Loyola Maryland is uncertain whether it will have the services of sophomore faceoff specialist Graham Savio for Saturday's game at Patriot League foe Boston University.
Savio, who had entered the No. 19 Greyhounds' eventual 11-10 loss at No. 3 Maryland at Byrd Stadium in College Park on Wednesday night ranked 12th in Division I at 60.3 percent (141 of 234), had won 4 of 5 draws (80 percent) and picked up two ground balls before spending the rest of the contest on the sideline.
"It could be a hamstring, and I'm pretty sure it is," coach Charley Toomey said afterward. "We'll see. He's going to double up on treatments."
Loyola, however, didn't appear to miss a beat as senior Brendan Donovan won 11 of 19 faceoffs (57.9 percent) and collected two ground balls against the Terps duo of junior Jon Garino Jr. (3 of 11) and freshman Andrew Walsh (6 of 13). (Senior Charlie Raffa was out due to a right shoulder/arm injury.) Donovan helped the team go 15-for-24 (62.5 percent).
"Was real proud of Dono," Toomey said. "Those two go head-to-head every day in practice, and [volunteer assistant coach] Steve Vaikness is the best in my opinion, and he had them prepared. Obviously, we weren't sure if Raffa was going to play, but you never know how the matchups are going to play out on the field. You can go in and look at stats and think that you have an idea that maybe we can win faceoffs, but maybe one guy does one thing a little bit different and they dominate the X.
"Today, I thought it was a true battle. I thought it was a battle at the X, and we're a little disappointed of some of the wing play on ground balls that we weren't able to get, but I thought we battled, and that's all you can ask for, and Dono came in and did a hell of a job for us."
If Savio is unavailable, Donovan and the Greyhounds may have to face on Saturday Boston University sophomore Sam Talkow, who ranks fifth in the country at 66.5 percent (153 of 230) and 10th in ground balls per game (7.2). It's an unenviable position for Loyola, but Toomey said the team can't dodge the inevitable.
"That's the beauty of our league," he said. "I think we've got the best faceoff guys in our league and this kid that we're going to play, Talkow, is a terrific one this weekend."