~Loyola University Lacrosse 2019~

[GreyingHound]

No way Spencer is 100%.

Agreed.

[GreyingHound]

Aside from the atrocious play, am I the only one who was yelling at the camera operator? Good grief, has this person never seen a lacrosse game before? I lost count of how many plays we missed because the camera was pointed in the wrong direction.

[houndace1]

I’m on my way to mass in order to cleanse my mouth from chewing out the team on TV but incoming rant about today’s game and the teams current progression

[cantrelax]

Team looked gassed. 7 has to be banged up at this point in the season. Time to regroup and see if a May run can be made! Would not want to lay hem next week. Credit BU. Many fine athletes out there!

[cantrelax]

Play that is...

[Peter Brown]

I’m watching the Army Navy game.

First, Navy is an awful team with two exceptions, their goalie and FOGO. They don’t seem to understand how to attack a defense when you there’s a shot clock. Hint: don’t wait til there are 5 seconds left to run a play. I mean, this is not a good team. They have no offense. I swear they drop as many passes as they catch.

But really, on to Army, which is why I’m watching. #40 on defense is legit. Big guy fast great stick work. He’ll get Spencer for sure. One of their defenseman went down with an injury.

I can’t believe this score isn’t 40-2 Army. The silver lining for Loyola is how is Army not destroying this Navy squad? Trust me: there are many D3 teams which could beat Navy. Just woeful. And right now it’s a one goal game. Unreal.

[houndace1]

Okay after coming back from mass and calming myself down I just have a lot of thoughts from the game..

1. Credit to BU for playing a complete game. Chris gray is legit, he will make BU a great contender in the PL for the next two years. Great game defensively and their goalie was on fire. Their offense is crisp and have many high volume shooters

2. Yikes by loyola D.... so many communication issues ... routinely beat by BU offense today

3. The offense was completely stagnant today... when was the last time spencer had 1 point??? They couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn today... and BU’s goalie added to the frustration

4. Midfield what the heck are we doing...

5. So many unforced turnovers... one turnover was solely because of stover and that led to a dunk goal

6... wake up please. Our RPI took massive hits today with Towson, Virginia losing. This loss may have cost them a home playoff game

[GreyingHound]

That was a tough one. McSorley was amazing in cage for BU.

Stover had more saves than McSorley, Spencer held to 1 assist and BU puts up 18?

Yes, Stover had more saves than McSorley (17 vs. 14), but Stover saw 21 more shots (63 vs. 42), 10 of which were on goal (35 vs. 25). So, statistically McSorley had a better game, with a 56% save percentage vs. 48.6% for Stover. Not to mention that several of McSorley's saves were pure thievery, stopping shots that were right on the doorstep, including Spencer's leaping shot similar to the one in the Rutgers game.

[TheBigIguana]

The defense is back to being a serious problem. Not sure if there is an easy solution when guys are just getting run by. The intensity wasn't where it needed to be. BU dominating the GB count shows that. If they finish with two wins it is back to Ridley for the PL tournament so it's still in the Hound's hands. Spencer has had big numbers against Army before and they need him to show up again.

[Peter Brown]

Hound: I honestly think the Patriot gets one team in and that’s all. Forget RPI; going to need to win the tournament now. The wheels are off and this is the time of the year when good teams drop the hammer, not implode; hate to sound pessimistic, but I think we will lose to Army as well; how Army didn’t drop 20 on Navy today is beyond me (service sympathy?). Army will roll today’s Loyola if the game is at Army, which it is.

This team will be fortunate in rankings to not drop out of the Top 20 after the Gtown debacle and today’s demolition.

[TheBigIguana]

Okay after coming back from mass and calming myself down I just have a lot of thoughts from the game..

1. Credit to BU for playing a complete game. Chris gray is legit, he will make BU a great contender in the PL for the next two years. Great game defensively and their goalie was on fire. Their offense is crisp and have many high volume shooters

2. Yikes by loyola D.... so many communication issues ... routinely beat by BU offense today

3. The offense was completely stagnant today... when was the last time spencer had 1 point??? They couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn today... and BU’s goalie added to the frustration

4. Midfield what the heck are we doing...

5. So many unforced turnovers... one turnover was solely because of stover and that led to a dunk goal

6... wake up please. Our RPI took massive hits today with Towson, Virginia losing. This loss may have cost them a home playoff game

On #6 it won't have that big of an effect provided Loyola doesn't lose again. It is going to drop them from #3 where they were today obviously but they should still be somewhere around 5 or 6. Losing to Army or in the PL tournament and they may start to worry about an opening weekend road trip.

[houndace1]

i couldnt type as much as i wanted to on my phone since i bruised my thumb the other day but now im on a laptop i can really think:

I have no idea what's going on with the defense, OR faceoffs for that matter. Time and time again today and in other games they can't defend a pick and pop, or a roll for that matter when the guy rolls to the goal. the 1st slide is there but there is no 2nd slide near the crease to protect dunk goals ... it boggles my mind. There is an obvious communication error between the shorties and the poles in those defensive sets. Heck there's even times where the defender just lets BU or any opponent push past them. Defense is a hallmark of Toomey's teams no matter how young the players are. This year's players give me the impression that they are so committed to playing their role in the defensive scheme rather than marking their guy one on one that it reminds me of Hopkins's defenses for the past 3 years with how confused they all look.

Bailey and wings... How do you win 60% against Gaffney and the 3rd best FO unit in the country a week ago... and then go 45% today as well as lose the GB battle by like 15?! WHERE IS THE HELP. Loyola gets guys that can vacuum balls of the carpet (no pun intended) and they can't pick up a simple ground ball. Either too slow or not savvy enough with sticks...

Everybody today Sh*t the bed with their performance. Spencer is clearly injured, i don't think he was ever shutoff and shutout this badly before. WHO ARE WE MAKING PASSES TO WHERE THE GOALIE CAN INTERCEPT THEM OUT THE AIR. THERE WERE 3 INSTANCES OF THAT TODAY. Man up was ranked statistically near the top today.... and they didn't do ANYTHING. Scanlan shot blanks, Duffy played catch with the goalie...

The only bright spots today were Lindley and Olmstead. Kudos to them for their goals/assists production. Offense looks bright in the future with those given the keys and the new guys coming in.

[laxbro11]

Agreed the fliming of the game was awful

Face off: No wing play, Millhouse may be fast but has not stick skills

Midfield: No production, Poor shot selection

Attack: Spencer must be hurt, poor shot selection

Defense: Did they forget how to slide

Goalie: Stover 15 plus saves, did the best he could with little help

The team was ouplayed and out hustled.. Thought they could just show up

[GreyingHound]

I agree with what others have posted, so sorry if some of this is redundant, but here are my observations from today's debacle:

• Spencer has not been himself since the Lehigh game. He must be injured. He showed very little effort today, and rarely initiated, frequently passing off.
• Our game plan for the 10-man ride was embarrassing. Having Stover shoot from 3/4 of the field is ridiculous. Sure, Wyres got a goal out of it, but at least 3 other times, we just threw it away. Clearing used to be our strength. Where did the clearing skills go? I understand it is a different situation with the 20-second clock, but we still should be adept at clearing the ball with the athletes we have.
• I like the changes on the midfield. Swapping Swindell for Brown on the first line was a good move. I also like swapping Wigley for Cox on the second line. That said, the midfield needs to start producing.
• This was the first game back for Johnson after the injury against Towson. I didn't pay close attention to how much he played vs. Railey, but I have to wonder if the lineup change was a source of some of the confusion on defense. At times, we just looked lost. Based on the way Railey played in place of Johnson, I would be tempted to name him the starter.
• Millhouse had the hit of the season. He just needs to learn to control the turnovers. We need his energy on the faceoff wings, but not if he is going to turn it over.
• It was nice to see Olmstead step up and pick up some of the slack. Lindley also was his consistent stellar self.
• Clearly, 3 games in 8 days took their toll. We just didn't have the energy we needed. Even McNulty wasn't his normal ground-ball-machine self.

All this said, I still think we beat Army next week and host the PL tourney.

[GreyingHound]

6... wake up please. Our RPI took massive hits today with Towson, Virginia losing. This loss may have cost them a home playoff game

On #6 it won't have that big of an effect provided Loyola doesn't lose again. It is going to drop them from #3 where they were today obviously but they should still be somewhere around 5 or 6. Losing to Army or in the PL tournament and they may start to worry about an opening weekend road trip.

Our RPI was #4 entering today's game, and with our loss, along with UVA's and Towson's, we will drop quite a bit. Nothing went our way today - things within our control and externally as well.

[houndace1]

Johnson played with some type of brace on his right arm. gotta think that he can't play to full potential with that on. The synergy is all out of wack.

Last two things i wanna point out.

While the team is talented, it seems that when they;re outhustled or shots arent falling, they get down on themselves. No one rallies the troops. Plus i think they play down to their level of competition.

you'd think that the goal from Wyers and the hit from Millhouse would BE JUICE MOMENTS for the team... but no

[thatsmell]

Wow, I didnt see the game today but from the sounds of it, the Hounds season is over.



Here’s hoping this is all some knee jerk reaction to a bad outing. I personally disagree with the comments about the gt game. I thought it was a good gut-check win. Every team has down days. And to be able to win on those down days more often than not is a good sign, IMO.

From the BU game scoreboard alone, I’m concerned with the defense. But BU has been playing us tough for a few years now and has quite some talent. It’s not like the shameful loss to Butler those many, many years ago. I Hope to watch the replay Monday and see something different than my fellow hound fans, but we shall see. Thanks everyone for their thoughts and comments!

Still lots of lax to play. Time to circle the wagons- Let’s go Hounds!

[houndace1]

when the heck did Loyola ever play Butler???

[GreyingHound]

Ha! Butler! You must be another old-timer like me. That was back in the CAA days. The worst part about that loss to Butler (2002, I think) is that I think they dropped their lax program the next year.

No, the Hounds' season isn't over, but they didn't do themselves any favors today.

[Peter Brown]

Wow, I didnt see the game today but from the sounds of it, the Hounds season is over.



Here’s hoping this is all some knee jerk reaction to a bad outing. I personally disagree with the comments about the gt game. I thought it was a good gut-check win. Every team has down days. And to be able to win on those down days more often than not is a good sign, IMO.

From the BU game scoreboard alone, I’m concerned with the defense. But BU has been playing us tough for a few years now and has quite some talent. It’s not like the shameful loss to Butler those many, many years ago. I Hope to watch the replay Monday and see something different than my fellow hound fans, but we shall see. Thanks everyone for their thoughts and comments!

Still lots of lax to play. Time to circle the wagons- Let’s go Hounds!

The problem with ‘BU has been playing us tough the last few years’ Is we beat them last year 23-9. So from one year to the next we swung -21 goals with our squad that theoretically is better this year than last.

The Georgetown game was a disaster on two fronts: Georgetown simply ran out of time and Spencer took a step back in the second half when he simply gave the ball up to teammates (injured?) and didn’t ‘lead’. Looking at the teams walking off the field, you’d have thought Loyola lost the game. And that second half performance bled into yesterday. By the way, whose genius scheduling decision says, ‘hey let me schedule a really difficult OOC game on a Tuesday night between my two most difficult conference opponents’?! Not too swift.

Okay, on to the larger issue. If Loyola gets beaten Saturday at West Point (Very likely based on yesterdays games; 40 will control Spencer if Spencer isn’t 100%, he’s tall athletic fast and smart), Loyola has to go on the road for the Patriot tournament, a bad road team on a downward team spiral. IE: season over.

Pessimistic for a reason. I don’t mind game losses, but I do mind loss of team spirit. Saw the ‘highlights’ now. This team played dispirited yesterday. The slides on defense, the slap-happy second rate foot movement and lack of body checks, was a team in the tank. As I said, great teams aren’t regressing at this stage, they’re accelerating. Awful.