Loyola Maryland coach Charley Toomey has pretty good recall of the past. So when asked to summarize the 2015 season, he didn't need much time remembering a similar campaign.
"It was a different season from the last four or five seasons that we've had," Toomey said. "It was probably a little more reminiscent of our 2011 season where it ended with some frustration. We did some serious soul searching as coaches, and we asked the players to do that as well over that summer, and we felt like in 2012, we had a lot of talent returning. I think it's similar to next year.
"We've got a lot of talent returning, but we need to make a few changes, and I would say those changes are more from a preparation and cultural standpoint than anything else. I think the talent is in our locker room to allow us to win lacrosse games in Division I. So that's what we're going to do this summer."
In 2011, that squad went 8-5, but was derailed by a loss to Fairfield in the Eastern College Athletic Conference tournament semifinals and was left out of the NCAA postseason. This past spring, the Greyhounds limped to a 7-8 record, was bounced by Army from the Patriot League tournament quarterfinals, and watched the NCAA playoffs from home.
One of the cultural changes Toomey will pursue involves changing practice times. This past season, Loyola practiced as early as 7:30 a.m. to accommodate players' schedules, but Toomey said the tempo and feel in practices weren't as comfortable as in previous years when practices began at 1 p.m.
"We practiced early, and I never felt like we were the practice team that we wanted to be," he said. "Some of that is on us as coaches. So we're going to move our practices back to a little later in the mornings and allow the guys to prepare nutrition-wise and get the sleep they need as college students to come to practice.
"The other side of it is because of that, we weren't able to put extra work in. Guys would rush away from practice and go right to class. We really feel that our program is one that prepares very hard for an opponent and the kids put extra time and effort into game preparation and skill development. We just didn't feel like this year we were able to develop both sides of that. So hopefully that will take a step when we make it a little easier for them to take that step."