Loyola Maryland has dominated this series, winning 31 of 37 games against Georgetown and the last seven meetings. The Hoyas are 1-1 on the road this season, while the Greyhounds are 2-2 at home.
Georgetown (4-3) had a four-game winning streak snapped in Saturday's 15-13 loss to No. 4 Duke. Sophomore midfielder Peter Conley was named the Big East Offensive Player of the Week for the second consecutive week. He scored five goals in an 18-10 rout of Vermont on March 10 and registered three goals and one assist against the Blue Devils.
No. 14 Loyola (4-3) has alternated wins and losses in its last five contests, capping the trend with Saturday's 12-10 victory over No. 19 Army. Junior attackman Zach Herreweyers was tabbed the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week for scoring six goals in back-to-back conference games. He has scored at least two goals in each of the team's seven games.
Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Ridley Athletic Complex on Wednesday at 7:15 p.m.
1) Limiting the Hoyas' attack. Conley may lead Georgetown in goals with 19, but the team's balance on attack has caught the attention of Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey. Senior Bo Stafford leads the Hoyas in assists (12) and points), senior Reilly O'Connor is second in assists (10) and points (22), and freshman Stephen Quinzi is fourth in goals (11) and points (13). Containing that group will be a priority for a Loyola defense anchored by senior defenseman Pat Frazier and freshman goalkeeper Grant Limone.
"Their attack is pretty balanced," Toomey said. "I think that O'Connor and Stafford and Quinzi are all playing pretty well. They have 12, 12 and 11 goals [respectively]. That's a pretty balanced group. So you have to get back and defend that early transition and hope that you can get a stop when they get to six-on-six. I feel like we're developing. I feel like defensively, we're getting better."
2) Winning faceoffs to win time of possession. The Greyhounds scored 12 goals against Army despite taking just 25 shots. One reason is they won just 5-of-25 faceoffs as sophomore Graham Savio, who had won 60.9 percent of his faceoffs (81-of-133) and collected 37 ground balls, missed the game due to an unspecified injury. Savio is expected to return for Georgetown, which has relied on fifth-year senior Gabriel Mendola (52.7 percent on 96-of-182 and 61 ground balls).
"It's a real boost," Toomey said of getting Savio back onto the field. "When you lose somebody due to injury or whatever it is, you're throwing some guys in there that you're hopeful are going to be able to get in there and help you. But in some cases, it just doesn't work out, and faceoffs are a goofy thing. One guy could have another guy's number, and it doesn't matter what you try to do because you just can't get it. That was the case. … But [on Wednesday], we'll go in with our full complement of faceoff guys."
3) Getting ground balls. Both teams rank in the top 15 in Division I in ground balls per game as the Hoyas are eighth at 34.4 and Loyola is 12th at 32.1. But the Greyhounds have trailed in that department in their last two games, and the difference was especially prominent in a 14-8 loss at No. 4 Duke, which scooped up 35 loose balls to Loyola's 20. Gaining an edge in ground balls is a priority for Toomey.
"Ground balls have been a real key for Loyola since the Duke game," he said. "It was pointed out just some of the ground ball play on Duke's end where they came up with it and we didn't. So we've put a lot of time and effort over the last two weeks of really going back to fundamentals, picking up ground balls and moving it quickly off the ground and trying to create some opportunities off of ground balls offensively. So I'm hoping that's something we're going to continue to get better at as the season progresses."