.
Remember 2013? The “Harlem Shake” was a thing. “Thrift Shop” was atop the Billboard Hot 100. President Obama was inaugurated for his second term.
Well, that year was the last time Loyola lost a regular season conference game.
Yeah, the day was April 26, 2013.
Since then, 3,288 days have passed. The Greyhounds moved from the Big East to the Patriot League in 2014 and haven’t lost a single league game in the regular season.
That’s not a typo. They are 65-0 in Patriot League regular season games.
That streak is alive and well in 2022 as Loyola has coasted through its conference slate yet again. Actually, with its April 13 win over American, the program broke UMass’ NCAA record for the longest conference win streak in the sport’s history. The Minutewomen had won 61 straight A-10 games from 2011-18.
Not only are the Greyhounds 8-0 with one Patriot League regular season game remaining, but they have defeated their conference foes by an average of 13.6 goals per contest this year.
What’s more, they rank first in the Patriot League in shot percentage (51.8%) and goals (270) as well as second in fewest turnovers per game (13.06) and most draws per game (17.31).
Loyola is 15-1 overall and No. 8 in this week’s Inside Lacrosse Poll. Head coach Jen Adams’ team’s lone loss occurred on March 29 at Syracuse. It was a controversial defeat, too.
The Greyhounds used a 4-0 run in the final frame to cut their deficit to one with 24 ticks remaining. Then Livy Rosenzweig, the program’s all-time leader in points, won a draw and appeared to assist Georgia Latch for a game-tying goal that ultimately was negated because of an offensive foul.
Still, the performance turned heads.
Rosenzweig is one of two Loyola players to earn top-25 Tewaaraton recognition this season. The other is senior defender Katie Detwiler, who spearheads the fifth-ranked scoring defense in the country. Detwiler, last season’s Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year, is currently first on the team with 17 caused turnovers and third with 37 draws.
The real test will be in May when Adams tries to lead the Greyhounds to their first Final Four since 2003. But, for now, Loyola continues to mop the floor in the Patriot League.
Other Storylines to Know:
1. Army beats Navy for the first time in program history. Entering Saturday, the Black Knights had never beaten their rival, then-No. 24 Navy, in six tries. Army had never beaten a ranked opponent, and Navy was a perfect 7-0 in Patriot League play. Saturday was a day of firsts, though, as Army pulled off a 14-9 upset.
Sophomore attacker Julia Gorajek and junior midfielder Jolie Riedell paced the way with four goals each. Gorajek was a perfect 3-of-3 on free-position attempts, and Riedell filled up the box score with a ground ball, two caused turnovers and three draw controls. Navy outshot Army, 42-25, but a career-high 17 saves from sophomore goalie Lacey Bartholomay made the difference for the Black Knights. The win snapped a three-game skid for Army, which closes its season Friday against Lafayette.
2. Maryland clinches at least a share of the Big Ten title versus Northwestern. It’s official. Last year was a fluke. When the Terrapins went 6-5 in Big Ten competition in 2021, it was natural to wonder about the longevity of Cathy Reese’s dynasty. And again when Maryland was bounced by Duke in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. But the Terps retooled this offseason and quickly returned to prominence.
Maryland, which won the Big Ten regular season title from 2015-19, clinched a share of that championship this past weekend with a 15-9 win over then-No. 2 Northwestern. Career-high performances from junior attacker Libby May and junior goalie Emily Sterling did the trick. May piled up seven goals, while Sterling made 16 stops between the pipes.
The Terps got on the board first, took a 10-5 halftime lead and kept the ball rolling in the third quarter. They did it in front of a crowd of 2,123—the program’s largest since a March 24, 2018 contest against James Madison (2,361). A win over No. 20 Michigan this coming Saturday would give the Terps the Big Ten title outright.
3. Duke suffers a hangover in Chapel Hill. Talk about a letdown. The Blue Devils had a chance to win the ACC regular season title against crosstown rival and top-ranked North Carolina. They were coming off an upset win over No. 2 Boston College that spoiled Charlotte North’s return to Durham. It appears as though that monumental victory, however, resulted in a Thursday night hangover for Kerstin Kimel’s squad.
Duke didn’t stand a chance against the No. 1 Tar Heels. The Blue Devils took an embarrassing 18-4 road loss and, after the weekend, dropped to the No. 4 seed in the ACC Tournament. It was a statement game for UNC, fueled by its 11 graduating seniors and graduate students, who have posted a record of 76-9 and led the Tar Heels to three consecutive Final Fours since arriving in Chapel Hill.
UNC, which ranks seventh nationally in scoring defense (8.47 goals allowed per game), held Duke scoreless for 41:38 during a 16-0 Tar Heels run that blew up a 2-2, first-quarter tie. Both Scottie Rose Growney (5 goals, 2 assists) and Jamie Ortega (4 goals, 3 assists) logged seven points in the victory. UNC has now won 10 ACC regular season championships.
The Tar Heels celebrate during their 18-4 win over Duke on April 21, which gave UNC its 10th ACC regular season title. Photo courtesy: Jeffrey A. Camarati/UNC Athletics.
4. BC gets the best of Treanor’s Syracuse in a Friday night thriller. It couldn’t have been a better atmosphere for a National Championship rematch. For the third time this season, BC’s Alumni Stadium reeled in more than 3,000 fans. A total of 4,507 showed up for a top-five matchup that also served as a coaching reunion. Syracuse head coach Kayla Treanor used to be the Eagles’ associate head coach. Orange assistant Kenzie Kent was a two-sport star at BC from 2014-19. Her mom, Jen Kent, is BC’s defensive coordinator. Plus, Kent shared the lacrosse field at BC with Sam Apuzzo, the Eagles’ first-ever Tewaaraton Award winner who is now an assistant coach for her alma mater.
Phew, that’s a lot of connections. And it resulted in a pow-wow after the game. Before that, though, an intense battle ensued between two teams that faced each other four times in 2021. At first, the regular season finale played out like last year’s title game. Syracuse staked itself to a first-quarter lead, BC entered halftime ahead and then blew the game open thereafter. Only this time, the Treanor-led Orange had a comeback in store.
Piloted by Tewaaraton top-25 nominee Meaghan Tyrrell, Syracuse rattled off four straight goals to pull within one of BC. Except, when the Eagles needed it most, Sydney Scales caused a critical turnover, and Belle Smith gave BC the cushion required to stave off Syracuse and, eventually, clinch the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament.
A BC crowd of 4,507 fans—Alumni Stadium’s third 3,000-plus-fan crowd this year—cheers during the Eagles’ 15-13 win over Syracuse on April 22. Photo courtesy: BC Athletics.
5. A once-surging Ohio State takes another step back at Hopkins. Ohio State had not beaten Johns Hopkins since 2016. Coming off a 14-8 loss to No. 4 Maryland, the Buckeyes had a chance to move to 3-2 in Big Ten play when they squared off against the Blue Jays on Saturday.
Tied, 5-5, coming out of the halftime locker room, Johns Hopkins scored five goals in a third-quarter outburst while Ohio State added just one. Five Blue Jays tallied three or more points, and they drew 11 free-position chances, scoring on five of them. The win was John Hopkins’ first in conference play this year.
The Buckeyes now sit at 9-6 on the season, though they don’t have a bad loss. With defeats to No. 10 Denver, Colorado, No. 11 James Madison, No. 5 Northwestern, No. 4 Maryland and Johns Hopkins, Ohio State has only lost to teams that have been ranked at some point this season.
Weekly Focus:
DRESSING TO IMPRESS…WHO HAS THE BEST THREADS?
With Senior Day photos already snapped or coming soon at schools around the country, we wanted to take a look at some of the freshest jerseys in the sport. Here are some of our personal favorites.
Boston College – Fun fact: It’s actually illegal to be reigning national champions with bad jerseys. Seriously, though, these gold jerseys with the maroon script are a great look for the Eagles (Photo courtesy of BC Athletics).
Coastal Carolina – Teal and black is a color scheme not many other schools have. Complemented with the white jerseys and the teal field, these home jerseys are elite (Photo courtesy of Coastal Carolina Athletics).
Hofstra/Delaware – We had to group these two CAA schools together due to the similar color schemes. Really, the Blue Hens’ and Pride’s white and colored jerseys are almost mirror images. Delaware has a slightly softer blue, and Hofstra’s yellow lettering is more gold. Minor distinctions aside, both are great (Photo courtesy of Hofstra and Delaware Athletics).
Denver – We’re a sucker for all-black unis. What makes the Pioneers’ threads stand out, however, are the mountains. They’re perfectly Colorado (Photo courtesy of Denver Athletics).
Liberty – Sheesh! The Flames didn’t wear this jersey much, but the light blue paired with the red lettering is a great look (Photo courtesy of Liberty Athletics).
Marquette – Can you tell we like blue? These Marquette Senior Day jerseys are awesome. The light blue and gold scream Golden Eagles (Photo courtesy of Marquette Athletics).
Niagara – Along with Northwestern, Furman, Holy Cross and JMU, Niagara wears purple well (Photo courtesy of Niagara Athletics).
North Carolina – What’s more iconic than Carolina Blue? The No. 1 team in the sport having fire jerseys is a win for everybody involved (Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics).
Northwestern – Back in black. The Wildcats black road jerseys are sweet. They donned them for the opener at BC (Photo courtesy of Northwestern Athletics).
Princeton – Ivy League color schemes are unmistakable. Harvard crimson, Dartmouth green, Yale blue, the list goes on. Our vote from the Ancient Eight is Princeton’s home whites. The orange skirts pop off (Photo courtesy of Princeton Athletics).
Syracuse – The Syracuse orange is also unmistakable. We dig this navy blue road alternate with the orange trim (Photo courtesy of Syracuse Athletics).
USC – The Women of Troy have great red home jerseys that embody Southern California. We heard they look even better on a sunny day (Photo courtesy of USC Athletics).
Vermont – Both the green and white Vermont jerseys are clean. The green is a darker shade that fits well with the Vermont forests (Photo courtesy of Vermont Athletics).
Numbers to Know:
63 – the number of draw controls Maddie Jenner needs to set the NCAA career record. She now has 583, and the record of 645 is owned by Robert Morris’ Jessica Karwacki (2013-16). We know we hit on this a couple weeks ago in our weekly focus, but it’s worth repeating. It’s gonna be close!
0 – No. 22 Jacksonville beat Delaware State, 25-0, on April 18. It is the only shutout in the sport this season. Three teams have held an opponent to just one goal: No. 6 Stony Brook, No. 2 BC and Old Dominion.
21 – the number of saves made by Sacred Heart’s junior goalie Bella Beaton last Wednesday in a loss, 9-8, to Wagner. The 21 stops were tied for the second most by a goalie this year, and the most in the month of April. Beaton has a 8.20 goals against average and a 0.607 save percentage. Both would be tops in the Northeast Conference, but Beaton has started six of the team’s 14 games, below the 50.0% threshold to qualify.
Tewaaraton Watch:
Last week, the top-25 nominees for the Tewaaraton Award were announced. The five finalists for the award will be revealed in early May.
Check out this thorough breakdown from LacrosseReference.com’s Zack Capozzi, who analyzes the different kind of candidates included in the list below:
Catriona Barry, Duke – Grad. Student, Attack
Abby Bosco, Maryland – Grad. Student, Defense
Sarah Cooper, Syracuse – Sr., Defense
Aurora Cordingley, Maryland – Grad. Student, Attack
Katie Detwiler, Loyola – Sr., Defense
Lauren Gilbert, Northwestern – Grad. Student, Attack
Jill Girardi, Northwestern – Grad. Student, Midfield
Maddie Jenner, Duke – Sr., Attack
Ellie Masera, Stony Brook – Soph., Midfield
Ally Mastroianni, North Carolina – Grad. Student, Midfield
Taylor Moreno, North Carolina – Grad. Student, Goalie
Charlotte North, Boston College – Grad. Student, Attack
Jamie Ortega, North Carolina – Sr., Attack
Danielle Pavinelli, Florida – Soph., Attack
Isabella Peterson, James Madison – Soph., Attack
Livy Rosenzweig, Loyola – Grad. Student, Attack
Kyla Sears, Princeton – Sr., Attack
Belle Smith, Boston College – Soph., Midfield
Cassidy Spilis, Rutgers – Jr., Midfield
Emily Sterling, Maryland – Jr., Goalie
Sam Thacker, Denver – Jr., Defense
Emma Trenchard, North Carolina – Sr., Defense
Meaghan Tyrrell, Syracuse – Sr., Attack
Sydney Watson, UConn – 5th year, Midfield
Arielle Weissman, Michigan – Grad. Student, Goalie
POINTS PER GAME LEADERS
GOALS PER GAME LEADERS
NOTE: Stats correct through April 26.
Inside Lacrosse Poll
Screenshots pulled from insidelacrosse.com.
Unlike last week, we got movement in the Top Five. BC reclaimed the No. 2 spot following its win over now-No. 3 Syracuse. Northwestern slid three places from No. 2 to No. 5 after losing to Maryland, which went from No. 8 to No. 4 in the process. Duke’s stay inside the Top Five was as brief as can be—the Blue Devils dropped to No. 7 in the wake of their embarrassing defeat to UNC. UConn and Rutgers, both riding three-game win streaks, traded places. Now, the Huskies are No. 14, and the Scarlet Knights are No. 15.
Stanford climbed two rungs to No. 19 with a dominant win over Cal. Meanwhile, Notre Dame dropped two spots, from No. 18 to No. 20, even with its third consecutive victory. Yale remained in the Top 25, despite defeats to UConn and Stony Brook in the last week. The only team to get ousted was Navy, which, as mentioned above, lost to Army for the first time in program history. Johns Hopkins, on the other hand, is back in the poll, rounding out the Top 25.
What’s Ahead?
No. 22 Jacksonville @ No. 9 Florida, April 27, 6:30 p.m.
Colorado @ No. 10 Denver, April 27, 9:00 p.m.
No. 24 Navy @ No. 8 Loyola, April 28, 7:00 p.m.
No. 16 UVA vs. No. 3 Syracuse (ACC Tournament, @ Notre Dame), April 29, 7:30 p.m.
Bryant @ Wagner, April 30, 12:00 p.m.
Yale @ Princeton, April 30, 3:00 p.m.
Hope you enjoyed this edition of the Quick on the Draw newsletter. If you liked it or know someone who will, please share! We’ll be back next week for more coverage.