For the second consecutive year, Loyola Maryland has opened the season with a one-goal loss to Virginia and has spent the past few days trying to figure out what went wrong.
So far, coach Charley Toomey said he likes what he has seen from his No. 7 Greyhounds, who lost, 13-12, to the No. 9 Cavaliers on Saturday.
"I think it's been the right mood," Toomey said Wednesday afternoon. "Coming into film session on Monday, you learn from your mistakes and then we really started Tuesday to start to attack Penn State and figure out what they're about and what we need to do to win a game on Saturday. … I think our seniors have done a good job of basically saying, 'Guys, we need to move on.' Film sessions on Mondays are tough. Nobody likes being pointed at and called out when things are not developing. The seniors have to take ownership of that, the leaders have to take ownership of that. And I liked how our guys did that. …
"We want to get better. It's a young group that's going to continue to make a few mistakes, but our effort has to be there. I think if our effort is there, we're going to get better day to day, and we'll be a better team in a week or so than we are today. That's kind of been our message. We have to win each practice, and we have to get better with each day."
Loyola (0-1) is not the type of team to sulk -- nor would Toomey allow that. But it helps that the program will welcome another top 20 school to Ridley Athletic Complex when No. 17 Penn State visits on Saturday at 12 p.m.
The Nittany Lions, whom the Greyhounds edged, 12-11, in overtime on Feb. 15, are the kind of opponent that demands Loyola's full attention.
"Early season is your opportunity to schedule quality opponents," Toomey said. "Some programs choose to do that, and some programs don't. We choose to do that. We choose to bring in top-quality competition early in the hopes that our guys are going to be well prepared for the Patriot League.
"But I also want to challenge our guys. I want to see where we are, and they're going to point out our deficiencies much sooner than playing a lower-ranked opponent."