For the first time since 2011, the Loyola Maryland men's lacrosse team will spend the May at home and off the field.
That scenario was assured after the Greyhounds dropped a 12-11 decision to visiting Army in a Patriot League tournament quarterfinal Tuesday at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore.
Not only did the outcome bounce No. 4 seed Loyola — which had captured last spring's conference tournament championship — from the league playoffs, but it also dropped the team to 7-8. The sub-.500 record means the Greyhounds cannot be considered for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament.
"We're going to keep our head high and wish teams well going forward, and we're just going to recognize that this wasn't our year," said Charley Toomey, who absorbed his first losing campaign in 10 seasons as Loyola's head coach. "We certainly had our challenges here, certainly on the defensive end. To finish our season like we did up at Bucknell and today with the fourth quarters that we played, that's hopefully going to drive us in the summer to come back and be in better shape and as coaches to keep recruiting and keep working hard because it's a bad feeling and the only way to get this feeling out of the pit of your stomach is to get back out on the field."
What made the result even more frustrating for the Greyhounds was that they owned an 11-6 advantage with 11 minutes, 51 seconds left after senior attackman Nikko Pontrello found freshman midfielder Jay Drapeau standing at the right crease for a point-blank score. (Loyola held a two-goal lead with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter before eventually losing, 10-9 in overtime, at Bucknell on Friday night.)
But the No. 5 seed Black Knights — who will meet top-seeded Navy (8-4) in a Patriot League semifinal on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis — scored five goals in a span of 5:58 to tie the score at 11-11 with 5:36 left in the period.
After numerous chances by both sides to take the lead, senior attackman John Glesener accepted a pass from senior midfielder Alex Newsome, and Glesener's blast from the right point evaded Greyhounds freshman goalkeeper Grant Limone (seven saves) and found the bottom right side of the net with just 5.7 seconds left.
Glesener said Newsome had another option with junior attackman Connor Cook at the left point, but with sophomore long-stick midfielder Ryan Fournier shading toward Cook, Newsome spotted Glesener, who deliberately aimed low on Limone.
"He sat on me high for most of the game," said Glesener, who posted zero goals and just one assist in the Black Knights' 12-10 loss to Loyola on March 14. "He had a couple of high saves. I definitely wanted to change it up on him. He was stepping high off-stick for most of the game. So I wanted to try him low."
Sophomore Graham Savio won the ensuing faceoff (his 14th in 25 attempts) for the Greyhounds and collected his sixth ground ball, but he had only enough time to fling the ball wide left of the Army cage before the final horn sounded and the Black Knights (9-5) stormed the field to swamp senior goalie Sam Somers, who made a game-high 13 stops.
Senior defenseman Pat Frazier said the defense played tentatively in the fourth quarter as Army embarked on its run.
"I think defensively, we played a little bit on our heels as they sort of got onto that run," he said. "… They were able to play a little bit more loose and free. As a result of that, it kind of causes us sometimes to worry about our own guys as opposed to playing in that team defense mentality. We should have been sliding a little bit more quickly to their guys, and that was something we struggled with in the fourth. Instead of making them bang around a few passes, it was a lot of unassisted goals, one-dodge goals. That was something we struggled with a little bit."
The loss ended the collegiate careers of a pair of senior starters. Pontrello recorded game bests in assists (three) and points (five), and Frazier scooped up six ground balls, caused one turnover, and limited Glesener to two goals on a game-high 14 shots.
Notes: Army evened the series at 2-2 with the Greyhounds, who had won the last two meetings. … Pontrello moved into the program's all-time top 10 in points, tying for ninth with 155. … Junior attackman Zach Herreweyers' 47 goals are tied for the fifth-most in a single season. … The Black Knights snapped a four-game losing skid in the Patriot League tournament.