Loyola junior defender Tennant McVea doesn’t have any difficulty remembering the way he felt when the Greyhounds were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season.
The team had its stellar year end in College Park following 110 scoreless minutes, when the Terrapins outlasted the Greyhounds on penalty kicks, 4-2.
“It was heartbreaking and I think everyone realized we worked so hard and done so well and to go out in penalty kicks was gutting,” he said. “Looking back on that and having that as fuel keeps us going. If we play our game and do things the right way, we can compete with [the top teams] in the country.”
And that’s just what Loyola has done so far this season. The eighth-ranked Greyhounds (10-0-1) enter today’s game at 1 p.m. against visiting Siena as one of three undefeated teams, joining top-ranked Wake Forest (12-0) and third-ranked Northwestern (10-0-2).
The Greyhounds’ ranking is the team’s highest in seven seasons and the highest ever for the team this late in the season at the Division I level.
“We haven’t experience the sting of a loss and that is one of the challenges as coaches that our players know who they are,” Loyola coach Mark Mettrick said. “They can get confident and full of who they are, and I have to make sure on a daily basis they are focusing on the right things that got us here.”
But the Greyhounds already have demonstrated they are good enough to learn a lesson and still produce a positive result. Loyola led Quinnipiac, 4-1 in the second half earlier this month, but had to rally for a 5-4 win after squandering the lead.
Even in yielding the four goals to the Bobcats, the Greyhounds still are among the top defensive teams in the nation thanks to the stellar play of McVea, the team’s defense and standout junior goalie Milos Kocic.
Kocic is sixth in the nation in save percentage (.895), 11th in goals-against average (0.54) and 43rd in saves per game (4.64) as the Greyhounds have eight shutouts this season. Loyola led the nation in shutout percentage last season en route to a school-record 17 shutouts.
“We pride ourselves on clean sheets and doing well defensively,” McVea said. “If the other team doesn’t score, it can’t win.”
Up next:
No. 8 GREYHOUNDS (10-0-1, 2-0 MAAC) vs. SIENA SAINTS (4-5-1, 2-0)
When » Today, 1 p.m.
Where » Dianne Geppi-Aikens Field
Tickets » Available
