Loyola Releases 2017 Schedule

The Loyola Greyhounds are the 36th team in our 2017 schedule preview. The Greyhounds went 14-4 last season, and 9-1 in the Patriot League. Loyola won the 2016 Patriot League Tournament, and advanced to the National Semifinals, where they lost to Chris Cloutier and North Carolina, 18-13. Let’s dive into their schedule.

LOYOLA

The Greyhounds open 2017 like they have in previous seasons with a game against Virginia at home on February 11. It will also be the debut game for Lars Tiffany as head coach of the Cavaliers. A week later, the “Battle of Charles Street” takes place at Homewood Field against Johns Hopkins on the 18th. Last year, Loyola won their third straight meeting against the Blue Jays, 9-8, and only their sixth ever win in the series. Patriot League play begins in Easton, Pennsylvania on February 25 against Lafayette.

March kicks off with a midweek Maryland battle against Towson on the 1st. Last year at Ridley Athletic Complex, Towson edged the Greyhounds, 10-8, before the Greyhounds beat the Tigers by the same score in the NCAA Quarterfinals at Ohio State. The team will be back in action three days later at home, as they resume Patriot League play against Holy Cross. Loyola then travels down to Durham to play Duke in their annual game on March 11. The Blue Devils won the regular season meeting, 16-5, while the Greyhounds took the postseason meeting, 16-11, both in Baltimore. The Greyhounds then host Navy in what should be a huge Patriot League showdown on March 18, before concluding nonconference play at home against Georgetown on March 22. Loyola travels to Bucknell to take on the Bison in what should be an intriguing game on March 25.

Loyola closes out their home schedule with games against Colgate on April 1 and Lehigh on April 8. The team then travels up to Boston to take on Boston University on April 15. The regular season finale is in West Point against Army West Point on the 21st. This will be a rematch of last year’s Patriot League championship game, which the Greyhounds won, 14-6.

Charley Toomey’s squad brings back early Tewaaraton finalist Pat Spencer, who led the team in all scoring categories, including points with 89. But he won’t have either attackman Zach Herreweyers or midfielder Tyler Albrecht. He’ll also be working with a new offensive coordinator in longtime Virginia assistant Marc Van Arsdale, after Ryan Moran left to become the head coach at UMBC. But the Greyhounds have a ton of offense returning from last season, including attackmen Zack Sirico and Jordan Germershausen, as well as midfielders Brian Sherlock, Romar Dennis, Nick Mazza, Jay Drapeau, and John Duffy. On defense, David Manning started all 18 games last season and has graduated. Jack Carrigan and Foster Huggins return as starting defensemen, and also have junior Ryder Harkins, who could fill in for Manning as the final starting defenseman. Along with senior Ryan Fournier and junior Zac Davliakos, the Greyhounds have one of the top incoming freshmen defenders in Bishop Shanahan product Ryan McNulty arriving, and he should get immediate playing time. Loyola returns top defensive midfielder Brian Begley as well. In goal, Jacob Stover took over the starting reigns midseason over Grant Limone and never looked back, and will look to keep the starting job for the entire season. But Limone is available if Stover starts to falter. FOGO Graham Savio will take the majority of face-offs, with junior Mike Orefice behind him. Loyola will certainly be a favorite to make Championship Weekend once again in 2017, and could be a pick to win their second ever National Championship.

To see every team’s schedule and which one’s we’ve highlighted, check our our master schedule list.