Sophomores Taylor VanThof and Hannah Powers carried the Loyola women’s lacrosse team to a 19-12 conference victory over Colgate Saturday afternoon at Ridley. VanThof was named the Corvias Patriot League midfielder of the week after setting a Patriot League record with her 21 draw controls, which tops her own school record of 20. Powers notched a career-high nine points with her four goals and five assists.
The Hounds jumped to a 10-2 lead with 8:27 remaining in the first half, but allowed Colgate to cut the deficit to a 10-5 margin by halftime. Loyola coach Jen Adams saw a bright spot in this atypical early effort – something the Hounds have struggled with all season.
Ten minutes into the second half, Loyola extended its lead to 14-6, but lapsed into a spurt of Colgate goals, allowing the Raiders to finalize the game at 19-12.
“After coming off to an 0-6 start to the season, I know better than to be disappointed in a win, but at the same time I felt like we were sloppy towards the end,” Adams said.
VanThof concurred with her coach’s sentiments, admitting that they “weren’t prepared for what Colgate was bringing. It took us a couple minutes to get adjusted to that.”
An extensive group of ten different scorers contributed to Loyola’s offensive success. Powers and Cami Whiteford led with four and three goals, respectively. Frankie Kamely doubled up with her two goals and two assists, followed by Holly Lloyd, Emily Clark, and Margaret Filippelli, who each scored twice.
Although the Hounds came out on top, Adams lamented what she thought was an unmatched effort by the rest of her squad, defensive and offense included.
“We can’t expect [Taylor] to have record-breaking performances every time she steps on the field,” Adams said. “I was a little disappointed that we can have an individual effort of 21 draw controls, but we can’t convert and make that gap be felt throughout the field.”
Loyola looks to extend its 5-game winning streak as it hosts No. 10 Syracuse on Wednesday afternoon, which will culminate the Hounds’ non-conference play for the regular season.
Just an hour after the women’s game ended, the Loyola men’s lacrosse team followed its counterpart’s lead on Saturday afternoon with a 12-5 victory over Colgate. Pat Spencer tied his career-high five goals, earning the honor of Corvias Patriot League attacker of the week.
The Hounds have their defensive unit to thank for their success – they allowed the Raiders only three seven-on-seven goals, with the remaining two scored during extra-man opportunities. Senior Jack Carrigan picked up five ground balls and caused a game-high three turnovers, contributing to the Greyhounds’ 13 total caused turnovers. Goalkeeper Jacob Stover held down the defensive fort with ten saves.
Down on the offensive end, Spencer, Zack Sirico, and Alex McGovern put forth a commendable effort, finalizing the first half at 8-1. Sirico and McGovern each scored twice, and Jordan Germershausen contributed one goal and two assists. The Hounds went on a six-goal scoring streak that extended from the second quarter to early on in the second half.
“Colgate’s a good team. It’s going to be difficult to stay in those runs and sustain them,” Loyola coach Charley Toomey said.
Loyola slipped up midway through the third quarter, allowing three consecutive Colgate goals, but suppressed the Raiders’ fourth quarter scoring to a single goal.
“We knew we still had control of the game, we knew we had to stay patient. We knew they were going to be battling back in the third quarter,” Stover said. “But we won our matchups on the defensive end, and you can see that’s why there were only five goals on the scoreboard at the end of the game.”
Despite the comeback campaign Colgate attempted in the second half, Spencer agreed that there was no doubt the Hounds earned and controlled the tempo of the game.
“We played at our own pace and dictated what we wanted to do with it,” Spencer said.
Aside from a few minor slipups, Toomey expressed his extreme satisfaction with Loyola’s overall performance and told his men to enjoy the win.
“It was a game that Loyola needed,” Toomey said. “I always say that the guys get what they deserve – we deserve to have a good game day on Saturday because we had a good five days of prep.”
Loyola picks up conference play next Saturday as they host Lehigh in their final home game of the regular season.
