It wouldn’t be a surprise if the Loyola University Maryland women’s lacrosse team doesn’t remember what losing is like, since their last loss came on March 8. The team continues to dominate this season. With wins over American University and Boston University, the Greyhounds have extended their winning streak to nine games.

During Wednesday night’s 18-5 win over American University, redshirt junior Taryn VanThof won nine draw controls, becoming the Loyola University Maryland women’s lacrosse program’s single-season and career record holder.
VanThof, with 77 draws, surpassed Rita Ciletti (’84) and Michelle Meyer (’97), who each had 76 draws in a season. In the six Patriot League games Loyola has played so far, VanThof has won more draws than all of the six opponents combined. The win over American has improved Loyola to 6-0 in the Patriot League.
VanThof won the opening draw control and scored easily in the first 10 seconds of play. American scored at the 26:52 mark to tie the game but Loyola would go on a 9-0 run to take a 10-1 lead with 10:39 remaining in the first half.
Senior Marlee Paton, junior Sydney Thomas and sophomore Maddy Blakeman all recorded hat tricks, contributing three goals each. Paton added two assists for five points, while junior Annie Thomas had a game-high seven points on two goals and five assists. Senor Ali Habicht and junior Hannah Schmitt added two goals each and juniors Elizabeth Barranco, Molly Hulesman and VanThof each had one. Freshman Cami Whiteford had a personal best two assists and senior Molly Dickerson added one.
American’s Madison Hoon, Alex Lugovina, Emily Maher, Olivia Mangan and Jessica Wojciechowski all scored, accounting for the Eagles’ five goals.
Back-to-back goals from the Eagles at 8:18 and 7:23 halted the run, but Hulseman scored the final goal of the half to bring the halftime score to 11-3.
In goal, sophomore Molly Wolf made seven saves. Paton contributed to the Hounds’ rock solid defense, finishing with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Habicht also added two caused turnovers, while senior Katherine Reinhard and freshman goalkeeper Taylor Caldwell finished the game with two ground balls each.
Emily Maher scored American’s first goal of the second half but Paton completed her 27th career hat trick at the 25-minute mark to move the score to 12-4. Blakeman added her second of the game, assisted by Annie Thomas, at 19:47 and then Thomas scored on an assist from Paton at 17:17 to give the Greyhounds a 10-goal advantage, 14-4.
The Eagles scored their final goal of the game at 10:20 but the Loyola offense did not slow down. Sydney Thomas, Schmitt, Blakeman and Barranco closed out the game with a goal each. Thomas’ goal at 8:06 marked her first hat trick of the season, while Blakeman’s score at 4:57 marked her second career hat trick.
In Saturday afternoon’s matchup against Boston University, the Greyhounds cruised to their ninth consecutive win, with the help of their solid defense and explosive offense. The win clinches the women’s team a first-round bye in the Patriot League tournament. Since Loyola and Navy both won on Saturday, the No. 1 seed for the tournament will be on the line when they face off in Baltimore next Saturday April 19, 2014. They will host Navy on Senior Day where seniors Molly Dickerson, Ali Habicht, Marlee Paton and Katherine Reinhard will be honored prior to the 1 p.m. start.
In a battle of Patriot League newcomers, 11 Greyhounds were able to score against the Terriers’ defense, with the final score being 19-8. Senior Marlee Paton led Loyola with a game-high seven points on four goals and three assists, junior Annie Thomas had six points on three goals and three assists. Junior Hannah Schmitt contributed three goals, while classmate Kara Burke had two goals and junior Sydney Thomas had four points, one goal and three assists. Senior Ali Habict, juniors Molly Hulseman and VanThof, sophomore Blakeman and first-yeat Emily Clark and Cami Whiteford all contributed one goal.
Boston University’s sophomore Ally Adams led the Terriers with a career-high four points, including a team-best three goals. Junior Lindsay Weiner added two goals and one assist while redshirt sophomore Mallory Collins, senior Elizabeth Morse and sophomore Jill Horka all added on a goal.
VanThof won the opening draw control and Schmitt was able to score a goal just 16 seconds into the game. Annie Thomas scored soon after, giving the Greyhounds a 2-0 advantage at 24:47.
BU was able to tie up the game thanks to the pair of goals from Adams. The game was tied 2-2 with 22:54 remaining in the first half. Loyola’s offense was able to pull ahead and take a 10-5 lead going into halftime. The Greyhounds outscored the Terriers 9-3 in the final half to secure the win.
Loyola outshot BU, 43-12, and won 22 of 29 draw controls on the afternoon. The Greyhounds also posted a 21-16 lead in ground balls. Paton had three ground balls and two caused turnovers, while Molly Dickerson and Annie Thomas each had three ground balls. In goal, sophomore Molly Wolf earned two saves in 34 minutes of play, while freshman Taylor Caldwell played 25 minutes and stopped two shots without giving up a single goal.
The Greyhounds will return to Ridley Athletic Complex for their Senior Day game versus Navy on Saturday April 19, 2014 at 1 p.m.