Loyola Greyhounds 2022

[Peter Brown]

PB what? This was a tough game to lose, they had a good first half but imploded in the 2nd

Team is now 3-5 and currently 4th in the patriot league.

Have to play consistently well across all quarters now

It ain’t over til it’s over. We will need to win the PL tournament.

But we can’t have our stars going 0 for 9 or 1 for 11. Puts the team in a deep hole.

[laxbro11]

What a debacle today. We can’t put steam away. Army saw our weakness and exploited our d middies. 23. 49. Awful games. I see no reason for 20 and 49 to be on the field

Great game by Shaffer and savio.

Elite coaching staff was out coached again in the second half

[Laxfan01]

What a debacle today. We can’t put steam away. Army saw our weakness and exploited our d middies. 23. 49. Awful games. I see no reason for 20 and 49 to be on the field

Great game by Shaffer and savio.

Elite coaching staff was out coached again in the second half

Well probably like every other D1 lacrosse program, because we don’t have unlimited depth. Sally has gotten beaten probably less than 5 times the last 3+ games, and when he has one meh game we’re ready to cut him. 49 has improved tremendously since last season and has also done pretty well overall. The last 2 pages love to talk about bad goalie play, but against Towson, Rutgers, and now Army Sam and co. have exceeded/been right near 50%, yet the hounds are 0-3 in those games. The days of goalies sitting at 60% are over folks. If you’ve noticed, the 2 goalies sitting in the top 2 of save percentage attend St Bonaventure and Dartmouth. Nothing at all against those kids because they are certainly legit, but the difference in competition is noticeable. This loss is more about a great performance by the black knights, rather than it being the end of the world for the hounds. They are very well coached and did a great job putting us in a tough position behind the goal defensively. This board needs to realize that despite playing the toughest out of conference schedule in the country, this team has won 3 out their last 4 (arguably could be 4-0) and roll up to holy cross next week. Don’t think it would be a bad idea to continue to have faith in the coaches/players, and we as fans/parents/alumni do our best to be supportive and not throw out laughable comments that go against reality.

[kramerica.inc]

Rezanka is an AA-quality ssdm. One of the best in the game. Of course the other guys will be targeted by others game-plan wise and look relatively green in comparison. Those other guys have gotten better imo. Let’s remember that we have played one of the toughest schedules around and aside from UMD, no one has walked over the hounds. 4 of our losses have come by just 7 points total. Im still a firm believer that this team has the pieces and experience it needs to make this a special season. Lots of lacrosse left to play. Go hounds!

[Laxmaninamillion]

All of our offense comes from top six. Next group does nothing. Need changes.

[Exlaxbro]

I agree with the SSDM dialog but to me the missing talk is how hobbled Wyers is right now. Tip the cap to Army coaches for seeing that his lateral movement is not what it was when healthy and they created a two man putting the SSDM often in a rough spot. Wyers is a stud when healthy but he is hurting the team right now. I hope Charley rests him next week so he can be ready for the stretch run this team needs.

[Loyolalax]

Ssdms have been a oroblem all year. Rzanka and sally are the exception. Sally just had a terrribke game. Benus, Sherwood, and macgillicuddy are a liability. And army exploited it. One play stands out is how Mac got beat when we were man up and I belie it was Sherwood that did not help out.

Rules for d mids. Never get beat to the middle. It happens regularly with those three. We slide. Dink and dunk goal

Rest Wyers. Yes we need to. But we can’t take holy cross lightly. We barely beat Lafayette

[Laxmaninamillion]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

[GreyingHound]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

[Loyolalax]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

[GreyingHound]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

[Laxmaninamillion]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

I’m surprised because last years team had young guys playing more minutes than this year. This year’s team is all veterans. ALL VETERANS. Last year Poitras and Higgins were freshmen. Kamish was hurt. James was hurt. Yet they were one GB from final four. Other than Wyers being a bit banged up we’ve had zero games lost to starters. Zero. Logically this team should be better than last years team. They are not.

[laxbro11]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

I’m surprised because last years team had young guys playing more minutes than this year. This year’s team is all veterans. ALL VETERANS. Last year Poitras and Higgins were freshmen. Kamish was hurt. James was hurt. Yet they were one GB from final four. Other than Wyers being a bit banged up we’ve had zero games lost to starters. Zero. Logically this team should be better than last years team. They are not.

I think with the Ivies, that there is no possible way for Loyola to make it to the playoffs without winning PL.

Loyola is under performing, Olmstead 1-11 shooting, as a team 24%. 50 shots and only 10 goals. EMO was a mess again 2 minute unleasable, should have been 1-2 goals, instead +1 for Army.

Motion offense first half, dodge and pop second half

No adjustment at half time, no adjustment after third.

No easy game left

[GreyingHound]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

I’m surprised because last years team had young guys playing more minutes than this year. This year’s team is all veterans. ALL VETERANS. Last year Poitras and Higgins were freshmen. Kamish was hurt. James was hurt. Yet they were one GB from final four. Other than Wyers being a bit banged up we’ve had zero games lost to starters. Zero. Logically this team should be better than last years team. They are not.

I could not disagree more. Three points:

1. This is not the same team as last year. Matt Higgins was by far our best SSDM and Peter Swindell was our best outside shooter. We lost both to graduation. They were difference makers.
2. We are playing a more difficult schedule this year. We replaced UVA, Richmond, and Utah with UMD, Rutgers, and Hopkins, and also added Duke. Take a look at what UMD did to UVA last week, and today Rutgers destroyed #8 Ohio State 18-7.
3. Even if we had the same roster and played the same schedule, there are so many elements that factor into wins/losses and the story line of a season that it's not reasonable to expect the same results. We like to talk about how we were one GB away from the final four last year, but what about the fact that we were 1 goal away from losing to Army in the PL semis, or one Shafer save away from losing to Denver in the NCAA first round? If a couple small things had played out slightly differently last year, we could have fallen far short of the NCAA quarterfinals. The same applies to this season. A few more saves here and there, or better shot placement in a few cases, and we could be sitting at 6-2. The fact is: this year's results just aren't that different from last year's.

Now that we're celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our 2012 National Championship, I look back at how many things had to go exactly right for that team to win it all. We played some close games, including OT. A few slightly different results - a save here or a GB there, and the outcome could have been different. The next year, in 2013, we had nearly the exact same team, minus Lusby, Layne, and Grimm, and the outcome was quite different. A lot of things have to conspire to enable success. The players aren't robots, so the results aren't the same every time they take the field.

[Loyolalaxgrad]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

I’m surprised because last years team had young guys playing more minutes than this year. This year’s team is all veterans. ALL VETERANS. Last year Poitras and Higgins were freshmen. Kamish was hurt. James was hurt. Yet they were one GB from final four. Other than Wyers being a bit banged up we’ve had zero games lost to starters. Zero. Logically this team should be better than last years team. They are not.

I could not disagree more. Three points:

1. This is not the same team as last year. Matt Higgins was by far our best SSDM and Peter Swindell was our best outside shooter. We lost both to graduation. They were difference makers.
2. We are playing a more difficult schedule this year. We replaced UVA, Richmond, and Utah with UMD, Rutgers, and Hopkins, and also added Duke. Take a look at what UMD did to UVA last week, and today Rutgers destroyed #8 Ohio State 18-7.
3. Even if we had the same roster and played the same schedule, there are so many elements that factor into wins/losses and the story line of a season that it's not reasonable to expect the same results. We like to talk about how we were one GB away from the final four last year, but what about the fact that we were 1 goal away from losing to Army in the PL semis, or one Shafer save away from losing to Denver in the NCAA first round? If a couple small things had played out slightly differently last year, we could have fallen far short of the NCAA quarterfinals. The same applies to this season. A few more saves here and there, or better shot placement in a few cases, and we could be sitting at 6-2. The fact is: this year's results just aren't that different from last year's.

Now that we're celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our 2012 National Championship, I look back at how many things had to go exactly right for that team to win it all. We played some close games, including OT. A few slightly different results - a save here or a GB there, and the outcome could have been different. The next year, in 2013, we had nearly the exact same team, minus Lusby, Layne, and Grimm, and the outcome was quite different. A lot of things have to conspire to enable success. The players aren't robots, so the results aren't the same every time they take the field.

I am recent Loyola grad that has played for Coach Toomey. I know some of the players and are still in contact with them. I have read these comments, while some are true, there are alot of misconceptions. And I can tell you there are some issues with the team and how the season is going. I know that some will say I am airing dirty laundry, but what is being said is mostly speculation with no fact basis,

Offense. We are a terrible shooting team. We have players that have played for 5 years and are not showing that experience and leadership. Olmstead leads the team with turnovers, Our team shooting percentage is 26%, 1-11 against Army for Olmstead. Lindley has struggled also. Others that are struggling, Poitras 26%, Lindsay 12%, Wigley 9%, these are our starters. Our offense needs initiators and creators from the Middies. I would say Kamish and Evans are the only ones that I have seen that can. I would add in Seay and Bateman, but for some reason, they have been benched. Lindsay and Binney seem to get all the talk, but they have not done much in 8 games. Binney has a great step down, but that is about it. We need to run a motion offense to get players open. Second half of Army, we dodged , while 5 guys watched, there were no off ball movement.

Defense. Agree, Wyers is hobbled. But he is still our best defender. It would be great to rest him, but who do you put in? James is injured, Is it VanderHueval, he has had very limited play time. Rezanka and Mcnulty are beasts and are playing extremely well. Sally, still making fundamental errors that are leading to goals, against Army was beat to the middle multiple times that led to goals. Need to play your best in big time games. Sherwood and Mcgillicuddy are a liability. The funniest line was the Mcgillicuddy is getting better, so what they are saying is that he is not giving up as many goals as he did in the beginning, and that is considered an improvement. SSDM is the toughest position on the field, but you cannot give up easy goals, dont let them get to the middle and that is what sherwood and Mcgillicuddy do routinely. In regards to Benus, his time has come and gone, his missing of fall ball hurt him and leaves him trying to get in shape to paly

Fogo and Goalie, Shafer and Savio keep doing what you do

Overall, There are problems in the locker room. Players do not trust each other or feel that are noting getting a fair chance. They see the same mistakes being made in practice and in games and there is no changes. It seems them that play time is based on last name and who you know. It may not be true, but perception is reality. Remember when we sat Shafer last year for a game? He came back and played like an all american, because he new he was on a short leash. Why not do that to an Olmstead, Sherwood, Lindsay etc. Maybe you will find someone that can do it better, kind of like when they sat Drew Bledsoe and started a young Tom Brady. From what I hear is that these players make the same mistakes in practice that they do in games. Time to see what others can do, there are younger and even older players that would love to have an opportunity to screw up in a game like the above players mentioned.

The excuses that we only lost by one goal or this is a tough ocs, yes it is. Prior to last year we played Duke, Rutgers, UVA, Hopkins Georgetown and towson. The only change this year is Maryland for UVA. Our loses to Hopkins, Townson, Rutgers and Army, if we increased our shooting percentage 5% to 27%, which is still incredibly low, we win those games, We should be 7-1

What happened to the team I saw scrimmage Villanova last fall? Crisp ball movement, great defense, where has that team gone.

It is time for Coach Toomey to right the ship, it is time to make some changes and with changes comes risk, but we cannot keep doing what we aer doing.
I think some of the Loyola faithful will have their eyes opened after the season, there is talk of players entering the portal and transfering. But that discussion is for another time

[Laxmaninamillion]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

I’m surprised because last years team had young guys playing more minutes than this year. This year’s team is all veterans. ALL VETERANS. Last year Poitras and Higgins were freshmen. Kamish was hurt. James was hurt. Yet they were one GB from final four. Other than Wyers being a bit banged up we’ve had zero games lost to starters. Zero. Logically this team should be better than last years team. They are not.

I could not disagree more. Three points:

1. This is not the same team as last year. Matt Higgins was by far our best SSDM and Peter Swindell was our best outside shooter. We lost both to graduation. They were difference makers.
2. We are playing a more difficult schedule this year. We replaced UVA, Richmond, and Utah with UMD, Rutgers, and Hopkins, and also added Duke. Take a look at what UMD did to UVA last week, and today Rutgers destroyed #8 Ohio State 18-7.
3. Even if we had the same roster and played the same schedule, there are so many elements that factor into wins/losses and the story line of a season that it's not reasonable to expect the same results. We like to talk about how we were one GB away from the final four last year, but what about the fact that we were 1 goal away from losing to Army in the PL semis, or one Shafer save away from losing to Denver in the NCAA first round? If a couple small things had played out slightly differently last year, we could have fallen far short of the NCAA quarterfinals. The same applies to this season. A few more saves here and there, or better shot placement in a few cases, and we could be sitting at 6-2. The fact is: this year's results just aren't that different from last year's.

Now that we're celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our 2012 National Championship, I look back at how many things had to go exactly right for that team to win it all. We played some close games, including OT. A few slightly different results - a save here or a GB there, and the outcome could have been different. The next year, in 2013, we had nearly the exact same team, minus Lusby, Layne, and Grimm, and the outcome was quite different. A lot of things have to conspire to enable success. The players aren't robots, so the results aren't the same every time they take the field.

I am recent Loyola grad that has played for Coach Toomey. I know some of the players and are still in contact with them. I have read these comments, while some are true, there are alot of misconceptions. And I can tell you there are some issues with the team and how the season is going. I know that some will say I am airing dirty laundry, but what is being said is mostly speculation with no fact basis,

Offense. We are a terrible shooting team. We have players that have played for 5 years and are not showing that experience and leadership. Olmstead leads the team with turnovers, Our team shooting percentage is 26%, 1-11 against Army for Olmstead. Lindley has struggled also. Others that are struggling, Poitras 26%, Lindsay 12%, Wigley 9%, these are our starters. Our offense needs initiators and creators from the Middies. I would say Kamish and Evans are the only ones that I have seen that can. I would add in Seay and Bateman, but for some reason, they have been benched. Lindsay and Binney seem to get all the talk, but they have not done much in 8 games. Binney has a great step down, but that is about it. We need to run a motion offense to get players open. Second half of Army, we dodged , while 5 guys watched, there were no off ball movement.

Defense. Agree, Wyers is hobbled. But he is still our best defender. It would be great to rest him, but who do you put in? James is injured, Is it VanderHueval, he has had very limited play time. Rezanka and Mcnulty are beasts and are playing extremely well. Sally, still making fundamental errors that are leading to goals, against Army was beat to the middle multiple times that led to goals. Need to play your best in big time games. Sherwood and Mcgillicuddy are a liability. The funniest line was the Mcgillicuddy is getting better, so what they are saying is that he is not giving up as many goals as he did in the beginning, and that is considered an improvement. SSDM is the toughest position on the field, but you cannot give up easy goals, dont let them get to the middle and that is what sherwood and Mcgillicuddy do routinely. In regards to Benus, his time has come and gone, his missing of fall ball hurt him and leaves him trying to get in shape to paly

Fogo and Goalie, Shafer and Savio keep doing what you do

Overall, There are problems in the locker room. Players do not trust each other or feel that are noting getting a fair chance. They see the same mistakes being made in practice and in games and there is no changes. It seems them that play time is based on last name and who you know. It may not be true, but perception is reality. Remember when we sat Shafer last year for a game? He came back and played like an all american, because he new he was on a short leash. Why not do that to an Olmstead, Sherwood, Lindsay etc. Maybe you will find someone that can do it better, kind of like when they sat Drew Bledsoe and started a young Tom Brady. From what I hear is that these players make the same mistakes in practice that they do in games. Time to see what others can do, there are younger and even older players that would love to have an opportunity to screw up in a game like the above players mentioned.

The excuses that we only lost by one goal or this is a tough ocs, yes it is. Prior to last year we played Duke, Rutgers, UVA, Hopkins Georgetown and towson. The only change this year is Maryland for UVA. Our loses to Hopkins, Townson, Rutgers and Army, if we increased our shooting percentage 5% to 27%, which is still incredibly low, we win those games, We should be 7-1

What happened to the team I saw scrimmage Villanova last fall? Crisp ball movement, great defense, where has that team gone.

It is time for Coach Toomey to right the ship, it is time to make some changes and with changes comes risk, but we cannot keep doing what we aer doing.
I think some of the Loyola faithful will have their eyes opened after the season, there is talk of players entering the portal and transfering. But that discussion is for another time

Great post about the locker room. My kid talks to boys on the team And that is exactly what he says they are saying. There is frustration. Seniors who don’t play and freshmen that don’t play are watching the same guys make the same mistakes game after game. Seay and Bateman were guys that were supposed to be veteran help. They haven’t played in weeks. We have a couple highly rated freshmen who haven’t gotten a sniff. You can’t convince me it’s because these kids aren’t working hard in practice because it’s every freshman and almost every non starter who never sees the field.
Time to see what some of these kids can do before season ends

[kramerica.inc]

All good and great. But being a recent grad or current dad, you still aren't at practices.

Tough to give new guys a shot when they don't produce consistently in practice. And the guys who are next in line, or NOT playing will always tell you they deserve a shot. Whether they do, or not. Flashes don't earn shots in games, consistency does.

If these young kids get a chance and lose us more games, do you take blame for the decision, or just disappear (as fast as you registered here) never to be heard from again?

[Comeonman]

The days of goalies sitting at 60% are over folks. If you’ve noticed, the 2 goalies sitting in the top 2 of save percentage attend St Bonaventure and Dartmouth. Nothing at all against those kids because they are certainly legit, but the difference in competition is noticeable.

You forgot about the returning national goalie of the year, currently #2 in the country at .629, who plays for the team currently ranked #3. Let's see if McElroy can hold it at .600 by the time the Hounds play the Hoyas in three weeks.

[Peter Brown]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

I’m surprised because last years team had young guys playing more minutes than this year. This year’s team is all veterans. ALL VETERANS. Last year Poitras and Higgins were freshmen. Kamish was hurt. James was hurt. Yet they were one GB from final four. Other than Wyers being a bit banged up we’ve had zero games lost to starters. Zero. Logically this team should be better than last years team. They are not.

I could not disagree more. Three points:

1. This is not the same team as last year. Matt Higgins was by far our best SSDM and Peter Swindell was our best outside shooter. We lost both to graduation. They were difference makers.
2. We are playing a more difficult schedule this year. We replaced UVA, Richmond, and Utah with UMD, Rutgers, and Hopkins, and also added Duke. Take a look at what UMD did to UVA last week, and today Rutgers destroyed #8 Ohio State 18-7.
3. Even if we had the same roster and played the same schedule, there are so many elements that factor into wins/losses and the story line of a season that it's not reasonable to expect the same results. We like to talk about how we were one GB away from the final four last year, but what about the fact that we were 1 goal away from losing to Army in the PL semis, or one Shafer save away from losing to Denver in the NCAA first round? If a couple small things had played out slightly differently last year, we could have fallen far short of the NCAA quarterfinals. The same applies to this season. A few more saves here and there, or better shot placement in a few cases, and we could be sitting at 6-2. The fact is: this year's results just aren't that different from last year's.

Now that we're celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our 2012 National Championship, I look back at how many things had to go exactly right for that team to win it all. We played some close games, including OT. A few slightly different results - a save here or a GB there, and the outcome could have been different. The next year, in 2013, we had nearly the exact same team, minus Lusby, Layne, and Grimm, and the outcome was quite different. A lot of things have to conspire to enable success. The players aren't robots, so the results aren't the same every time they take the field.

I am recent Loyola grad that has played for Coach Toomey. I know some of the players and are still in contact with them. I have read these comments, while some are true, there are alot of misconceptions. And I can tell you there are some issues with the team and how the season is going. I know that some will say I am airing dirty laundry, but what is being said is mostly speculation with no fact basis,

Offense. We are a terrible shooting team. We have players that have played for 5 years and are not showing that experience and leadership. Olmstead leads the team with turnovers, Our team shooting percentage is 26%, 1-11 against Army for Olmstead. Lindley has struggled also. Others that are struggling, Poitras 26%, Lindsay 12%, Wigley 9%, these are our starters. Our offense needs initiators and creators from the Middies. I would say Kamish and Evans are the only ones that I have seen that can. I would add in Seay and Bateman, but for some reason, they have been benched. Lindsay and Binney seem to get all the talk, but they have not done much in 8 games. Binney has a great step down, but that is about it. We need to run a motion offense to get players open. Second half of Army, we dodged , while 5 guys watched, there were no off ball movement.

Defense. Agree, Wyers is hobbled. But he is still our best defender. It would be great to rest him, but who do you put in? James is injured, Is it VanderHueval, he has had very limited play time. Rezanka and Mcnulty are beasts and are playing extremely well. Sally, still making fundamental errors that are leading to goals, against Army was beat to the middle multiple times that led to goals. Need to play your best in big time games. Sherwood and Mcgillicuddy are a liability. The funniest line was the Mcgillicuddy is getting better, so what they are saying is that he is not giving up as many goals as he did in the beginning, and that is considered an improvement. SSDM is the toughest position on the field, but you cannot give up easy goals, dont let them get to the middle and that is what sherwood and Mcgillicuddy do routinely. In regards to Benus, his time has come and gone, his missing of fall ball hurt him and leaves him trying to get in shape to paly

Fogo and Goalie, Shafer and Savio keep doing what you do

Overall, There are problems in the locker room. Players do not trust each other or feel that are noting getting a fair chance. They see the same mistakes being made in practice and in games and there is no changes. It seems them that play time is based on last name and who you know. It may not be true, but perception is reality. Remember when we sat Shafer last year for a game? He came back and played like an all american, because he new he was on a short leash. Why not do that to an Olmstead, Sherwood, Lindsay etc. Maybe you will find someone that can do it better, kind of like when they sat Drew Bledsoe and started a young Tom Brady. From what I hear is that these players make the same mistakes in practice that they do in games. Time to see what others can do, there are younger and even older players that would love to have an opportunity to screw up in a game like the above players mentioned.

The excuses that we only lost by one goal or this is a tough ocs, yes it is. Prior to last year we played Duke, Rutgers, UVA, Hopkins Georgetown and towson. The only change this year is Maryland for UVA. Our loses to Hopkins, Townson, Rutgers and Army, if we increased our shooting percentage 5% to 27%, which is still incredibly low, we win those games, We should be 7-1

What happened to the team I saw scrimmage Villanova last fall? Crisp ball movement, great defense, where has that team gone.

It is time for Coach Toomey to right the ship, it is time to make some changes and with changes comes risk, but we cannot keep doing what we aer doing.
I think some of the Loyola faithful will have their eyes opened after the season, there is talk of players entering the portal and transfering. But that discussion is for another time

Interesting post. I like most of it, but….

I’m having some hesitation believing you played for the Hounds because while mentioning ‘middies who can initiate’, you didn’t mention the one kid who consistently does, Higgins. Maybe you simply forgot? And that’s no knock on Kamish and Evan’s, who are also capable, it’s just that if you’re an objective observer here, you can’t overlook the one kid who consistently beats his man.

The focus on shooting is dead on. We haven’t admirably put the ball past an opposing goalie, which more often than not means our offensive sets aren’t getting our shooters in spots where they are best capable of scoring. That’s on a coach IMO.

[Loyolalaxgrad]

Just shocked at this season. One turnover from a final four last year and bringing back 9 of 11 starters and a pre season #6 or 7 ranking to this??? Just boggles my mind. What is so depressing is the young guys (Higgins, James and Kamish) are producing like expected or better. These three will, along with Poitras, be the backbone of the team the next year or two. Just can’t figure out what has happened to our defense. Way too many easy step down shots. Way too many easy goals. The fact is that they all were better last year. Olmsted and Lindley were better last year also. Just not sure where they go from here. Every game except MD they were winning early and then give up a ton of goals in second half. Even in their wins they looked bad in second half. Does playing only 7 guys on offense the whole game cause them
To be tired? Something needs to be done to salvage season. Maybe it’s time for some of the young recruits to see some time to see if they’ve got what it takes

I think you need to take another look at last season. There is nothing mind boggling going on whatsoever. Last year, we lost to UVA, Lehigh, Towson Army, and Navy, with wins over Richmond, Utah, Lafayette, and Bucknell. How can you say this year is so much different? What happened last year after a rough start is that we found a way to win close games. It's not fair to remember that we were one possession away from the final four, but not remember that we started the season 5-5 against a weaker schedule than this year's.

No comparison when it comes to season. There were no Ivies last year. No patriot league championship. No play offs.

What we are seeing is no leadership by our 5 th yrs. And the same mistakes every game

The comparison was Loyola last season to Loyola this season. Ivies have nothing to do with it.

My point is what we're seeing from Loyola at this point in the season is very similar to what we saw from Loyola at this point last season, so I don't understand why people are surprised.

I’m surprised because last years team had young guys playing more minutes than this year. This year’s team is all veterans. ALL VETERANS. Last year Poitras and Higgins were freshmen. Kamish was hurt. James was hurt. Yet they were one GB from final four. Other than Wyers being a bit banged up we’ve had zero games lost to starters. Zero. Logically this team should be better than last years team. They are not.

I could not disagree more. Three points:

1. This is not the same team as last year. Matt Higgins was by far our best SSDM and Peter Swindell was our best outside shooter. We lost both to graduation. They were difference makers.
2. We are playing a more difficult schedule this year. We replaced UVA, Richmond, and Utah with UMD, Rutgers, and Hopkins, and also added Duke. Take a look at what UMD did to UVA last week, and today Rutgers destroyed #8 Ohio State 18-7.
3. Even if we had the same roster and played the same schedule, there are so many elements that factor into wins/losses and the story line of a season that it's not reasonable to expect the same results. We like to talk about how we were one GB away from the final four last year, but what about the fact that we were 1 goal away from losing to Army in the PL semis, or one Shafer save away from losing to Denver in the NCAA first round? If a couple small things had played out slightly differently last year, we could have fallen far short of the NCAA quarterfinals. The same applies to this season. A few more saves here and there, or better shot placement in a few cases, and we could be sitting at 6-2. The fact is: this year's results just aren't that different from last year's.

Now that we're celebrating the 10-year anniversary of our 2012 National Championship, I look back at how many things had to go exactly right for that team to win it all. We played some close games, including OT. A few slightly different results - a save here or a GB there, and the outcome could have been different. The next year, in 2013, we had nearly the exact same team, minus Lusby, Layne, and Grimm, and the outcome was quite different. A lot of things have to conspire to enable success. The players aren't robots, so the results aren't the same every time they take the field.

I am recent Loyola grad that has played for Coach Toomey. I know some of the players and are still in contact with them. I have read these comments, while some are true, there are alot of misconceptions. And I can tell you there are some issues with the team and how the season is going. I know that some will say I am airing dirty laundry, but what is being said is mostly speculation with no fact basis,

Offense. We are a terrible shooting team. We have players that have played for 5 years and are not showing that experience and leadership. Olmstead leads the team with turnovers, Our team shooting percentage is 26%, 1-11 against Army for Olmstead. Lindley has struggled also. Others that are struggling, Poitras 26%, Lindsay 12%, Wigley 9%, these are our starters. Our offense needs initiators and creators from the Middies. I would say Kamish and Evans are the only ones that I have seen that can. I would add in Seay and Bateman, but for some reason, they have been benched. Lindsay and Binney seem to get all the talk, but they have not done much in 8 games. Binney has a great step down, but that is about it. We need to run a motion offense to get players open. Second half of Army, we dodged , while 5 guys watched, there were no off ball movement.

Defense. Agree, Wyers is hobbled. But he is still our best defender. It would be great to rest him, but who do you put in? James is injured, Is it VanderHueval, he has had very limited play time. Rezanka and Mcnulty are beasts and are playing extremely well. Sally, still making fundamental errors that are leading to goals, against Army was beat to the middle multiple times that led to goals. Need to play your best in big time games. Sherwood and Mcgillicuddy are a liability. The funniest line was the Mcgillicuddy is getting better, so what they are saying is that he is not giving up as many goals as he did in the beginning, and that is considered an improvement. SSDM is the toughest position on the field, but you cannot give up easy goals, dont let them get to the middle and that is what sherwood and Mcgillicuddy do routinely. In regards to Benus, his time has come and gone, his missing of fall ball hurt him and leaves him trying to get in shape to paly

Fogo and Goalie, Shafer and Savio keep doing what you do

Overall, There are problems in the locker room. Players do not trust each other or feel that are noting getting a fair chance. They see the same mistakes being made in practice and in games and there is no changes. It seems them that play time is based on last name and who you know. It may not be true, but perception is reality. Remember when we sat Shafer last year for a game? He came back and played like an all american, because he new he was on a short leash. Why not do that to an Olmstead, Sherwood, Lindsay etc. Maybe you will find someone that can do it better, kind of like when they sat Drew Bledsoe and started a young Tom Brady. From what I hear is that these players make the same mistakes in practice that they do in games. Time to see what others can do, there are younger and even older players that would love to have an opportunity to screw up in a game like the above players mentioned.

The excuses that we only lost by one goal or this is a tough ocs, yes it is. Prior to last year we played Duke, Rutgers, UVA, Hopkins Georgetown and towson. The only change this year is Maryland for UVA. Our loses to Hopkins, Townson, Rutgers and Army, if we increased our shooting percentage 5% to 27%, which is still incredibly low, we win those games, We should be 7-1

What happened to the team I saw scrimmage Villanova last fall? Crisp ball movement, great defense, where has that team gone.

It is time for Coach Toomey to right the ship, it is time to make some changes and with changes comes risk, but we cannot keep doing what we aer doing.
I think some of the Loyola faithful will have their eyes opened after the season, there is talk of players entering the portal and transfering. But that discussion is for another time

Interesting post. I like most of it, but….

I’m having some hesitation believing you played for the Hounds because while mentioning ‘middies who can initiate’, you didn’t mention the one kid who consistently does, Higgins. Maybe you simply forgot? And that’s no Knick on Kamish and Evan’s, who are also capable, it’s just that if you’re an objective observer here, you can’t overlook the one kid who consistently beats his man.

I did overlook Higgins, He is another one that is producing, my apologies. I agree Kamish and Evans, Seay and Bateman are capable also