No. 8 Loyola Maryland and No. 16 Towson are taking different approaches to questions about their starting goalkeepers.
Both teams made a change in the net of Wednesday's game that was won by the Greyhounds, 15-11. Loyola senior Pat McEnerney made his third consecutive start, surrendering six goals and making two saves. Freshman Grant Limone played the final two quarters and allowed five goals against six stops.
Towson senior Tyler White gave up 12 goals while recording three saves. With 9:47 left in the third quarter, White was replaced by sophomore Matt Hoy, who surrendered three goals and posted three stops.
After the game, Greyhounds coach Charley Toomey announced that he planned to go with McEnerney (10.00 goals-against average and a .432 save percentage) over Limone (10.00 GAA, .545 save percentage) for Saturday's home game against Patriot League rival Holy Cross.
"I told him that the second that I pulled him out," Toomey said. "We're a tandem. We're working together. I like the chemistry we've got in the goal. We'll make a decision again midway through the game with P-Mac, and we'll see where this thing goes.
"But until somebody steps up and truly grabs it, I feel very good that the guys played very hard for P-Mac. You always want senior leadership in the goal, and I feel like when he settles down, he makes some incredible saves. When there's a breakdown, P-Mac is usually going to make that save. He bailed us out a couple times earlier today."
On the flipside, Tigers coach Shawn Nadelen wasn't ready to declare a starter between White (10.71 GAA, .469 save percentage) or Hoy (7.26 GAA, .500 save percentage) for Saturday's game at Georgetown.
"Not sure yet," he said. "Tyler's earned some opportunity with his track record. Matt obviously showed us some promise today. So we've kind of got to see where we're at and make that decision whenever we feel we are ready."
Other notes:
** Hoy and Limone appreciated the chance to make their 2015 debuts. Hoy helped Towson kill a one-minute man-down opportunity as soon as he entered the game, and one of Limone's first stops was a stick save from 10 yards out. Afterward, both players declined whether to say they had done enough to warrant starting in their teams' next game.
"That's not my focus at all," Hoy said. "My focus is just trying to help the team out where I can. That's for the coaches, not me."
Said Limone: "That's coach's decision."
** After going 0-for-4 on extra-man opportunities in its first two games, Loyola's man-up offense went 3 of 6 against Towson, including 2 of 3 in the first quarter. Senior attackman Nikko Pontrello scored two of his three goals on extra-man opportunities, and junior attackman Zach Herreweyers said the unit spent extra time reviewing their schemes.
"I think the biggest thing was execution," he said. "We had talked about that since the beginning of the season. We were struggling. So we took a little bit of time this morning in the film room, going over what our game plan was. I think we were all on the same page today. So it was a good look."