The Shane Koppens Fan Club grew by a few hundred members at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field on Saturday.
Loyola?s senior attacker nearly single-handedly led the Greyhounds to their biggest victory of the year, scoring five goals, including his team?s final three, and adding a pair of assists in an 11-9 win over fourth-ranked Georgetown.
After the game, fans yelled his name, gave him hugs and pats on the helmet as Koppens gave a few high fives to elementary school children after students stormed the field following the final buzzer.
“We wanted this one bad,” Koppens said. “We have been talking about it for a long time.”
The 19th-ranked Greyhounds (6-4, 5-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) used a dominating defensive performance to take a 2-0 lead entering the second quarter. The two-time defending conference champion Hoyas (7-3, 3-1), however, rallied to tie the game three times in the second half.
But they never took the lead.
Koppens secured the victory with 30 seconds left when he capped the scoring on a fastbreak with a low shot that snuck between the feet of Hoyas goalie Miles Kass.
“I couldn?t tell you what I was thinking after that last goal,” Koppens, who leads the team with 35 points, which includes 15 goals. “When I was in the clear, I couldn?t believe I was that open and I just ripped it and it went in.”
The Greyhounds, whose chances to make the postseason appeared to be on life support the past two weeks, took ahuge step toward securing consecutive NCAA Tournament berths for the first time since 2000-2001.
If the Greyhounds win at conference foe Fairfield next week or Hobart on April 26, they earn the league title and automatic bid to the 16-team NCAA Tournament. The ECAC does not have a conference tournament to decide its automatic bid. Loyola is 5-0 for the first time since joining the ECAC in 2005 and 14-0 all-time in league games at Evergreen.
But without Koppens? phenomenal play on Saturday, it?s doubtful Loyola would be poised to make the NCAA Tournament after opening 3-3.
“He does what you expect in a senior,” Loyola coach Charley Toomey said. “When the ball is in his stick, something good is going to happen. We are asking him to dodge and create and play behind the ball and he did an incredible job of not only winning his matchup, but setting up other players to do the same.”
