Loyola coach Charley Toomey was pleased with his team?s result on Saturday ? a 7-4 win over Eastern College Athletic Conference rival Penn State at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field.
It was how his team won that had him concerned.
“One a scale of 1-10, I?m going to have to go back and watch the tape because I really felt like we kept giving up second chances,” he said. “Offensively, I felt like we weren?t in sync today.”
The Nittany Lions might beg to differ.
Penn State (1-2, 0-1) was shutout during the second quarter and totaled just 19 shots, but had only one in the fourth quarter. A week after a 13-8 win over Towson, 14th-ranked Loyola (2-1, 1-0) outhustled its opponent, holding a 33-30 edge in ground balls, a 9-6 advantage in faceoffs and was plus-five in turnover margin.
But it was the offense ? or lack there of ? that drew most of Toomey?s attention. Loyola held a 3-2 lead at intermission, as the teams combined for 24 shots in the first half. But the Greyhounds secured the victory by scoring four of the game?s final five goals, with Penn State?s meaningless goal during the run came with just 8.8 seconds remaining. The four Loyola goals, however, were all unassisted, as Penn State was able to continually take Loyola out of its offense and make the Greyhound attack beat them individually.
Loyola sophomore attacker Cooper MacDonnell expanded his role offensively for the second straight game, scoring twice to give him seven goals this season.
“No one slid, so there was no need for passes and no need for assists,” MacDonnell said. “I have gained a lot of confidence out there, coach and my teammates are trying to push me to be the best I can be.”
Next up for the Greyhounds is a visit from second-ranked Duke (3-0), which handily defeated fifth-ranked Maryland, 15-7, in Durham, N.C., on Saturday. The Blue Devils won 8-of-9 faceoffs in the first quarter and held a 6-1 lead after the opening period. But the Greyhounds snapped a four-game losing streak to last year?s national runner-up with an 8-7 win over then-top-ranked Duke at Torero Stadium in San Diego last March.
Toomey, however, knows his team has plenty of work to do before Saturday afternoon at 2.
“I think we probably set lacrosse back a few years as far as what we did on the offensive end,” he said. “But we did what we had to do: win an ECAC game at home. We are 1-0 [in the league] and we are moving forward.”
