Loyola Maryland's inaugural season in the Patriot League in 2014 included capturing the top seed, homefield advantage and a first-round bye in the conference tournament, which that squad claimed after a pair of victories.
Duplicating that accomplishment this season won't be nearly as easy. As the No. 4 seed in the league tournament, the Greyhounds (7-7 overall and 5-3 Patriot League) will have to dispose of No. 5 seed Army (8-5, 4-4) in Tuesday's quarterfinal round at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore at 4 p.m. and then get past opponents in the semifinals on Friday night and the title game on Sunday afternoon to earn a spot in the NCAA tournament.
That means three wins in six days, and it's a scenario coach Charley Toomey was hoping to avoid.
"The players probably love it," he said Monday afternoon. "As coaches, we hate it. But learning about your opponent, you can't do a lot to change. But you have to do walkthroughs, and as coaches, you have to be conscious of how much they're on their feet.
"For those guys, they've got to make sure that they're hydrating and taking care of their bodies because the quick turnaround is hard. It's a hard, physical game on the Division I level. So that's been the message to the guys."
Loyola is in this predicament because it couldn't protect a 9-7 lead with less than two minutes left in regulation on Friday night and fell, 10-9, in overtime at Bucknell. A win would have placed the team in the No. 2 spot and a first-round bye in the conference tournament, and Toomey said coaches and players alike haven't thrown the memory of that loss out the window.
"I don't think you can quite honestly put it in the rearview mirror because even late in the season, there are still teaching moments that take place," he said. "We have to learn from our mistakes. Quite honestly, we were winning the game with 1 minute, 43 seconds to go, but we lost the game. So you really can't bury that.
"You can't bury your head in the sand. It's time to put your big-boy pants on and learn from it, and that's what we needed to do. Hopefully, we can put ourselves in that position again and never make the same mistakes again. That's why you don't bury it. We watched the film on Saturday, came back and had practice on Sunday, and a walkthrough today. We've got to prepare to win a game on Tuesday."
The loss was frustrating for everyone involved, and Toomey saw the appropriate reaction from players.
"I'd be disappointed if they weren't upset and recognized that we let something slip away," he said. "That being said, there's still more lacrosse. The guys were at film on time, and we've had good practices, and we're prepared for Army. The only way to get that taste out of your mouth is to go out there and win a game. That's the goal for Tuesday."