For the Loyola men’s lacrosse team, the emotion that drove some of its best victories a year ago can now be paired with experience.
After getting off to a hot start in 2023, beating top teams such as Maryland and Hopkins, Loyola hit a bit of a skid after a rough loss to Rutgers. There were high points and low points in the Greyhounds’ up-and-down season, but they ultimately rallied toward the end of the season to finish with a 9-8 record. Loyola beat Navy and Boston University in the early rounds of the Patriot League tournament before losing to Army in the championship game.
“We went up to Rutgers and just lost a tough battle,” head coach Charley Toomey said on Glenn Clark Radio Jan. 30. “… And it rocked us a little bit. Our team was young and it was kind of how you respond in those moments and we just didn’t handle it as well as we would have liked to. We talk about playing to a standard every day, and I felt like we played with a lot of emotion and when we played with that emotion it really propelled us to some great wins.”
The experience Toomey brings back in 2024 starts with Preseason Patriot League Goalkeeper of the Year Luke Staudt, who posted an 11.14 goals-against average and a 0.554 save percentage in 2023. Toomey expects to lean on Staudt heavily this year, but the coach and Staudt’s teammates believe the senior goalie is more than up to the challenge.
“The team elected Luke as a captain,” Toomey said. “He’s got that confidence of going into practices and into games, and we’ve seen him stand out and be elite throughout this fall and certainly into the spring. So we’re real hopeful. We’re going to need Luke on his game every game. … In some of those tough early-season games, you’re going to have to rely on north of about 15 saves to be able to get some of these wins under our belt.”
Toomey also believes his veteran goal-scorers will help elevate the performance of the Greyhounds this season. Graduate students and seniors on the squad like Evan James (31 goals and 10 assists in 2023), Davis Lindsey (17 goals, 18 assists) and Seth Higgins (12 goals, 14 assists) are the ones Toomey sees serving as guiding forces of the team.
Toomey expects big things to come from the team’s underclassmen as well. Sophomore attackman Matthew Minicus (33 goals, 16 assists) returns after a breakout freshman season. New blood enters from the transfer portal with former Rutgers defenseman Remi Reynolds (five caused turnovers in 2023).
Toomey thinks the Greyhounds can push in transition more so than in recent years.
“We’ve challenged our guys in those phases. We want to get the odd-man break. We want to push it forward,” Toomey said. “But if we’re not able to, then can we play a little bit faster off the end line after a shot? With our attack being veteran, are we able to do things a bit more quickly rather than to have to settle in and get into the last 15 seconds of a shot clock? Can we get north of 40 shots a game? That’s what we saw this fall. That’s what we’re certainly hopeful of doing through the spring.”
This mindset is what Toomey believes will help his team get back to the standard always expected at Loyola after missing the NCAA Tournament the past two years. A return to a fast, tough and enduring mindset might be just what the Greyhounds need to succeed in the Patriot League. Toomey strongly believes winning in the Patriot League will lay the groundwork for greater success to come in pursuit of a national championship.
But first, Loyola begins its season against Georgetown on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Ridley Athletic Complex at 1 p.m. The Greyhounds then face off against nonconference foes Maryland, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and Towson before tackling Patriot League play.
“What is the Loyola standard? Our standard is that we’re going to play the toughest possible schedule that we can play on the front end in hopes that it prepares us for the league, but the league is the way to the tournament,” Toomey said. “We have to get back to competing at a really high level in our league. The first way into the tournament is to win your league, for sure.”
For more from Toomey, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Craig Chase