BALTIMORE — The Loyola Greyhounds host the defending national champion Maryland Terrapins on Saturday in one of the most anticipated local men's lacrosse matchups of the season.
Loyola is set to open its 81st season in program history. Charley Toomey is embarking on his 18th year as head coach and once again his Hounds have a great shot at doing something special.
They return seven of their top-10 point scorers from a year ago. They’ll have to replace the production of Kevin Lindley, the program’s all-time leading goal scorer who was a five-year starter. Senior midfielder Adam Poitras is the leading returning goal-scorer. He had 29 in 2022. Short-stick defensive midfielder Payton Rezanka was named a First-Team Preseason All-American. Defenseman Cam Wyers was named a Preseason All-America Honorable Mention.
The group is fired up to start a new season and go toe-to-toe with the top-ranked Terps.
"It’s a great opportunity for us to really find our identity," said Wyers. "It will be a good test to see where we are and what we need to work on going forward. But it’s also a chance for us to show who we are as a team so far."
"Going into [Saturday] we have no doubts in ourselves," added Poitras. "We are a very confident group and I think we can do something nobody thinks we can do."
"For us to be successful we kind of have to get back to our identity. That’s a team that plays hard defensively, that can make a couple saves and then if we can get out over the top we can run. If we don’t have transition we have to settle into a solid six-on-six game and really just limit our turnovers and limit our opponent’s team to run on us," said Toomey.
As far as the rankings are concerned, Loyola is on the outside looking in. They are receiving votes. Maryland is ranked No. 1 in the country in the coaches poll. They beat Richmond last week in their season opener.
Saturday’s game is at Ridley Athletic Complex. Opening face-off set for 1:00 p.m.
Follow Shawn Stepner on Twitter @StepnerWMAR and Facebook
