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College Crosse NCAA Tournament Recap: Loyola Storms Back to Defeat Syracuse 15-13

The Greyhounds advance to the Second Round!

Notre Dame v Loyola Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images

Box Score: Loyola 15 vs. Syracuse 13

Loyola prevailed over Syracuse in an emotional, tense, & entertaining game in Baltimore. The game was a back-and-forth affair in the first half, but Syracuse appeared to be gaining control of the contest towards the end of the 3rd quarter. However, despite scoring their 12th goal with 3:31 left in the 3rd quarter to take a 12-8 lead over Loyola, the Orange were unable to close out the game for the win.

After Syracuse went up 12-8, Loyola responded by going on a 7-0 run from the end of the 3rd quarter until 1:11 mark of the 4th. By then, Loyola was up 15-12 and the Syracuse collapse was nearly complete. The Orange did notch their 13th goal with 21 seconds left in the game, giving their fans a glimmer of hope, but there just wasn’t enough time to mount a proper comeback as Loyola was able to eat up the final seconds of the game to pull out the 15-13 victory.

The Greyhounds had great performances today from Pat Spencer & goalie Jacob Stover. Spencer finished the afternoon with 9 total points (3Gs, 6 As) & also passed Lyle Thompson as the NCAA Division I record holder for assists with 226. Stover had a big game in the net for the Greyhounds, as he finished with 16 saves, 10 of which came in the second half, which helped to fuel Loyola’s comeback. Aidan Olmstead also played well for the Greyhounds as he finished the day with 2 goals and 2 assists.

Syracuse didn’t play poorly. In fact, the Orange were playing well offensively and looked like they were cruising to a comfortable win by the end of the 3rd quarter. Nevertheless, Loyola went on their 7-0 run after the Orange scored their 12th goal and Syracuse just couldn’t respond. Nate Solomon led the team in scoring with 4 points (2Gs, 2As), while Jamie Trimboli (2Gs, 1A) and Stephen Rehfuss (2Gs, 1A) also had good games with three points apiece.

Loyola will now go on to play the winner of tomorrow’s Penn State vs. UMBC game. If Penn State wins on Sunday, it means we’ll have a Quarterfinal match-up between Pat Spencer & Grant Ament, which would be a real treat for every college lacrosse fan.