PressBox recently chatted with Loyola men’s lacrosse senior Matt Dixon about growing up in a lacrosse family, how he put himself in a position to contribute as a junior and more. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound midfielder played in 11 games in 2024, scoring one goal and picking up four ground balls. Dixon is a native of Ellicott City and graduate of Loyola Blakefield.
PressBox: How did you become interested in lacrosse?
Matt Dixon: Lacrosse has always been part of my life. My dad, [Mark], is pretty heavily involved in the sport with being a commentator with ESPN and now a commentator mainly with the Big Ten Network. He played at Hopkins, and my mom, [Erica], played at Hopkins. Since I was born, I’ve had a little tiny stick in my hand. That just grew into love and passion for the game. I’ve never known anything without lacrosse.
PB: How did your parents influence your game?
MD: My dad coached me growing up. He also coached my little brother, [Owen], who plays at Chapel Hill. He influences a lot with the foundation and how to play the game correctly. He also wanted to go back down and coach my little brother, so once I got to the middle school level, he passed that on so then I could learn from other people as well. Then he could teach my little brother and his classmates, but from a young age, he’s always been in [my] corner and coaching. And I’ve been able to learn from him and his vast knowledge of the sport because he has so much of it from playing and commentating and studying the game for numerous years.
PB: How helpful was it in the college recruiting process to have a dad who knows so many people in the game?
MD: The recruiting process was a huge advantage because he knew most of the college coaches, so that allowed me to get more on a personal level with the coaches pretty quickly on the recruiting trip. I don’t know this from personal experience, but I’m sure it’d be a little awkward at first. Two people meeting for the first time get the awkward conversation out of the way, but with my recruiting trips, he was going up to [Loyola head coach Charley Toomey] and calling him on a first-name basis. … So then with that, I was able to … get down to a personal level and really discuss quickly the ins and outs of Loyola or their offense. We were able to get down to those pretty quickly, and I was able to learn a lot more about the coaches and the school quicker.
He also opens up a lot of different perspectives. He knows the game. He knows a lot of people, both coaches and players. When I go to him with questions and advice, “Hey Dad, I’m having trouble with X, Y and Z.” He would give me his point of view on my play style, but he would also say, “This guy’s really, really good at this as well,” maybe study a couple clips from him. Or, “This guy does really well in this aspect, you should study some clips on him.” Or even, “This guy knows what’s up, he’s a little bit older than you but maybe give him a call and talk to him.” He was always able to point me in the right direction and give me pretty good advice for all the questions that I had.
PB: What was your favorite memory at Loyola Blakefield?
MD: My favorite memory I would say would be my senior year [in 2021]. I know that’s a little interesting because that was kind of the height of COVID, so we only played an in-conference schedule. That year that team was just so incredibly close. We were all pretty much one big friend group. We were kind of like a college team in that sense, just the amount of time that we spent together and how close we got was really remarkable. Specifically probably that Boys’ Latin game during the regular season was pretty special — just played great, played to our full potential and just had a lot of fun while doing it. It was really, really a tight-knit group. It was such a memorable season. It didn’t end the way that we wanted to, but the memories I made and the connections that I made with those teammates who I still keep in touch with to this day is definitely something that I’ll never forget.
PB: What’s your favorite memory at Loyola University so far?
MD: From a lacrosse perspective, definitely scoring my first goal last year against Lafayette. That was my first career goal. I had a lot of hardships my freshman and sophomore years at the college level, so to be able to work through those and come out on top and take that on to the field and work my way into a playing position and then scoring a goal, that definitely meant a lot. From a social view and an academic view, kind of getting away from the lacrosse piece, just spending time with the guys each and every day on the weekends, class, after practice, whatever the case may be. Making those connections and getting really, really close to the team is something that’s awesome.
PB: What have you learned about the process at Loyola after putting yourself in a position to contribute after battling an illness as a freshman?
MD: I learned that the process is different for everybody. You have some guys who come in and they’re incredibly talented and the chips fall into a good position for them and they’re able to contribute at an early stage. I’ve learned some guys have a different approach and they need a couple years to develop and even a couple years to just learn some things. But for me, I’d have it no other way. I learned a lot of things about myself going through that adversity. It allowed me to grow mentally, physically and emotionally. It just took me to a new level that I just have a new understanding for the game but also a new understanding for my teammates and the place that I’m at, the culture that I’m at. I was able to step back and really assess some things at a deeper level that allowed me to then take that to junior and senior year. Now that I’ve been healthy, I can now implement and put those things that I’ve learned into practice.
PB: What did it mean to be named a captain ahead of the 2025 season?
MD: It means a lot, but I know it’s just a label. We still have a lot of work to do and I still have a lot of growing to do as well, but I definitely very much appreciate my coaches and my teammates giving me that label. I put in a lot of work during the offseason with leadership stuff and figuring out how to best serve this team, so it was definitely a really nice gesture that I was able to get this label and take things to a new level with being an official captain on the team. It definitely means a lot.
PB: What’s your favorite thing about Baltimore?
MD: I think my favorite thing is that my family’s all here. My dad grew up in Catonsville, and his parents are still there. My mom’s parents and my mom grew up in Bel Air. … I think that’s probably my favorite thing. I went to high school here. I didn’t go to boarding school up north or anything like that or down south. I chose to stay in Maryland, so my whole life’s been here in Baltimore. I have all my memories here. I just want to keep on building that. I like being close to my family. My uncles are all here. I’m able to see them pretty much whenever I want to and obviously spending the holidays with them is a good time to catch up as well. That’s probably my favorite thing.
PB: Who’s your best friend on the team and what’s a story that underscores your friendship?
MD: I would say the person I’m probably closest with is Remi Reynolds, No. 29, close defenseman. There are so many different stories between Remi and I that I could choose. We spend a lot of time together. He’s also from Baltimore, so we spend our summers together for the most part. I think the best way to describe our relationship is just friendly banter. I think we’re always giving each other crap. We’re very close, but my favorite thing about my friendship with Remi is that we’ll be on the field and we’ll be jiving at each other a little bit, but then we can also sit down in the locker room and have a very serious conversation about the culture of our team or X, Y and Z of what we want to improve for next season. We’re both very similar, so we both have that understanding of each other that we can flip the switch and go from friendliness to, “OK, we seriously need to figure this out.” We don’t need to communicate that, either, like, “OK, I need to talk to you. Hey, what do we do about this, this and this?” We can just have that non-verbal communication where we’re on the same page.
PB: Who did you look up to when you first got to Loyola?
MD: I looked up to Riley Seay. Him and I were pretty close. He was a senior when I was a freshman. He was a really good outlet for me when I was going through some of that adversity that we talked about earlier. He was someone I could really lean on. He was someone who constantly just had an insane work ethic. I really, really admire that about him. After he graduated, I looked up to Evan James and Adam Poitras a lot. They were our captains when I was a sophomore and junior. They’re just two tremendous players, also incredible work ethic and the way they go about their business was something that I wanted to carry on with the team.
PB: What advice would you give to younger players going through the recruiting process?
MD: Trust it and trust yourself. Every place is different, every place is new, so go in with an open mind and open mentality. Don’t be so quick to say no to a school if they give you a call. Give yourself a second to think if you can see yourself there. Weigh their pros and cons and then make the decision from there. There’s no reason to say no to a team just because they had a bad season last year or you don’t think they’re academically to your standard. They might have a program that’s really, really good because you all the sudden go to college and then realize that you don’t want to do what you thought you wanted to do academically. Don’t be so quick to say no.
PB: What are your goals for after lacrosse?
MD: My goal is to have a family and be happy and also have kids and give them all the knowledge and experience that I have so they can make the best decisions they can for themselves.
Photo Credit: Martin Corcoran