Loyola preview
Today’s entry is the fourth of a week-long series taking a look at each of the seven Division I programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. Tune in Tuesday for a preview of Navy, and The Sun’s lacrosse preview is slated to be published on Friday, Feb. 12. Today is Loyola’s turn.
Overview: The Greyhounds missed out on a third consecutive NCAA Tournament bid by the thinnest of margins, and the objective this fall and spring has been to take their future from the hands of the selection committee and into their own. To that end, Loyola is taking aim at winning the Eastern College Athletic Conference regular-season title, which would secure the team the league’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament and home-field advantage in next year’s season-ending ECAC Tournament.
Reason for optimism: Despite graduating two defensive starters and perhaps one of the best long-stick midfielders in recent memory (more on P.T. Ricci later), the defense is still solid. Senior Steve Layne registered 48 groundballs and 24 caused turnovers last season, junior Steve Dircks was poised to start last spring until he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, and senior Kyle Cottrell got some valuable experience last year. Junior Nick Disimile, sophomore Dylan Grimm and freshman Reid Acton will also contribute. "We’re going to be as good as our defense is," coach Charley Toomey said. "… We feel like we’ve got the strength of our team down low with our poles. They’re going to be able to match up pretty doggone well with attackmen from around the country."
Reason for pessimism: The offense returns two starting attackmen in seniors Cooper MacDonnell (30 goals and eight assists) and Collin Finnerty (24, 13), but will sorely miss Shane Koppens, who quarterbacked the unit before graduating. Junior Matt Langan should start, and a pair of Calvert Hall graduates in junior D.J. Comer and freshman Patrick Fanshaw could see significant playing time, but Toomey is hoping that someone fills Koppens’ role. "The confidence to carry the ball, that’s going to paramount for us," he said. "The ball is going to be in somebody’s stick other than Shane’s, and we’re going to need him to make plays. There’s no doubt that we’re going to rely on our attack to be decision-makers."
Keep an eye on: Toomey got a pleasant surprise from the team’s scrimmage against Drexel on Thursday as he watched the first midfield score four of the team’s seven goals. The junior trio of Eric Lusby, Chris Basler and Stephen Murray are working well together and being aggressive with the ball. But Toomey is somewhat cautious about heaping too much praise on the unit. "Honestly, I want to see them do it again," he said. "I want to see them do it in a real game. We were very excited to break down the tape and see them have some production for us. We didn’t get the production from our attack that we normally get, but we were very happy in the midfield. I would love to say that unit is flying under the radar, but I think I’m going to have to see it a few times to believe it so that it’s not an apparition."
What he said: Asked how he intends to replace Ricci, who led the team in groundballs (91) and caused turnovers (51) last season, Toomey said, "You don’t, quite honestly. What we’re trying to do is look at his numbers overall, and at the end of the game, P.T. Ricci had maybe five takeaways and eight groundballs. What we’re trying to do is put two poles and maybe three poles in a situation where we can get to those numbers. I don’t think any one guy is going to be able to do what P.T. Ricci did for us. I think with maybe the combination of three guys, we might be able to reach the numbers that we’re hopeful of. … We’re challenging our poles to be really good between-the-lines guys and pick up tough groundballs and create offensive opportunities out of it."
