Loyola Greyhounds 2021

[TheBigIguana]

Friday should have been the Patriot League Tournament. I'd have been out of work early and headed down to Ridley (or home to my TV God forbid) for a great night out. It's a real bummer losing the season like this and also having so many careers end this abruptly. I can't wait for 2021.

[NovaHound]

Same here BigIguana. I can't wait to hear from Coach Toomey on whether some of the departing Seniors will be able to/or willing to come back for that extra year which they lost this season. I wonder if they could attend graduate school at Loyola, which offers many, if that is an option. I've heard that many Loyola lax players major in business and the Sellinger School of Business has an MBA program. Wishful thinking? I don't know. Would love to have Peter Swindell back in uniform. Having said all of that I believe 2021 Greyhounds, fingers crossed that we don't miss another season, will be a better team than the 2020. Why? Lindley, Olmstead and Kamish will be more familiar with each other and play to their strength. Young middies like Poitras and Hueston will be stronger. Defense remains the same and SSDM's take another step forward. McNulty will be back. And Shaffer should be solid in the net along with a good backup in Teitelbaum. Of course many other teams will be returning some of their Seniors (Cuse comes to mind), but Army, Navy (losing all), and Colgate and Bucknell (losing some to transfer) are hardest hit and they are in the PL.

Yeah - not being able to watch lacrosse is dragging me down on a rainy, dreary day. Feel bad for all of the students, their parents and friends, and a life interrupted by the quarantine or worse yet, a job loss. Aside from that, I count my blessings every day - I'm still healthy.

[houndace1]

If the middies can get stronger and able to beat their man to draw slides, then i see the offense fully blooming. This goes for Olmstead as well. Hes a great IQ type player but he kind of turned it over too many times. I look for that to diminish with his passing to improve

[Laxfan01]

If the middies can get stronger and able to beat their man to draw slides, then i see the offense fully blooming. This goes for Olmstead as well. Hes a great IQ type player but he kind of turned it over too many times. I look for that to diminish with his passing to improve

Agreed 100%. I think this is one of the only elements standing between us and a big run in May. Drawing slides is an issue that comes with youth, and lack of physicality. I fully predict that this issue will improve dramatically by the time 2021 comes around. I think the incoming freshman class will help as well, as there is some very nice underrated prospects coming in at Midfield, despite the defense being the strength of the class in my opinion. The rich get richer!

[laxfan#44]

Same here BigIguana. I can't wait to hear from Coach Toomey on whether some of the departing Seniors will be able to/or willing to come back for that extra year which they lost this season. I wonder if they could attend graduate school at Loyola, which offers many, if that is an option. I've heard that many Loyola lax players major in business and the Sellinger School of Business has an MBA program. Wishful thinking? I don't know. Would love to have Peter Swindell back in uniform. Having said all of that I believe 2021 Greyhounds, fingers crossed that we don't miss another season, will be a better team than the 2020. Why? Lindley, Olmstead and Kamish will be more familiar with each other and play to their strength. Young middies like Poitras and Hueston will be stronger. Defense remains the same and SSDM's take another step forward. McNulty will be back. And Shaffer should be solid in the net along with a good backup in Teitelbaum. Of course many other teams will be returning some of their Seniors (Cuse comes to mind), but Army, Navy (losing all), and Colgate and Bucknell (losing some to transfer) are hardest hit and they are in the PL.

Yeah - not being able to watch lacrosse is dragging me down on a rainy, dreary day. Feel bad for all of the students, their parents and friends, and a life interrupted by the quarantine or worse yet, a job loss. Aside from that, I count my blessings every day - I'm still healthy.


Well said...

Savio and McNulty are studs...difference makers!

The defense returns everything. Lots of depth and experience

The attack unit started every game...Lindley and Olmstead are strong and will lead in 2021...Kamish was trending up...big, fast, athlete that has great feet, showed a lot of moxie and patience as freshman...had a slow start vs UVA, but he showed he has a lot of tools as the season progressed...I think he was going to take a bigger role as a ball carrier...he has things to work on, but who doesn't...

Poitras is gonna be really really good...love his game. Hueston and James will be bigger and can take a big step...need them too. We will really miss Swindell...I know we will get some kids step up that are coming in...we will see 3-4 guys take on roles...don't forget about Bateman, Seay, and Wigley...again, gotta improve and losing Swindell hurts...if we have any unit that needs a freshman to pop and surprise...it's probably midfield

I like the makings of this team...really miss seeing the Hounds play

Good seeing guys post about the future

Stay well everyone...best wishes to all

[loyola11]

If the middies can get stronger and able to beat their man to draw slides, then i see the offense fully blooming. This goes for Olmstead as well. Hes a great IQ type player but he kind of turned it over too many times. I look for that to diminish with his passing to improve

That is funny you say that about the middies, because that is what i have been saying all along about the weakness of our middies, No one could draw the double and no one could get open for the step down. It really goes to show how much of an impact Pat Spencer was on the offense. Olmstead and Lindley just tried to do too much. They needed help. A re evaluation of the offense strategy and getting the right people in the right spots, Loyola will be a force next year.

At goalie, it will be a three man race. Luke Staudt, leftie goalie coming in next year, could be better than schaffer and tietelbaum. Competition is always good.

[kramerica.inc]

If the middies can get stronger and able to beat their man to draw slides, then i see the offense fully blooming. This goes for Olmstead as well. Hes a great IQ type player but he kind of turned it over too many times. I look for that to diminish with his passing to improve

That is funny you say that about the middies, because that is what i have been saying all along about the weakness of our middies, No one could draw the double and no one could get open for the step down. It really goes to show how much of an impact Pat Spencer was on the offense. Olmstead and Lindley just tried to do too much. They needed help. A re evaluation of the offense strategy and getting the right people in the right spots, Loyola will be a force next year.

At goalie, it will be a three man race. Luke Staudt, leftie goalie coming in next year, could be better than schaffer and tietelbaum. Competition is always good.

Competition is good.

I agree the offense can get better. Specifically in the shooting department. But we had plenty of opportunities, we just didnt finish as many as we should have. I also think we were all used to watching a Loyola offense that had Pat Spencer for the past 4 years. Guess what happens when you have Pat Spencer carrying the ball on your team? You're going to have a lot of defenders ball watching and a lot of people open for back door cuts and step down shots. Loyola's offense was not bad last year. It was what most college offenses look like that don't have a Tewaarton finalist on the roster. But it does need to get better for this team to accomplish its real goals.

[loyola11]

Rumor has it the following are coming back, 2 solid players that will be extremely helpful
Swindell
Higgens
Cox
The question will be if you have underclassman that are as good or maybe a little less, do you develop the Fresh, soph or jr or do you play the 5th year senior?

[NovaHound]

Rumor has it the following are coming back, 2 solid players that will be extremely helpful
Swindell
Higgens
Cox
The question will be if you have underclassman that are as good or maybe a little less, do you develop the Fresh, soph or jr or do you play the 5th year senior?

Play to win. Put the best players on the field. That's just me talking....

Hear the Men's locker room is getting redone this summer. It was a little dated.

Men also had #7 defense in nation. Not bad. That will even get better next year IMO.

See some chatter on LP regarding Face off rules change. If it helps Savio I'm all for it...

One last thing - got some Loyola face mask swag...see attached.

https://teams.lacrosseunlimited.com/loy ... dana-33690

[houndace1]

Rumor has it the following are coming back, 2 solid players that will be extremely helpful
Swindell
Higgens
Cox
The question will be if you have underclassman that are as good or maybe a little less, do you develop the Fresh, soph or jr or do you play the 5th year senior?

In this case, the seniors who are truly impact players like Swindell and Matt Higgins then you absolutely play them.

2020 was a youth movement where some freshmen got playing time ahead of some Sophomores/Juniors who were waiting their turn. That says to me the staff has confidence in the freshman to be playmakers for years to come.

If there are 5th year returning seniors who might need some more development in their game (Cox comes to mind for me) then you can run him with a lot of the younger guys

[laxfan#44]

The best players play and the coaches see these kids everyday in practice...all year

If they play a freshman over a sophomore or junior, they're doing it for a reason...the freshman is better

Getting Swindell back would be massive, and you play him as much as you can...having him back in the mix changes things dramatically IMO...now you have an anchor back on line 1 to draw the attention...

You have Olmstead, Kamish and Lindley back at attack

You have youth with Poitras, James and Hueston at the midfield and now if Swindell comes back, that just strengthens things...

Your leading scorers all return...Olmstead, Lindley, Swindell, Kamish and Poitras...

Add a very very good defense, all returning, and this could be good...not to mention Savio

I'm bullish on our Hounds in 21!

[houndace1]

The best players play and the coaches see these kids everyday in practice...all year

If they play a freshman over a sophomore or junior, they're doing it for a reason...the freshman is better

Getting Swindell back would be massive, and you play him as much as you can...having him back in the mix changes things dramatically IMO...now you have an anchor back on line 1 to draw the attention...

You have Olmstead, Kamish and Lindley back at attack

You have youth with Poitras, James and Hueston at the midfield and now if Swindell comes back, that just strengthens things...

Your leading scorers all return...Olmstead, Lindley, Swindell, Kamish and Poitras...

Add a very very good defense, all returning, and this could be good...not to mention Savio

I'm bullish on our Hounds in 21!

though we have the above mentioned personnel coming back - the guys should be able to increase their production next year. If everybody just adds a slight wrinkle to their game i can see the team performing greatly in 2021. Maybe they will surprise some of these super teams on the schedule like Duke, and UVA.

In other news, Riley Cox said in a small interview that he believed the 2020 team had a chance of making it all the way to memorial day weekend after a 4-2 start. Nice optimism, lets see if you can prove it next year if the rumors are true that he and some others are returning.

[AreaLax]

Tandem Tweet
@NUMensBball guard Pat Spencer for representation for his @NBA career. Prior to Northwestern, Pat played 4 seasons of lacrosse at Loyola-Maryland. In 2019, he won the @Tewaaraton Award, which is presented to the top lacrosse player in the country #TeamTandem

[kramerica.inc]

So wow. Pat Spencer almost single-handedly willed Northwestern to a win over the UMD Terps tonight.

He took it right to NBA prospect Anthony Cowan defensively. He was a load. Very physical and tough to move around. Had steals, rebounds, assists and at one point 8 straight points down the stretch to keep NW alive. If he's playing that well just ONE year into top D1 basketball, having been away from the game for 4 years, he may have an outside shot at the NBA.

I wouldn't be surprised if Pat passed up the PLL for the NBA G (Developmental) League.

I highly doubt that. Cowan is a fringe NBA prospect at best first off. Pat was great last night but he doesn't have the length to play NBA ball unless he is a lights out 3 point shooter, which he isn't. Where would he be if he had 4 years of college ball? It's hard to say for sure but the signs are he could be a good Big Ten player. But still not sure he would ever be an NBA prospect.

As much as I want to see Pat play professional basketball, i don't see even a G league contract happening. Sure he's a good player and he offensively carries a pretty bad Northwestern team, but i don't think hes good enough to warrant a G league contract due to the fact his game is one dimensional. A crossover between the legs to a hesitation, then he uses the screen to throw it back to the screener when the guy either fades or rolls. Its either that, or he drives to shoot a floating midrange. It has to expand to get looks from scouts, both NBA/G league, and international.

Easier said than done, but if he played basketball like he played lacrosse for us (physically dominate the defender, head fakes for passes to then dish an assist etc etc. ) then i think he'd truly shine. But alas, basketball is a team sport much like lacrosse but sometimes its just hard to watch the ball movement in the teams hands when Pat doesn't have it.

I still think Pat can do it. Tough to bet against the guy. His defensive motor and double downs on big guys are excellent. Guy just understands the game and sees the court well. Just gotta work on shooting the 3.

[kramerica.inc]

Rumor has it the following are coming back, 2 solid players that will be extremely helpful
Swindell
Higgens
Cox
The question will be if you have underclassman that are as good or maybe a little less, do you develop the Fresh, soph or jr or do you play the 5th year senior?

Any confirmation on these guys? Others?

[AreaLax]

Raba has transfer out.

[stupefied]

Raba has transfer out.

Headed to Wesleyan . His father has been hc there for 24 yrs

[loyolapride2015]

I heard Raba was a great kid and every time I saw him on the field good things seemed to happen. I was surprised that he was getting more time this year. After the preseason there were talks he was going to be the 3rd attackmen. I am sure he will do well at Wesleyan so good luck to him moving forward.

[kramerica.inc]

He did seem like a quality kid. But I totally understand him wanting to transfer. Imagine he grew up in and around Wesleyan lax. He’ll do well there. Good luck to him!

[laxfan#44]

From all accounts, Raba is a really good kid. The reality is that kids want to play and compete...all kids work hard at that level and if you're not seeing the field, you start evaluating your situation and other options...it's natural. As much as it's tough that a good kid is moving on, it's great he has the opportunity to go play for his dad...when the dust settles, and he gets in the fold there, that will have to be very cool for both dad and son...wish him nothing but the best!