Loyola Greyhounds 2023

[NovaHound]

I come in peace. Congratulations on your season thus far. Huge wins out of the gates should have the faithful humming.

I've not seen Loyola play much this year, which is to say, more than a few minutes of each game. Seems to be a number of old faces with a few new ones sprinkled in. What's Loyola doing this year that is leading to big wins so far? More to the point, what are the strengths of this years Greyhounds to date?

Thanks in advance. Seeing how my Knights stack up in various position groups.

Welcome! My quick assessment, others may see it differently, is: Loyola is playing excellent defense and has an unselfish, balanced offense. The defense and goaltending have been off the charts in the first two games. This is clearly the strength of the team, and is the most experienced unit. There is no weakness on the defense among the close, SSDMs, and LSMs. There are a lot of new faces on offense, including multiple freshmen who are contributing. There appear to be 3 capable midfield lines. Finally, mistakes have been limited - not many unforced turnovers, failed clears, penalties, or mental mistakes, especially against MD. The biggest weakness so far has been faceoffs, and we've struggled with the 10-man ride late in games.

Looking forward to a great game on Saturday.

Your assessment is spot on. Close D and Goalie play have been superb and the communication level is contagious out there between the poles and the SSDMs/LSMs. Sherwood and McGillicuddy have totally "Up'ed" their game and can relieve Mustang and Rezanka and you still have confidence in that Unit.

Offense is unselfish right now and I believe it will continue to improve playing 6 on 6 each game. And we're finally getting points in transition and from the X.

What's not to like right now. The season is young.

[molo]

Bruce Posner (Terp Talk) has the Hounds number one in his poll.

[Houndfan73]

Well back down to earth. Offense is challenged….nothing out of the attack.

[TheBigIguana]

Disappointing loss. The flat start to the second half cost them. Scoring 6 is going to look bad but the Rutgers goalie has been absurd. He's stolen at least 4 or 5. They're still getting the looks they'd want to get.

[Formerhound]

Well back down to earth. Offense is challenged….nothing out of the attack.

Freshmen scored 4 of 6 goals. Need guys like Higgins and Poitras to do more. Lindsay was bad. Way too many turnovers. Hounds lack a middie like Knobloch. Someone who beats a guy on the dodge and gets his hands free for a shot or a pass to a guy who is open because Knobloch drew the slide. In addition, we saw three goals from #1 on the same play. Quick pass and rip. No hesitation. Haberman had done that a couple times this year but last year Poitras and Higgins were deadly from the same spot, just on the opposite side of the field.

Team gets little from X. Lindsay is not someone who draws slides. Hope Kamish gets back in lineup as he can beat guys 1 v 1.

Need to beat a tough Towson team next week. Last years loss really stung. They had a nice win this week.

[laxbro11]

You have to crawl before you walk. We came out of the gate sprinting. Now we are back to reality.

Next up a mid week Towson... Always gives us fits. Learn and take care of the mistakes that were made

[laxbro11]

Was such a wonderful time being back on campus and seeing a game at Ridley!

As always there is such an infectious, raucous crowd that comes to every home game at Ridley and this team feeds off of all this energy

They really were determined to win and prove that last week’s win against Maryland wasn’t a fluke. The team answered the bell. That being said I have my own list of pros and cons from what I saw in the game!

Pros:
Loyolas spacing could not be more perfect in these last two games. You could drive a truck through some of these lanes that they worked and towards the bubbles that they floated to in the offensive possessions.
The willingness to out GB the opposing team is really evident in these two games as the guys are crashing headfirst into grabbing these loose balls off of turnovers and missed passes
Defense and goaltending have been wonderful in two games. It seems that there is so much trust between the poles, LSMs and short sticks which allows staudt to see shots that he can make a good save! Hopkins did hit one or two pipes yesterday but loyolas defense has done a very fine job in limiting good looks

The offensive shooting efficiency has been off the charts (literally). Many of their shots were on cage yesterday as well as last week. They’re not aiming for corners per se but they’re shooting for SPACE to blast through the goalie.They’re also changing levels on their shots which is nice to see in addition to shooting offside from the goalies dominant hand.

The willingness to give young kids playing time! So many freshman/sophomores have been making impacts. Guys like Diego Roman, Josh fairey, Will McCullough, Austin Cote, Luke Murphy, Matt minicus, Henry Habermann have contributed early on in their careers and this season. Can’t wait to see what everyone and this team can do with more chemistry and practice.


Cons:
These are more of personal nitpicking but it is very very few for me

For all the good there is, there were a couple of passes that led to turnovers- whether that was passed being dropped or the offensive guys being stripped away by the other teams long poles.

FO’s were better with Eric and Chris cottone. But I just have to wonder why sawyer Allen hasn’t gotten any reps yet?


Miscellaneous:
S/O to the guys who are unfortunately injured but they provide a ton of moral and support on the bench. Guys like Ryan Mcgorry, Jacob Sullivan Hugh Brown- I noticed all of you on the sideline really pumping up the bench with celebrations. Joey kamish was dressed and in shooting in warmups yesterday! It’s a sign he can be close to coming back soon

Finally- they didn’t show up in the box score but want to give a special shout out to Liam Bateman and Najee Taylor. Both highly touted recruits out of HS, they still work and work really hard in practice and they still get time on the field.

Bateman to me looks like he’s influencing plays, he adds subtle things to each offensive set.
Najee Taylor has been through a lot and I’m just really glad to see him get one or two runs in the 4th quarter yesterday.

Onto Rutgers!

I have to question your shout out to Bateman, he has produced nothing, 2023, I have not seen any created offense or shots in 3 games, 2022, in 14 games 1 asst and 6 shots, no production, 2021 his best season, with 7 goals and 5 asst. My assessment would be, I would be running more underclassman and giving them time. Develop the younger kids, Bateman has had his run.

Taylor, kudos for him for working through everything. I am glad he is still with the team

[TheBigIguana]

Well back down to earth. Offense is challenged….nothing out of the attack.

Freshmen scored 4 of 6 goals. Need guys like Higgins and Poitras to do more. Lindsay was bad. Way too many turnovers. Hounds lack a middie like Knobloch. Someone who beats a guy on the dodge and gets his hands free for a shot or a pass to a guy who is open because Knobloch drew the slide. In addition, we saw three goals from #1 on the same play. Quick pass and rip. No hesitation. Haberman had done that a couple times this year but last year Poitras and Higgins were deadly from the same spot, just on the opposite side of the field.

Team gets little from X. Lindsay is not someone who draws slides. Hope Kamish gets back in lineup as he can beat guys 1 v 1.

Need to beat a tough Towson team next week. Last years loss really stung. They had a nice win this week.

Lindsay only had two TOs. I wish he would try to turn the corner more often but he's doing his job. I'd prefer that to what we got at times from X in the last few years.

James, Poitras and Higgins shot 2 for 20. It won't get it done. James I trust to figure it out. Poitras I'd like to see step up some but the big one is Higgins. He's just got to shoot a better percentage. He gives you everything else as a midfielder.

Get Kamish back, move Haberman to second midfield and less Bateman who unfortunately just doesn't really bring anything. I'd also like to see them give Minicus and Haberman a bit more license to attack the long poles when the midfield isn't right on it.

[houndace1]

Well that was an exciting and physical game. Was my first away game ever in person that I went to that was out of the state of Maryland.

The 2-0 start was nice but I just had a gut feeling that this would be a very taxing game and it was.

Pros-
Luke and Eric had good games. But they can only keep a team afloat for so long.

The defense limited Rutgers as much as they can, but the offense needs some re working to get the right looks with the right matchups

Cons-

Offense couldn’t really get much going. Lindsey drew doubles but the passes to the open guys weren’t always there.
There was also a fair amount of circle passes and then they would attack with 15-20 left on the shot clock trying to force things.
The first line midfield looked gassed by the 3rd quarter when the team came out a little slow.
Higgins is the physical midfield dodger that can beat his guy but he seems to 2nd guess his decision on either to pass or shoot on the run.

Credit to Rutgers goalie, he played fantastic.

Certainly the offense could really use the punch of Heuston and Kamish to get back.

This was a winnable game, but onto wednesday tilt against towson

[kramerica.inc]

Was such a wonderful time being back on campus and seeing a game at Ridley!

As always there is such an infectious, raucous crowd that comes to every home game at Ridley and this team feeds off of all this energy

They really were determined to win and prove that last week’s win against Maryland wasn’t a fluke. The team answered the bell. That being said I have my own list of pros and cons from what I saw in the game!

Pros:
Loyolas spacing could not be more perfect in these last two games. You could drive a truck through some of these lanes that they worked and towards the bubbles that they floated to in the offensive possessions.
The willingness to out GB the opposing team is really evident in these two games as the guys are crashing headfirst into grabbing these loose balls off of turnovers and missed passes
Defense and goaltending have been wonderful in two games. It seems that there is so much trust between the poles, LSMs and short sticks which allows staudt to see shots that he can make a good save! Hopkins did hit one or two pipes yesterday but loyolas defense has done a very fine job in limiting good looks

The offensive shooting efficiency has been off the charts (literally). Many of their shots were on cage yesterday as well as last week. They’re not aiming for corners per se but they’re shooting for SPACE to blast through the goalie.They’re also changing levels on their shots which is nice to see in addition to shooting offside from the goalies dominant hand.

The willingness to give young kids playing time! So many freshman/sophomores have been making impacts. Guys like Diego Roman, Josh fairey, Will McCullough, Austin Cote, Luke Murphy, Matt minicus, Henry Habermann have contributed early on in their careers and this season. Can’t wait to see what everyone and this team can do with more chemistry and practice.


Cons:
These are more of personal nitpicking but it is very very few for me

For all the good there is, there were a couple of passes that led to turnovers- whether that was passed being dropped or the offensive guys being stripped away by the other teams long poles.

FO’s were better with Eric and Chris cottone. But I just have to wonder why sawyer Allen hasn’t gotten any reps yet?


Miscellaneous:
S/O to the guys who are unfortunately injured but they provide a ton of moral and support on the bench. Guys like Ryan Mcgorry, Jacob Sullivan Hugh Brown- I noticed all of you on the sideline really pumping up the bench with celebrations. Joey kamish was dressed and in shooting in warmups yesterday! It’s a sign he can be close to coming back soon

Finally- they didn’t show up in the box score but want to give a special shout out to Liam Bateman and Najee Taylor. Both highly touted recruits out of HS, they still work and work really hard in practice and they still get time on the field.

Bateman to me looks like he’s influencing plays, he adds subtle things to each offensive set.
Najee Taylor has been through a lot and I’m just really glad to see him get one or two runs in the 4th quarter yesterday.

Onto Rutgers!

I have to question your shout out to Bateman, he has produced nothing, 2023, I have not seen any created offense or shots in 3 games, 2022, in 14 games 1 asst and 6 shots, no production, 2021 his best season, with 7 goals and 5 asst. My assessment would be, I would be running more underclassman and giving them time. Develop the younger kids, Bateman has had his run.

Taylor, kudos for him for working through everything. I am glad he is still with the team

Your dislike of Bateman is strange. Not sure why you always go out of your way to knock a role-playing middie.

[Formerhound]

Bateman is a “role playing midfielder”? What role? Go out a few times a game and do nothing? Sorry. There was a guy on here last year who was screaming about Bateman, Seay and Wigley playing over Heuston, Binney and Mcgorry. He was right. Glad to see freshmen playing minutes. This team is going to be good for years to come with this class.

[molo]

A good team lost to a good team coming off a tough loss. Hounds will be favored against Towson but will have to work hard to win. It should be a good prep for conference play.

[1766]

A good team lost to a good team coming off a tough loss. Hounds will be favored against Towson but will have to work hard to win. It should be a good prep for conference play.

As is often the case with good college teams coming off a team they feel they dropped one to that they shouldn't have, you are going to get great effort and focus in practice that week. Loyola got the best version of the Knights to date. I have no doubt that Charlie will have Loyola very focused moving forward. Very impressed with the new faces for Loyola. They will be even better at the end of the year. Good luck the rest of way.

[laxbro11]

Was such a wonderful time being back on campus and seeing a game at Ridley!

As always there is such an infectious, raucous crowd that comes to every home game at Ridley and this team feeds off of all this energy

They really were determined to win and prove that last week’s win against Maryland wasn’t a fluke. The team answered the bell. That being said I have my own list of pros and cons from what I saw in the game!

Pros:
Loyolas spacing could not be more perfect in these last two games. You could drive a truck through some of these lanes that they worked and towards the bubbles that they floated to in the offensive possessions.
The willingness to out GB the opposing team is really evident in these two games as the guys are crashing headfirst into grabbing these loose balls off of turnovers and missed passes
Defense and goaltending have been wonderful in two games. It seems that there is so much trust between the poles, LSMs and short sticks which allows staudt to see shots that he can make a good save! Hopkins did hit one or two pipes yesterday but loyolas defense has done a very fine job in limiting good looks

The offensive shooting efficiency has been off the charts (literally). Many of their shots were on cage yesterday as well as last week. They’re not aiming for corners per se but they’re shooting for SPACE to blast through the goalie.They’re also changing levels on their shots which is nice to see in addition to shooting offside from the goalies dominant hand.

The willingness to give young kids playing time! So many freshman/sophomores have been making impacts. Guys like Diego Roman, Josh fairey, Will McCullough, Austin Cote, Luke Murphy, Matt minicus, Henry Habermann have contributed early on in their careers and this season. Can’t wait to see what everyone and this team can do with more chemistry and practice.


Cons:
These are more of personal nitpicking but it is very very few for me

For all the good there is, there were a couple of passes that led to turnovers- whether that was passed being dropped or the offensive guys being stripped away by the other teams long poles.

FO’s were better with Eric and Chris cottone. But I just have to wonder why sawyer Allen hasn’t gotten any reps yet?


Miscellaneous:
S/O to the guys who are unfortunately injured but they provide a ton of moral and support on the bench. Guys like Ryan Mcgorry, Jacob Sullivan Hugh Brown- I noticed all of you on the sideline really pumping up the bench with celebrations. Joey kamish was dressed and in shooting in warmups yesterday! It’s a sign he can be close to coming back soon

Finally- they didn’t show up in the box score but want to give a special shout out to Liam Bateman and Najee Taylor. Both highly touted recruits out of HS, they still work and work really hard in practice and they still get time on the field.

Bateman to me looks like he’s influencing plays, he adds subtle things to each offensive set.
Najee Taylor has been through a lot and I’m just really glad to see him get one or two runs in the 4th quarter yesterday.

Onto Rutgers!

I have to question your shout out to Bateman, he has produced nothing, 2023, I have not seen any created offense or shots in 3 games, 2022, in 14 games 1 asst and 6 shots, no production, 2021 his best season, with 7 goals and 5 asst. My assessment would be, I would be running more underclassman and giving them time. Develop the younger kids, Bateman has had his run.

Taylor, kudos for him for working through everything. I am glad he is still with the team

Your dislike of Bateman is strange. Not sure why you always go out of your way to knock a role-playing middie.

take the name away and look at the productivity. There is nothing. Role playing? what is the role? Serious question. Is it to Catch the ball and run down the alley. Is he a crease middie? a shooter? A wing dodger? I would hope that first or second line middies will dodge north south, make the defense move and create offense. I have not seen this in four years. That is all I am saying, and if a underclassman can do the same, develop players

[laxbro11]

A good team lost to a good team coming off a tough loss. Hounds will be favored against Towson but will have to work hard to win. It should be a good prep for conference play.

Towson a blue collar team that are not afraid of Loyola, since 2018 it is a 2-2 series. With a great show by Towson in 2019 shutting down Pat Spencer/

They will have to have their A game and cannot take them lightly

[Houndfan73]

A good team lost to a good team coming off a tough loss. Hounds will be favored against Towson but will have to work hard to win. It should be a good prep for conference play.

Towson a blue collar team that are not afraid of Loyola, since 2018 it is a 2-2 series. With a great show by Towson in 2019 shutting down Pat Spencer/

They will have to have their A game and cannot take them lightly

Lost a road game to a good team Saturday. Defense was good and the goaltending was very good. Still a great start to the year. Need a strong effort Wednesday against Towson. The Hounds were out hustled last year in a bad loss to the Tigers. Hope our offense can rebound. A win against Towson then LaFayette and we’d travel down to Duke with a 4-1 start. That would exceed most expectations

[houndace1]

The defense can hold its weight with Luke as the goalie. My question is- what does the offense need to do to rebound after Rutgers? It looked like shades of the offenses being run in 2021 and 2022 against the knights on Saturday. I hope kamish and heuston can come back soon as they provide a punch

[Exlaxbro]

Is McGorry out for the season? Anyone else out who may come back?

[Formerhound]

Is McGorry out for the season? Anyone else out who may come back?

Yes. Was told knee injury and surgery. Not sure if ACL or not. Sullivan also out for year with ACL. Heuston to come back soon.

[Exlaxbro]

Wow. I hope they get medical redshirts. McGorry is an old sophomore as it is but having an extra year could be good for the future.