The 2021 season was quite the ride for Charley Toomey and the Loyola Greyhounds. Sitting at 5-5 heading into the second-to-last weekend of the regular season, Loyola had not only garnered a reputation as one of the most inconsistent teams in the nation, but the Patriot League power was sitting pretty firmly outside the NCAA Tournament conversation. However, when they needed it most, the Greyhounds hit a hot streak. One of the most memorable of the year, at that.
The 2021 season is in the books by nearly two weeks. And while this past season was like any other, we still witnessed players across the landscape put together breakout seasons. Over the next week, Lacrosse Bucket will be highlighting some of the players who broke out at each position during the 2021 season.
The 2021 season is in the books by nearly two weeks. And while this past season was like any other, we still witnessed players across the landscape put together breakout seasons. Over the next week, Lacrosse Bucket will be highlighting some of the players who broke out at each position during the 2021 season.
Eight teams enter the weekend, but once the sun sets on Sunday night only four will be left standing. It’s time for the quarterfinals and a ticket to Hartford (Conn.) to be part of lacrosse’s greatest stage is on the line.
The 2021 NCAA DI Men’s lacrosse bracket was released on Sunday, setting in stone the 16 teams that will be fighting to be the last one standing on Memorial Day. And as always, in the days following the bracket being released there is a lot chatter and debate around not only which teams will make a run to Championship Weekend, but also which teams are most likely to pull off an upset win and thus create the most chaos.
While it has taken a bit longer for teams and conference to get their schedules together for the 2021 season due to the Coronavirus outbreak and various restrictions surrounding the virus, Schedule release schedule has finally begun!
2020 marked the beginning of the post Pat Spencer era for Loyola. And many were asking how this program would look and move forward, particularly on the offensive end. Well, in the eyes of many, the Greyhounds were still one of the best teams in the Patriot League but they did take one too many steps back then originally expected. However, that one too many steps back was only seen on one end of the field: offense.
The number 6 ranked Duke Blue Devis took down the number 3 ranked Loyola Greyhounds 12-7 in a Thursday night home contest. Duke used a big offensive spurt in the third quarter to help them run past Loyola. This was Duke’s third straight win over Loyola since the first round of the 2016 NCAA tournament when Loyola last beat Duke.
While the Blue Devils were able to dominate in almost every area of the game, things started off a bit tighter than they ended, for sure. Loyola was able to keep it close until Duke went off in the second and third quarter’s. Loyola was able to find their offense late in the game, but the deficit was too big for a comeback.
Duke was led by Joey Manown who had 4 goals in the win. Brad Smith contributed heavily as well, tallying 5 points (2G,3A). Nakeie Montgomery also had 4 goals as well. In goal, John Upgren made 10 saves for the Blue Devils.
Chase Scanlan led Loyola with 5 points (3G,2A), while Pat Spencer tallied 3 points (1G,2A) for the Greyhounds. Jacob Stover made 15 saves in cage for Loyola.
Nakeie Montgomery got the scoring started for Duke early on to get the Blue Devils on the board first. Montgomery found the back of the net again a few minutes later, making it a 2-0 Duke lead. Less than a minute later, Pat Spencer got Loyola on the board to cut it to 2-1. A Chase Scanlan goal tied things up at 2 with 5:21 in the first, and that’s a close as it would get.
A three goal run from Duke, lasting from late in the first through early in the second, put the Blue Devils up 5-2. Each team scored once more before the half. That made it a 6-3 lead for Duke going into the half.
Coming out of the half, Duke dominated in every facet of the game. Their defense wasn’t allowing anything. The Blue Devils scored five straight unanswered goals in the third and held Loyola scoreless. That third quarter performance pretty much sealed the deal for the Duke win, but Loyola still had some fight left.
Just as the third was owned by Duke, the fourth was owned by Loyola. Bailey Savio got the Greyhounds going early on in the fourth, and they kept rolling from there. That Savio goal was the start of a four goal run from early in the fourth until late in the fourth. That helped Loyola get back into it, somewhat. The Blue Devils scored the last goal of the game and held on for the 12-7 win.
Duke’s next contest will be a home game against Utah on Tuesday, March 12th. Loyola will play Navy on Saturday, March 16th in their next contest.
