Outside of the six players who start on offense for Loyola Maryland, only one other player has more than a single point, and that's sophomore long-stick midfielder Ryan Fournier (two goals and one assist).
The easy thing to do would be to point out how the second midfield of sophomore Mike Perkins and freshman Jay Drapeau and Brian Begley isn't being more effective for the No. 14 Greyhounds (3-2), but coach Charley Toomey pointed out the trio was on the field for three goals in Saturday's 11-8 win against then-No. 20 and Patriot League foe Lehigh.
"They're out there," he said Monday. "They might not be on the finishing end, but they are definitely complementary players to what we're asking of our attack. We might be a little more dominant with our attack when they're out there, but it's not like their plus/minus numbers are negative. They're still out there when some productive things are happening for Loyola. You've got to remember – and we've got to hold ourselves to this, too – that we've got two freshmen and a sophomore, and we're watching them grow up on the fly.
"With that first midfield, we've really got two juniors with Brian Sherlock and Tyler Albrecht and a sophomore [in Romar Dennis] who started a lot of games for Loyola. So that's a pretty confident bunch."
Drapeau has scored once, and Perkins and Begley each have an assist to their names. The second line has combined to take just nine shots, but Toomey acknowledged that there is greater attention to running certain plays when that trio is on the field.
"We probably have a little more structure for them to try to get them to their strengths and not put them in position to have to make an athletic play," he said. "We're trying to get them to be in position where we're not asking them to think on the fly and to create. I think it's important that they have some success and get to spots on the field where they're comfortable and where they can bury some shots.
"Mike Perkins was two inches away from sticking one just under the crossbar [on Saturday], and Jay Drapeau is a pretty good dodger for us and [Brian] Begley is a kid that we ask to play both offense and defense. So we're finding our way with that group, and I do think they're going to start to get some goals out there. They get them in practice, and I think we're playing pretty good defense right now. So I know they're going to start to drop for those guys."