Loyola men’s lacrosse began its season with an 18-10 win against Georgetown on Feb. 3, which came as somewhat of a surprise to many observers given the Greyhounds’ 9-8 record a season ago — but not to graduate attackman Evan James.
James scored five goals and dished out four assists in the win against the Hoyas. The 5-foot-10, 180-pound attackman out of Dublin, Ohio, is coming off a 31-goal, 10-assist season.
“Even though [our confidence] maybe shouldn’t have been at an all-time high starting this year with what happened last year … [we had] a ton of confidence going into Saturday,” James said on Glenn Clark Radio Feb. 5. “I think our game plan was kind of perfect. We really focused on ourselves.”
One of James’ four assists came after Georgetown got on the board with seven seconds left in the first half and just before the end of the half. James received a long pass from senior midfielder Seth Higgins and fired a bullet to graduate defensive midfielder Mustang Sally just a few feet from the goal. Sally released the ball from his stick and found the back of the net just a fraction of a second before the clock hit zero, giving Loyola a 10-6 halftime lead.
“I said in the locker room at halftime, that was the longest seven seconds ever,” James said. “When Mustang picked it up at midfield and then threw it to Seth, I was like, ‘That’s got to be seven seconds that have already happened, right?’ But it’s kind of just instincts. We’ve played together for so long and Mustang is such a dynamic defensive midfielder that I trust to throw the ball into him like that.”
The play was called a goal on the field, which stood after video review, an enhanced feature in college lacrosse this year. Coaches can use a challenge until the last four minutes of regulation, and referees can call for a video review at any time.
“That momentum was huge. I think it definitely carried over into the third [quarter] a little bit, especially offensively,” James said. “It was funny, we were watching the ref review it and Coach was kind of like, ‘Go in the locker room,’ and we were all like, ‘No, man, we want to see if the goal counts or not.'”
Loyola’s impressive attack on Feb. 3 stems from the continuity it has on that end of the field. The Greyhounds returned all of their starting attackers from a season ago, including reigning first-team All-Patriot League selection Adam Poitras, who scored four goals against Georgetown after leading the Greyhounds in goals a year ago with 34. Senior attackman Davis Lindsey led the Greyhounds in assists with 18.
Sophomore attackmen Henry Haberman and Matthew Minicus were among Loyola’s top point-scorers last season as freshmen. Minicus, who scored four goals on Feb. 3, tied Poitras for the team lead with 49 points last season.
“We have a pretty good older core of guys up in the midfield, and then Adam and I down low. We’ve all played together for four or five years now,” James said. “But then you have guys like Haberman and Minicus and Davis Lindsey, Luke Murphy, guys like that who have grown a ton over the last year.”
That built-in chemistry can help explain the rigorous nonconference schedule Loyola head coach Charley Toomey put together for his squad. The game against Georgetown was the first of four consecutive games against preseason top-20 opponents. Next, the Greyhounds visit Maryland in College Park after beating the Terps at Ridley Athletic Complex in 2023.
“Some people might moan and groan about it, that we start with a bunch of top-20 teams,” James said. “But really it’s only making us better. Regardless obviously of what happens on the scoreboard, we’re continuing to get better and prepare for that Patriot League tournament. It’s definitely one of the reasons why I came to Loyola, why kids come to Loyola. You want to play the best. You want to beat the best.”
For more from James, listen to the full interview here:
Photo Credit: Larry French