We are heading down the home stretch of March, and that means that we are in the thick of the college lacrosse season. Both of Loyola’s lacrosse teams have begun Patriot League play, and both teams are showing positive signs in the middle of the season.
On the men’s side, it was a rough start. The team lost its first four games, and three of the four losses were by a combined five goals. The team went on the road to face Maryland and Johns Hopkins in its first two games before falling at home to Rutgers and Towson in two close games.
Returning a lot of key players from last season, the Greyhounds have had a balanced scoring attack to start this season. Graduate student Aidan Olmstead leads the team with 28 points but is followed by graduate student Adam Poitras and Joey Kamish ‘23 with 16 points each. Goalkeeping began as a carousel with all four goalies seeing action, but graduate student Sam Shafer has stabilized the position in recent weeks.
Despite the difficult start, the men’s team has rebounded to win its last three games, including two crucial conference wins over Lafayette and Bucknell to go along with a big win over non-conference foe, Duke. The team has been in and out of the Division I Men’s Lacrosse Rankings, but it re-entered the field last week at #20.
The men’s team hosts Army this weekend on Saturday, March 26, at the Ridley Athletic Complex. Faceoff is set for 1 p.m. as the Greyhound look to push their winning streak to four.
On the other hand, Loyola’s women’s lacrosse team could not have asked for a better start. With a 7-0 record, the team has climbed the Division I Women’s Lacrosse Rankings and currently sits at #9 in the country.
Graduate student Livy Rosenzweig leads the Greyhounds with 28 points, followed by a strong supporting cast that includes graduate student Sam Fiedler with 23 points, Jillian Wilson ‘22 with 19 points, Sydni Black ‘24 with 17 points, graduate student Elli Kluegel with 15 points, and Georgia Latch ‘25 with 15 points.
Graduate student Kaitlyn Larsson has been holding it down in net. She has a GAA (goals against average) of 8.07 and she has only given up double-digit goals in two of the seven games so far this season.
The women’s team hosts Princeton this Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Ridley Athletic Complex. After a short two-day break, the team will return to action with a home matchup against conference rival Boston University on Saturday, March 26, with a faceoff set for 4 p.m.
It is an exciting time for Loyola’s men’s and women’s lacrosse teams, and with both teams hitting their stride, hopefully the rest of the season will lead to promising results.
Featured Image courtesy of Katherine Tabor via Flickr Creative Commons
