LaxPower Back-Up Stick

The Hounds have nothing to be ashamed of after today's outing against a very talented Rutgers team. Very similar game flow to last week's loss to Hopkins, with the Hounds taking an early lead, lots of ties and lead changes, a larger lead late in the game (11-8 in the 3rd quarter in this case), and then a comeback by the opponent. We were in this one from start to finish.

I have attended all three games this season and cannot emphasize enough how much the play has improved week to week. I'm confident we will make a strong showing in PL play.

Huge crowd at Ridley today. It was great to see so many fans in the stands in February!

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 5:17 pm Why wasn't Shafer starting?

I felt the same way last week.

Sam had a great 2nd half today.

Good game Loyola and what a great atmosphere you have! That was a big time lacrosse game. While I am sure you would have liked to see a different result, this was a great win for Rutgers. I was very impressed with the play of Loyola. All of the areas that you needed to see improve, did. Perhaps your goalie play, while better, was the one area you would have liked to see a bit more from. Shafer coming in late was a rock. Having seen all of your games, there is no question that you are trending in the right direction. I wouldn't want to see the Greyhounds again because of it.

Army seems to be a trendy PL pick but from what I saw today, Loyola would have to be considered the front runner. That's a talented team you have. All the best the rest of the season.

GreyingHound wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 5:33 pm

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 5:17 pm Why wasn't Shafer starting?

I felt the same way last week.

Sam had a great 2nd half today.

was it just the 4th Q?

Looks like that in the box score...15 minutes, 6 saves 1 GA

The goalie thing makes no sense to me. Shafer's been great his whole career, was amazing down the stretch during Loyola's best play last year, and one game against MD where it didn't even feel like he played that poorly he gets yanked and doesn't play for 7 quarters? Then he comes back in and is immediately far better than anyone else who played

You could credibly argue the goalie decisions lost Loyola the last two games. Back-up goalies giving you no saves in 1 goal losses

the box scores are inaccurate hounds were up 11 to 9 when they pulled staudt... he had 6 saves ...and was 8 for 9 on clears ..they put sam in and he let in 4 in a row and had 2 saves I was there watching it happen

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:58 pm

GreyingHound wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 5:33 pm

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 5:17 pm Why wasn't Shafer starting?

I felt the same way last week.

Sam had a great 2nd half today.

was it just the 4th Q?

Looks like that in the box score...15 minutes, 6 saves 1 GA

I thought he came in late in the 3rd quarter, but could be wrong. There was no announcement, which I thought was odd. I just happened to notice Sam was in the cage, but wasn't sure when he had entered.

Just checked, and according to the box score on Loyola's website, he played 19:52 and had 6 saves and 4 goals against...

GreyingHound wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 7:19 pm

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 6:58 pm

GreyingHound wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 5:33 pm

MDlaxfan76 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 5:17 pm Why wasn't Shafer starting?

I felt the same way last week.

Sam had a great 2nd half today.

was it just the 4th Q?

Looks like that in the box score...15 minutes, 6 saves 1 GA

I thought he came in late in the 3rd quarter, but could be wrong. There was no announcement, which I thought was odd. I just happened to notice Sam was in the cage, but wasn't sure when he had entered.

Just checked, and according to the box score on Loyola's website, he played 19:52 and had 6 saves and 4 goals against...

ahhh, IL has it wrong...but they also calculated today that Dartmouth's Hincks 19 saves with 9 GA as a 37% saves day

so...

with the shot clock in place the game is faster the hounds need to hit that 15 goals a game mark ..this is not on the goalies whatsoever..

saltydogs wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 7:12 pm the box scores are inaccurate hounds were up 11 to 9 when they pulled staudt... he had 6 saves ...and was 8 for 9 on clears ..they put sam in and he let in 4 in a row and had 2 saves I was there watching it happen

Just looked at the play by play on the website and that seems to agree with you...but that's weird that the totals are so off...and yet the totals do match the team stats for each quarter...

It's also strange that you'd pull your tender if he was playing well and you're up...

would love to hear the press conference after cant find it

saltydogs wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 7:51 pm would love to hear the press conference after cant find it

Likewise, does anyone know if it's possible to watch a replay of this game?

At the end of the day I thought the hounds improved in every aspect-faceoffs and goaltending included. Defense was rock solid against a very good offense, and offense looked very good for 3 quarters. I thought Sam came in and was great once he settled in-21 was inconsistent but showed promise for a younger guy-definitely an improvement from the last couple weeks from both guys. I believe Sam had anywhere from 4-6 saves and gave up 4 in a quarter and a half, and Staudt had 6 and gave up 9-could be wrong but that’s what I gathered. All in all some positives would include:
-improvement across the board
-olmsmtead looked very comfortable
-Sam looked like his old self-All-American caliber GK
-SSDMs looked much better
-face offs and wing play was inconsistent but very good I thought in general.
At the end of the day Rutgers is a very good team and the hounds are getting better and better. Towson will be another good test Wednesday.

Laxfan01 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:01 pm At the end of the day I thought the hounds improved in every aspect-faceoffs and goaltending included. Defense was rock solid against a very good offense, and offense looked very good for 3 quarters. I thought Sam came in and was great once he settled in-21 was inconsistent but showed promise for a younger guy-definitely an improvement from the last couple weeks from both guys. I believe Sam had anywhere from 4-6 saves and gave up 4 in a quarter and a half, and Staudt had 6 and gave up 9-could be wrong but that’s what I gathered. All in all some positives would include:
-improvement across the board
-olmsmtead looked very comfortable
-Sam looked like his old self-All-American caliber GK
-SSDMs looked much better
-face offs and wing play was inconsistent but very good I thought in general.
At the end of the day Rutgers is a very good team and the hounds are getting better and better. Towson will be another good test Wednesday.

I agree with some of what you have to say. But this is a game that Loyola lost. Not that Rutgers won it. Five straight goals.
Goalie. What the heck.
Savio. Much better. But little or no help from the wings
Close d played well. Ssdms. Rezanka solid. Sally does not fully understand the defense yet. The other two did nothing and gave up some easy goals.
Midfield. Why didn’t Seay or Bateman play? Davis and Bonney are in over their head. Poi trash is the best offensive player Loyola has now.
Attack. Olmstead did well with scoring. But hi turnovers at in opportune time are very costly.

We won the gb and face off battle but could not put it away. Should be 2-1

Towson taking Richmond to triple ot is scary Wednesday game.

Loyolalax wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:54 pm

Laxfan01 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 26, 2022 9:01 pm At the end of the day I thought the hounds improved in every aspect-faceoffs and goaltending included. Defense was rock solid against a very good offense, and offense looked very good for 3 quarters. I thought Sam came in and was great once he settled in-21 was inconsistent but showed promise for a younger guy-definitely an improvement from the last couple weeks from both guys. I believe Sam had anywhere from 4-6 saves and gave up 4 in a quarter and a half, and Staudt had 6 and gave up 9-could be wrong but that’s what I gathered. All in all some positives would include:
-improvement across the board
-olmsmtead looked very comfortable
-Sam looked like his old self-All-American caliber GK
-SSDMs looked much better
-face offs and wing play was inconsistent but very good I thought in general.
At the end of the day Rutgers is a very good team and the hounds are getting better and better. Towson will be another good test Wednesday.

I agree with some of what you have to say. But this is a game that Loyola lost. Not that Rutgers won it. Five straight goals.
Goalie. What the heck.
Savio. Much better. But little or no help from the wings
Close d played well. Ssdms. Rezanka solid. Sally does not fully understand the defense yet. The other two did nothing and gave up some easy goals.
Midfield. Why didn’t Seay or Bateman play? Davis and Bonney are in over their head. Poi trash is the best offensive player Loyola has now.
Attack. Olmstead did well with scoring. But hi turnovers at in opportune time are very costly.

We won the gb and face off battle but could not put it away. Should be 2-1

Towson taking Richmond to triple ot is scary Wednesday game.

Loyola might go winless in OOC games this year and still win the PL, and not one team in the country would want to see them in the NCAA’s. We have the tools…the squad is simply missing a tiny bit of assembly here or there.

The Hounds are going to be on the tightest of ropes since they now need to win every PL game, but I believe they are up for that.

I have said for some time I wish Charlie would schedule one non-top-20 OOC game to start a season, so the boys can find their rhythm and the coaches can work out some kinks. When you launch with Maryland, Hopkins, Rutgers, and Towson, there really is no room to take a breath and recalibrate. And a huge risk to any team is if they get ‘used’ to losing,…that probably concerns me most.

Anyway, no use crying over spilt milk. We can’t reschedule games now. Stick with Shafer in goal. Keep improving. And for gods sake, let Higgins initiate more; IMO he’s our fastest, best initiating middie or attackman. Sheesh.

Peter Brown wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 9:26 am
I have said for some time I wish Charlie would schedule one non-top-20 OOC game to start a season, so the boys can find their rhythm and the coaches can work out some kinks. When you launch with Maryland, Hopkins, Rutgers, and Towson, there really is no room to take a breath and recalibrate. And a huge risk to any team is if they get ‘used’ to losing,…that probably concerns me most.

I agree...This has been a concern with the Women's team as well.

Toomey mentioned this in the post game presser on uslaxmag but if Rutgers is the #6 team in the country, then this loyola is not far behind from it. Just needs to clean things up mainly solidifying who will be the starting goalie.

I expect Sam to rebound, he made 6 saves on 7 shots when he played and really gave the team energy.

Still 11 games left in the season, have faith and have optimism. 2 games this week against towson and Lafayette.

They did everything they could to win the game and this team looks a lot better than the Maryland contest.

houndace1 wrote: ↑Sun Feb 27, 2022 2:43 pm
I expect Sam to rebound, he made 6 saves on 7 shots when he played and really gave the team energy.

Six saves on ten shots.

hounds will be ok ..they will figure it out they will be the hot team coming into may ..go hounds keep getting better every game

https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/ana ... story.html

Nice little article to read.

This team is close to figuring it out. All other facets of the game was reportedly improved. If they find a starting goalie and they play like how they did against Rutgers, maybe this team can make noise down the stretch.

Interesting what Toomey said “focus on the process” not necessarily the result