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Lindley is scoring 5 goals a game meaning if Loyola play both Patriot League Tournament games and a NCAA first round game he is on pace for 85. It's early but he is scoring at an absurd rate right now.

novaHound was right it was high scoring. Both defenses were abysmal. It will be hard to get that defensive effort and the face-pff woes, erased form the memory so the faithful can consider the Hounds a legit final four team. A lot of individuals on that side of the ball are going to have improve greatly between now and May for Loyola to be a final four type team. I love Lindley's off the ball game and great hands, but you do know he would be a 2G a game guy without Spencer, right?

not many saw that score coming myself included. These guys can certainly score but defense wins championships. I still like this team and expect them to get to the final four, but the road there is now paved with speed bumps, potholes and land mines instead of newly paved asphalt. Thursday night in Durham will be the real test to see where the Hounds are at. Should be a great game on TV and hope the weather is good.

cantrelax wrote: ↑Sat Mar 02, 2019 6:27 pm Dodged a big bullet today vs. an inspired HC squad! HC defense was tenacious. Stover did not have his best day. Thank God for the Smooth Operator- St. Patrick #7!

I think Loyola had a big game "hangover" against Holy Cross. The Crusaders should be commended for playing hard, fast, and punching with the Hounds. Here's hoping they are inspired and play Navy, Army and Lehigh as tough.

The past week has given the Loyola defense and face off units some good film to work with.

Upcoming Duke game could go either way. Believe Hounds have a good chance if they hold Duke below 12 goals. Agree with Kramerica - video of HC game will illustrate defensive lapses but also give Duke something to work on and exploit. Have pretty high confidence in Hounds offense. Wonder if Olmstead/Higgins will play? If Savio holds his own Hounds will be ok.

Different topic - I agree that Towson deserves #1 ranking based on their play so far. Also believe Holy Cross can pull some upsets in the PL this season if they build upon last Saturday's game.

Hounds are a 1.5 goal underdog against Duke this week according to Laxbytes.
For Loyola to be successful they need to get improved FO play (including wings) and stiffen up a little defensively. This team will be primed if they can just improve a little in each area. I think we'll see some tinkered wing play and more zone coming from Loyola in future weeks. Stover saves all the ones he should. And quite a few he shouldn't. I think you play to that strength and give him a chance with more zone. Loyola should also capitalize on their good LSM depth. It's unorthodox, but if Savio can prevent fast breaks and turn the faceoffs into a scrum, perhaps you lock an attackman, and use two LSMs on F/Os.

Majority of the IL staff has Loyola winning against Duke this thursday? I find it skeptical considering the series history the last 3-4 years. If Faceoffs can drastically improve, as well as defensive schemes and decision making, then we can squeak out a win. Duke shooters and defensemen are a complete step up from any team they've seen so far, save for UVA and Hopkins with their talented players. LSM's need to be a bigger factor given the depth we have with Mcnulty, Johnson, and others in the bench. Cam Wyers needs to have a great game against the top Duke initiators while Spencer has to have a great game against JT Giles Harris.

Finally, 1st and 2nd midfield need to step up production. Points just cant come from Spencer/Lindley/Scanlan. McGovern, Duffy and Brown need to score more goals in order for this team to win against Duke and reclaim a possible #1 ranking.

If they get through this, there's absolutely no reason as to why they cant run the table until memorial day

Does anyone know if Loyola-Duke will be televised, whether on television or the website. And might it be on the radio?

gymman1031 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 06, 2019 5:35 pm Does anyone know if Loyola-Duke will be televised, whether on television or the website. And might it be on the radio?

It's on ESPNU

Another tough test for the Hounds down in Durham. I like the Devils by 3

Hounds defense is a real problem. The slides are creating offense for the other team not stopping it. And you combine that with a bad offensive performance and it gets ugly.

Not a lot of patience on offense by the hounds. Of course I understand why. Tough for Spencer or anyone to score when they haven’t had the ball at all.

Watching the replay. What was the Duke penalty in the first quarter? No announcer mentioned it. Assuming deep pocket.

Watching the replay. What was the Duke penalty in the first quarter? No announcer mentioned it. Assuming deep pocket.

Luke wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 9:58 pm Watching the replay. What was the Duke penalty in the first quarter? No announcer mentioned it. Assuming deep pocket.

I missed that one. Don't know what it was, but deep pocket makes sense.

As a Duke fan, best wishes to Alex Johnson. I hope his injury isn't bad and wish him a speedy recovery.

kramerica.inc wrote: ↑Thu Mar 07, 2019 8:35 pm Not a lot of patience on offense by the hounds. Of course I understand why. Tough for Spencer or anyone to score when they haven’t had the ball at all.

Loyola has some midfield issues that are glaring. First and foremost no production. Their shot selection is a problem. They are not creating, but expecting the attack to score all the points. The best middie is a freshman. Who dodges and creates.

FO. Much better. Need help with wing play

Defense. Better but was crushed in the gb departments

Tough game for the Hounds. But that seems to be the norm in Durham. Devils played hard and got us off our game.

On the positive side, it was the first week in March and there was a very good, much improved effort on faceoffs and a nice job on m2m defense. Both were improvements from Towson. But I agree with you that the defense was so obsessed with their assignments and playing solid position defense they didnt push out or pursue too many gbs. Hopefully that will come.

Hope Alex Johnson is ok too. He's been a good player for us this year. Saw he had some faceoff tape at the end of his pole. Guessing he (and some others) are getting coached up to spell Savio from time to time or just in case. If Savio takes every faceoff this season I would think it could close to the NCAA record for attempts.

Loyola had the same offensive issue a few years ago with the midfield. It's a fine balance because you want the ball in Spencer's hands as much as possible, but when Loyola's offense watches Spencer operate it gets into trouble. When they continue to move off ball and run the offense organically, it works. When Spencer backs down the offense, I saw too many Hounds standing still.

The development of Scanlan as an instigator will help the Hounds. He is a nice option from the wings. Wonder how he does dodging from up top?

Duke scores 3 times off turnovers. Watching Towson second half, and the way Duke played Spencer .... you let him dodge, don’t slide. He will hurt you in the long run feeding the ball to everyone. Let him get 2,3,4 G’s. But when he starts distributing the ball, defenses get lost & he creates layups.

Outside observer. Duke had it flowing last night and Loyola has an awful night. Duke won't play that well very often. Hounds defense not nearly as good as in championship year, but if they pick it up a bit, Stover should let you contend for a NC.

Clearing % was awful. So were the GB stats. Too many turnovers. The O looked stagnant. The D was not good either