The No. 12 men’s lacrosse team controlled their Wednesday night contest against Towson from start to finish, dominating the Tigers 15-6 for their third straight win. This wraps up the Hounds’ three-game homestand, in which they went 3-0 to improve to 3-1 overall on the season. 

Junior attackmen Kevin Lindley ’21 and Aidan Olmstead ’21 steadied the offense. Lindley scored four goals and Olmstead scored one goal with four assists. 

Joey Kamish ’23 scored a hat trick for the second game in a row, and Peter Swindell ’20 also had three points with two goals and an assist. Logan Devereaux ’20 and Ryan McNulty ’20 each had two assists, and Evan James ’23 scored his first two goals at Loyola.

Bailey Savio ’21 continues to play like one of the best face-off specialists in the country, as he went 14-22 on face-offs with nine ground balls. His face-off winning percentage sits at 70 percent, the sixth best in the nation. Sam Shafer ’21 remained consistent in goal, saving nine shots. 

The Greyhounds have played lockdown defense so far this year, giving up less than nine goals per game on average. Even the offensive players got in on the action, as they forced six out of 15 Towson turnovers on Wednesday night. 

Three different Hounds scored in the first quarter to jump out to a 3-0 lead – Lindley, Dan Wigley ’20, then Swindell. 

Towson got on the board late in the first quarter, but Loyola responded with two more. Olmstead assisted Swindell on a man-up goal, then Kamish scored his first goal just over a minute later. 

The Tigers found their feet offensively, scoring the next two goals to cut the lead to 5-3. By halftime, both teams had been drenched by a steady mist that lingered for the whole night.

Lindley got his second goal early in the second half off a pass from Swindell, but the game got sloppy for a time. Towson managed to turn two unsettled situations into points, as Luke Fromert picked up a Loyola turnover in front of the cage for an easy goal, then they scored again off a failed Loyola clear to make the score 6-5. 

The Hounds cleaned up their mistakes on both ends of the field, however, and went on a convincing 9-0 run through the rest of the game. It began with a fast break goal from Olmstead to Lindley, then Kamish scored his second goal to end the third quarter.

Loyola scored two goals in the first minute of the fourth quarter, as Olmstead picked off a Tiger pass to score an easy goal just 13 seconds in. Then, McNulty assisted Kamish on an outside shot to make the score 10-5.

Some extracurricular activities between some Hounds and Tigers led to two unsportsmanlike penalties on the Towson bench. Loyola took advantage of the two-minute man-up opportunity with two goals from Lindley and James. 

Towson gifted Loyola with another penalty, this time for unnecessary roughness. Devereaux found James for his second goal, giving the Hounds a 13-5 lead with nine minutes to go. 

The Hounds began to clear their bench, allowing Jack Raba ’22 and Riley Cox ’20 to get their first goals of the season. Towson scored a garbage time goal with 34 seconds remaining, ending the 9-0 run and giving Loyola a 15-6 victory.

The men’s lacrosse team will begin their conference schedule this Saturday, when they go on the road to face Lafayette. Face-off is at noon.

Featured Image Courtesy of Loyola Athletics.