Previewing Loyola’s 2018 Schedule

The Loyola Greyhounds are the 48th team in our 2018 schedule preview series and the seventh team from the Patriot League. The Greyhounds won the Patriot League for the second straight year, but fell to eventual national runner-up Ohio State, 7-4, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Here’s the entire 2018 schedule:

Loyola’s schedule doesn’t change from last year.

Let’s check out some notable games on this schedule:

Best Nonconference Game: vs. Johns Hopkins

The Battle of Charles Street is always a great (and now cold) game, and last year’s game ended with a #WhitneyInOT from Joel Tinney after winning the last three meetings. More than likely, the Blue Jays will have Brock Turnbaugh in net, and he had a pretty alright game when he played two years ago, stopping 16 shots. But the Hopkins offense with Shack Stanwick and Kyle Marr will be difficult to handle.

Best Conference Game: vs. Army West Point

I’m expecting we’ll see these two teams play each other more than once this year. They’ve done so for the past three years in the Patriot League Tournament, and the Black Knights will look to finally get a Patriot League title under their belts.

Under The Radar Game: @ Lehigh

The Mountain Hawks have a stud junior class. including Andrew Pettit, Tristan Rai, and Craig Chick. They’ll try to take the next step in their development, but another key player to watch is sophomore FOGO Conor Gaffney, who went 61% from the face-off X as a freshman last year. He didn’t play in last year’s meeting, and instead of Graham Savio, he’ll probably have to deal with Mike Orefice.

Possible Upset: @ Georgetown

The Hoyas almost pulled off a surprise stunner last year, just losing by a goal to the Greyhounds at Ridley Athletic Complex. The Hoyas took a one-goal lead in the third quarter, but they were neck-and-neck with Loyola for the entire game. Daniel Bucaro is Georgetown’s best player on offense and scored a hat-trick in last year’s meeting. Limiting his production will be key in this game.

For other schedules and team rosters, check out our Men’s Division I matrix.