A Look at Loyola Club Baseball

By: Tori Buch

Loyola’s club baseball team is made up of 35 guys who are all striving for the same goal. They want to have the chance to represent their school at the NCBA World Series that takes place in late May. Unfortunately, this year Loyola will not be participating, but that does not mean the guys did not work hard this year to achieve personal and team goals.

The team plays for the National Club Baseball Association. They are in Division II, and play teams such as Georgetown, University of Maryland, and Mount Saint Mary’s. This year, their final record from the both the fall and spring season was 11-7. Their biggest rival was University of Maryland, who ended up winning the division.

Training for the season starts in the fall. Matt Marsh, a pitcher and a sophomore Finance Major trained all winter for the spring season. “We had many conditioning practices over the fall and into the winter.” He said. “During the winter personally I trained through throwing in the bullpen and weight lifting.” This spring, Matt pitched a few innings, and gave up no hits or runs.

The team also ordered new uniforms and warm-ups this year. Eric Loy, a senior first basemen who is majoring in communications is happy with the team’s new look. “We ordered a lot of really nice looking gear this year.” He said. “Our team is a big believer in look good, feel good, play good.”

Eric was a starting first basemen, and had a batting average of .323, with 10 hits, and 7 runs batted in. When asked about his favorite moment of the season, he responded with, “Our come from behind victory against Mount St. Mary’s.” He said. “We came back from 7 runs to win in the last inning and really set the tone for the rest of the year.”

 

Although the team did not make it to playoffs this year, they are optimistic that next year can be a better season. “There is a lot of talent on the team and I feel that with a few minor changes we can do something special.” Said Matt. The team hopes to improve on things like batting averages and fielding.

As for Eric, this was his last season playing for Loyola. “It’s a program that I’ve seen develop each year, and I’m excited to leave behind a growing tradition that is only going to get better.” He said. “Roll hounds.”

 

Baltimore Prepares For The Preakness

Saturday, the first leg of the famed “Triple Crown” was run in Louisville, Kentucky at legendary venue, Churchill Downs.

“Orb,” ridden by jockey Joel Rosario, was the most powerful among the three late surging horses – Golden Soul and Revolutionary – and took home a two and a half length victory.

Hall of fame trainer, and first time Derby winner Shug McGaughey said, “It means everything to me. I’ve always dreamed of this day and it finally came.”

With the Derby come and gone, the next event for the horse racing world is the middle leg of the Triple Crown: The Preakness. The event is, of course, held at Pimlico racetrack in western Baltimore.

What separates the Preakness from the other legs of the crown is the length of the track. It is by far the shortest of the three races (the other race being the Belmont in New York). For example, If the Kentucky Derby was to have been at Pimlico, early pace-setter Palice Malice would have ended the race with the lead.

It will be interesting to see how the horses from the Derby, and any new horses that are entered in the race adjust to a shorter track.

Surprisingly every horse that place second through sixth appears to be opting out of the Preakness. The trainers of horses such as 32-1 longshot-runer-up Golden Soul and Revolutionary have said they will rest their three-year-old colts for the Belmont stakes – a much longer race – two weeks after the Preakness.

Abstraction, a horse that would be given high odds due to the fact that he won the Preakness Prep Race last week, is most likely not to run due to late entry fees.

Baltimore-based Under Armour owner’s Kevin Plank is bound to put one of his Sagamore Farms’ horses in the race – most likely Heat Press. Heat Press is a pace-setting Long Shot, but Plank is known for taking chances, and the Preakness is certainly a place to take a shot.

Look for Orb to be the obvious favorite. Mylute, (ridden by female rider  Rosie Napravnik, who started her career in Maryland), Departed and new Governor Charlie (who was held out of the Kentucky Derby) as contenders.

It will be interesting to see how horses that ran in the derby fare in Baltimore, especially if the weather in Baltimore is any better than the mud that engulfed Churchill Downs last Saturday.

The winner is guaranteed at least a 1,000,000 million dollar payout, quite the incentive to make the trip to Baltimore.

Anything could happen come Saturday, May 18th at Pimlico.

 

SJ Tuohy | Loyola Maryland Reporter

Loyola Bows Out of BIG EAST Tournament

By Evan Sheehy

2013 Loyola Women’s Lacrosse Team

Washington D.C.- On Thursday, Loyola’s Women’s Lacrosse team faced Georgetown for the second time this month, in the BIG EAST semifinals where they lost 16-14 despite a late comeback.

For Loyola, it was once again sophomore attacker Annie Thomas who stepped up. She led the team in points for the day with four: two goals and two assists.

Sophomore defensive player Maddy Lesher said, “She (Thomas) scored when we needed her too and she never stopped getting ground balls, attacking the net and re defending.” Despite another spectacular performance against the Hoyas, Loyola failed to obtain a bid to the conference final this coming Saturday.

The first half saw Georgetown get off to a quick 2-0 lead before sophomore attacker Kara Burke struck twine. The one goal deficit was the closest the Hounds would get to equalizing the score in the first half.

Three more goals from Loyola came nowhere near matching the six that Georgetown tallied in the remaining 25 minutes. With the halftime whistle the Hoyas had a 8-4 lead over the greyhounds.

Head coach Jen Adams’ half time talk seemed to have ignited the fire that was missing in the first half, as Georgetown head coach Ricky Fried told BIGEAST.org, “Loyola came out into the second half on a mission.” After an early Georgetown goal, Loyola went on a 6-0 run, that just fell short of a much desired semifinal win.

Loyola responded to Georgetown’s early goal with one of their own from sophomore attacker Hannah Schmitt (9-5 Georgetown).

At 26:12 Thomas finds her teammate, attacker Cass Cursaro for a great goal (9-6 Georgetown).

The momentum continues for Loyola as midfielder Taryn VanThof gets a step in the middle for a sidearm shot (9-7 Georgetown).

23:29:  Burke scores in transition as senior attacker Joanna Dalton sends her an amazing pass to bring the game within one (9-8 Georgetown).

Off the draw Loyola works the ball around and eventually find Thomas for the tying goal (9 all).

With 18:53 left to play Marlee Paton takes it coast-to-coast and scores to give Loyola its first lead of the night (10-9 Loyola).

Unfortunately at 14:56 Georgetown attacker Kelsi Bozel scores on a free position, tying the game at 10, and ending Loyola’s six goal scoring streak.

After two more lead changes the Hoyas took the lead for the final time in the game 13-12. Then, three more goals from the Hoyas and only two from Loyola saw the game arrive at the final score of 16-14, with two minutes remaining.

Though the scintillating performance in the second half was not enough to carry Loyola to the BIG EAST conference final, tune into NCAA.com on Sunday at 9 p.m. for the 2013 NCAA Tournament

Selection Show.

Club Swimming takes the ATL

By Molly Coffee (Story #6)

Atlanta—The Loyola Club Swim Team headed down to Atlanta, Georgia the weekend of April 19^th-21^st to compete in the 10^th Annual ECC National Swim Championships.  It was the first time Loyola’s club swim team competed in this championship meet.  The club, which started 7 years ago, swam personal bests while the relays shattered a few records.

Georgia Tech hosted the meet in downtown Atlanta, which played host to the 1996 Olympic Games.  In a natatorium with 50 teams across the nation, Loyola held their own against big schools such as University of Florida, Kansas University, University of Colorado, Penn State and many more.  As sophomore Chris Fessler said, “It was amazing to be able to swim with teams from all across the country in the 1996 Olympic Swimming pool.”

Even though Loyola did not win any medals, they still dropped time.  The women’s 400 Medley Relay swam a record best time of 4:37.04 and the men’s 400 Medley Relay finished in a time of 4:09.35.  There was even an Olympian from Iceland who claimed gold in all her events.  As senior captain Erin Hughes said, “I raced an Olympian in prelims, which was intimidating at first, but it was really neat to look over and see an Olympic athlete in the lane next to me, and my time was only a couple seconds slower than hers.”

The morale and excitement of just being at nationals was enough for Loyola’s club swimmers.  “All of us did an amazing job and some even had their personal best times in Atlanta,” said sophomore Katie High.  “It was great to have a chance to swim against some bigger teams and be surrounded by a higher level of competition.”

The ECC Swim Nationals provided a great experience for Loyola’s club swimmers because it showed how much the club has grown and welcomed new members.  “The ability to go to ECC’s gave me a goal to train for throughout the semester,” said sophomore Megan Reiter.  “We all worked very hard and swam well.  It also was great to have some fun with my teammates off campus.”

The club swim team hopes to go back to the ECC Championships next year with more swimmers and faster times.

Women’s Club Soccer Uses Spring Season as Development for the Fall

By Madison Connor

The Loyola University Maryland Women’s Club Soccer team used a tough five game spring schedule to prepare both athletically and mentally for their upcoming fall season.

The mini season started off with an indoor tournament in late February at the Fitness and Aquatic Center, hosting local opponents Georgetown, William and Mary, and West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Each team was guaranteed three games on the makeshift soccer field.

With each game only lasting thirty minutes, much shorter than an actual soccer match, the teams were forced to play at a faster pace. Sophomore midfielder Danielle Saitta felt that this helped the team with their footwork, an area that needs improvement. “We always have trouble handling the ball in a cluster,” she said, “the indoor games forced us to have to play this way.”

Following the FAC tournament the team held an inter-squad match the weekend of March 16^th. This allowed them to recognize other areas that needed work such as midfield transition and scoring off of corner penalties, according to Saitta.

The next weekend Loyola traveled to the University of Pennsylvania, for the only official game not held at the Hounds home turf, Diane Geppi Aikens Field. The Quakers pulled away with the win as the Hounds failed to get their momentum going in the first half. Sophomore midfielder Courtney Burnett stated, “We couldn’t do anything right to start the game, we turned the ball over on almost every offensive possession.”

The Hounds were given a two-week break before the next game against Temple University at DGA on April 13^th.  The team held three practices after their loss to UPenn in hopes the Temple game would be filled with strengths. After a messy battle in the rain Loyola tied the Owls 1-1.

April 20^th marked the final game of the spring season for Loyola, at home versus Charles Street rival Johns Hopkins. Again, Loyola failed to come out strong, heading into the half loosing 2-0. Both Saitta and Burnett reflected that their coach, Jamie Gasiorowski, insisted that the girls push through in the second half. “Coach Gasiorowski reminded us who we were playing, even though spring games don’t mean anything, we still never want to loose to Hopkins,” stated Burnett.

The motivation was quickly instilled and the Hounds went on to tie the score making it 2-2. The second half push for the win escaped from Loyola, as the Blue Jays were able to net a goal just before the end of regulation.

Sophomore forward Lauren LaChance said that she feels all of the games have been building blocks for the fall season. “Though we are loosing some players to abroad and graduation,” she stated, “we are looking forward to the players who are returning from abroad and adding new members to the team with fall tryouts who will hopefully increase commitment.”

The Greyhounds Invade the Bird Nest

By Molly Coffee

Baltimore— After 13 years of defeat, the Loyola Greyhounds finally upset the no. 11 Johns Hopkins Blue Jays in a 8-4 victory at Homewood Field this past Saturday afternoon in their last regular-season game.

The last time Loyola beat Hopkins was in 1999 on the Blue Jays’ home turf.  The previous seven meetings between the teams had been decided by only 13 goals with Hopkins winning four times by a single point.  Saturday’s game gave the Hounds a huge moral boost as they head into the ECAC tournament this upcoming weekend.  “As a senior and the sibling of a member of the class of 2005, this win was especially exciting for me after 13 years,” said Super Fans President Carolyn Breen.

“Saturday’s win was right up there with winning a national championship,” said sophomore Pat McEnerney.  The feelings were similar as was the atmosphere after the game.  It felt good to win it for our senior class.”

No. 7 ranked Loyola (11-3overall) did some bird hunting in the second half as they dominated the Blue Jays (8-5), keeping them scoreless.  “This last game was good for us,” said defender Joe Fletcher.  “At both ends of the field we were able to do our jobs correctly by helping each other on offense and defense. It was a good team effort and it was especially nice to get that win for our seniors and the alumni.”

Loyola started the game with an early goal by senior Josh Hawkins who scored 10 yards out.  But, the Blue Jays fought back as they tied the score with John Kaestner’s goal 1-1.  Then Hopkins took, what would be a short-lived, lead 2-1.  They Blue Jays held this lead for the next five minutes until freshman Zach Herreweyers tied the score 2-2 with two minutes left in the second quarter.  A minute later, senior Mike Sawyer scored two goals before Hopkins player Brandon Benn scored his team’s last goal of the first half, which put the Hounds in the lead 4-3 at the end of the second quarter.

Loyola made it their mission to keep their lead as they came out at the start of the second half.  Sean O’Sullivan, Sawyer, Davis Butts and Kevin Ryan scored the Greyhounds’ last 4 goals, while Hopkins player Mike Poppleton scored the Blue Jays lone goal, which brought the finals score 8-4.  A solid second half by the Hounds left the Blue Jays stranded in the nest.

“Our senior class has done so much for the program and this is another thing to check off what they have done for this team,” stated Fletcher.  The seniors weren’t the only players increasing Loyola’s lead, as the defense also played a key role in Saturday’s win.  Fletcher led the Greyhounds with five ground balls, while Pat Frazier, Josh Hawkins, and Scott Ratliff each had three.  Frazier also caused six turnovers, leaving the Greyhounds with 8 turnovers and the Blue Jays with ten in the second half.

As Loyola heads into tournament time the focus now shifts to communication and teamwork.  “We are keeping focus that this is just one game out of the season. Now it is the playoffs, almost a whole new season,” said Fletcher.  “We have to keep on playing hard and improving in order to be successful.”

Loyola received the no. 2 seed in the third-annual ECAC Lacrosse League Championships.  They will face no. 3 seed Ohio State on Thursday, May 2, at 8 p.m. at Hobart College in Geneva, N.Y.

Previewing The Battle of North Charles

Previewing The Battle of North Charles

By: Brendan Hyland

Last year the Loyola men’s lacrosse team’s 10-9 loss to archrival Johns Hopkins served as a speedbump to a national title run. The Greyhounds look to avenge last year’s loss and continue their winning ways when they travel to Homewood Field. Saturday’s contest will be the 51st meeting in the rivalry known as The Battle of North Charles, and as usual emotions will be high and preparation will be crucial in this toss-up game that features key matchups all over the field.

Former Johns Hopkins All-American goalie and current ESPN lacrosse analyst Quint Kessenich hosts a weekly podcast on ESPN.com. Loyola head coach Charlie Toomey was a guest this week and spoke to the weekly preparation involved in a game like this. Toomey also addressed the pregame emotions and how he plans to combat that.

“Our plan is to understand Hopkins Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and then back off of (the players) and realize (that) you need your legs (for the game on Saturday),” Toomey explained. “There’s nothing you can say that will slow their heart rate down (before the game). But we’re going to try our best and hope our seniors really lead the way this week. We just need to handle the ball and get each guy a touch and get into the game.”

After the first few minutes, emotions will go down and players will begin to play as if it is just another game. Once the emotions settle, Kessenich believes Loyola’s ability to win faceoff scrums will be key, in addition to their goaltending.

“Mike Poppleton facing off vs Loyola wingers of Josh Hawkins and Scott Ratliff. JHU may own the draw, but Loyola can win the scrums,” Kessenich said. “Hopkins has shown a propensity to make goalies look like superstars in their losses. Can (Loyola goalie Jack Runkel) get hot? If he can, that will be huge for Loyola.”

Indeed, whether or not Runkel can get hot in goal will be huge in determining the outcome of the game. The junior, affectionately known as “Runk,” comes into the game allowing 8.42 goals per game, while Hopkins scores an average of 12.33 goals per game. He knows Hopkins boasts a potent attack, but believes he and his teammates are up to the challenge. Runk cites helps defense and knowledge of player tendencies as big keys for the Hounds defense.

“The key to stopping their attack is just playing good help defense. If we leave our players on islands with no help, then they will score goals,” Runkel explained. “For me, in net, it’s just about knowing tendencies. If I can steal a few from the guys who score regularly, I think we have a good shot at a win.”

Needless to say, execution must be high come Saturday for the Greyhounds to escape with a win. Emotions and intensity will be extremely high, for both the Loyola players and fans, who Runkel calls the best in the country, and everyone will be focused on beating the Blue Jays.

“We have the best fans in the country and our team knows it and believes it. I don’t think Hopkins will be expecting as much green and grey in their stands as they’ll see Saturday,” Runkel said. “Regardless of if it’s their senior day or our senior day, or the first game of the season or the last, everyone here at Loyola is focused on getting that win.”

Loyola Men’s Club Soccer Season Review

By Evan Sheehy

The Loyola University men’s club soccer team recently completed its most successful season in school history going 18-2-2, with the highlights of the season including a tournament championship at Clemson University’s Spring Shindig Club Soccer Tournament  and a spectacular series of performances from Alex Bullington.

One of the highlights of the season came in Loyola’s spring opener, during the Clemson University, Spring Shindig Club Soccer Tournament. Loyola was able to secure a 1-0 victory over the hosts, Clemson Tigers, seeing the favorites bow out early.

The lone goal for the Hounds came early in the match, as senior forward Joseph Mahfood poached a high arching cross from junior midfielder Liam O’Mara, that creeped under the bar in the right corner of the net. Despite this quick strike, Clemson’s possession allowed them to dictate play for most of the game. It was then that Loyola defense showed its prowess, stopping a number of efforts from the Tigers, and ultimately earning them not only the clean sheet, but the win over the host team.

The Greyhounds continued their run of form, by cruising past Mississippi State University, Kennesaw State University and University of Central Florida before meeting up with Wake Forest University in the tournament final.

In the final game, which was Loyola’s fifth match in 40 hours, the Greyhounds were looking at extra time when late in the second half, junior forward Corey Smith picked up a misplaced pass by the Wake Forest defense, and slotted the winning goal into a wide open net. This secured Loyola’s first ever Spring Shindig Tournament Championship, an even that the players will take with them beyond their years on the team.

As the season progressed Loyola’s performance remained top class, as seen in the individual performances of junior forward, Alex Bullington. Over the course of the spring season Bullington amassed eight goals and four assists earning him not only the title of leading scorer but leader in overall points as well.

When asked about his performances sophomore forward Brian Spurr said, “he was great this year, when ever we needed a big play he [Bullington] always came through for us.” Spurr continued to say, “Alex’s performances were a crucial factor in how well we did this season.”

The most recent success for Bullington and Loyola, saw a draw against bitter rivals Johns Hopkins University this past saturday. Daley explained, that although it is not as pleasing as the win over them earlier this year,  a draw is better then a loss against such a rival. With this result, Loyola can also proclaim that they went undefeated against the Blue Jays this year.

On both the team and individual aspects, the Loyola University men’s club soccer team strung together a number of sensational results that earned them the best record  in the schools history. When reflecting Missett stated the effect this impressive season had on him when he said, “I enjoyed my experiences with the team so much that I can’t wait until the fall,when we step out on the pitch, and we try to make it happen all over again.”

Loyola’s Crew Team Heads to the MAAC Championships

By: Tori Buch

The men and women of the Loyola crew team are headed to Lake Mercer in West Windsor, New Jersey on April 27th to compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships.

The men will be competing in five events: Varsity Four, Novice Four, JV Four, Men’s Pair, and Men’s Varsity Lightweight Four. The women will be competing in the Women’s pair, Varsity Four, and the Novice Eight. The team will not be able to compete for the overall championship this year because of how small it is. However, each boat hopes to excel their individual events.

Last year, the men’s team finished fifth. The women’s team only competed in two events, due to small squad size. In an interview for Loyola’s Athletic Website, coach Al Ramierez reflected on the performances of the day. “We were happy with the men’s and women’s varsity pairs.” He Said. “They did a great job with minimal practice time together.”

Alyssa Adsit, a sophomore who’s majoring in marketing and finance, has been on the crew team for two years. After losing many key senior rowers last year, she is still positive about the team. “We’ve started to get into our flow now and have started making the grand finals at some pretty big races.” She said. “Overall, we’ve done pretty well given the small team we have right now!” Alyssa is a coxswain for the men’s lightweight boat. The coxswain is the person who is in control of the boat’s navigation and steering during the race.

This weekend’s regatta is important to the team, because it will prepare them for the Dad Vail Regatta in Philadelphia on May 10^th and 11^th. The Dad Vail is the largest collegiate regatta in the country, and thousands of athletes will be competing.

Right now, the team is training hard. “We’re preparing for the end of the season with varying hard intensity and lighter technical-focused practices.” Said Alyssa. “We also have 2 lifting sessions a week, however as we approach the final week before Dad Vails, we will cut out the lifting to make sure we are not sore and fatigued for the race.”

Sophomore political science major Michael Blume is racing this weekend for the men’s pair. Last weekend at the Kerr Cup in New Jersey, he and his partner Juan Cadavid finished fourth overall with a time of 7.11.50. “My personal best has dropped 15 seconds and I have gained a lot of valuable racing experience.” He said. “However, I still have a lot to work on.”

As the end of the season approaches, the men’s team is also working extremely hard. “Almost every member of the men’s team does at least one extra workout per day, apart from our morning practices on the water.” Said Michael. “These next two weeks will be devoted to perfecting what we have accomplished from the beginning of the year.”

Since the team practices daily throughout the year, they have a shared bond that not many other people get to experience. “I’ve learned a lot from being on this team through the trials and victories, but the best part of being on this team goes past that.” Said Alyssa.”I’ve acquired a family that will be with me forever.” Hopefully this bond will help them achieve success this weekend at the MAAC Championships.

Loyola Fans Gear Up for the Post-Season

Loyola Fans Gear Up for the Post-Season

By: Ryan Patterson

With the regular season winding down, fan excitement is at an all-time high as the Hounds will try to carry their strong regular season play into the post-season.

This years post-season has the possibility to be the most exciting ever, as Loyola is coming off its first National Championship in school history. However, repeating is always difficult, as sophomore Communications student Zach Hands notes, “It’s always hard to win a championship two years in a row because there is so much pressure and expectations placed on the team.”

But trying to win a championship two years in a row also has its advantages. Because the Hounds experienced playing deep into the post-season last year, they now have playoff experience that will help them to deal with the pressure to perform.

As the Hounds head into the post-season, they will look to ride the strong play of their senior midfielder, Mike Sawyer, who played great in Loyola’s last game against Johns Hopkins, providing three of Loyola’s eight goals. “Sawyer has been huge in every game for the Hounds and he has really elevated his game over the past few weeks,” Patrick McCabe, a sophomore Political Science major notes.

The Greyhounds will also rely heavily on their junior defensive midfielder Josh Hawkins, who set a new career high in goals scored this season with nine, scoring on an unprecedented 45% of his shots thus far, which is an extraordinary accomplishment considering he is a defensemen.

One aspect that boats well for the Hounds is that they only have one loss on the road all year, posting a 8-1 record, with their only loss coming in a one goal decision against Duke. The Hounds won their last two road matchups in convincing fashion, edging Hobart 19-11 and Johns Hopkins 8-4. Michael Watkins, a sophomore Communications student, correctly observed, “The Hounds have played well on the road all season long and this will definitely be an advantage during the post-season when they have to travel to face other teams.”

Regardless of if the Hounds win or lose during the post-season this year, they have definitely energized the faithful Loyola fans. They have really made the Loyola community proud over the last two years, winning a National Championship and being great ambassadors for the school. Maria Arenas, a sophomore Communications major put it nicely when she explained, “I’m excited for the post-season this year.  I’m anxious to see if they will repeat, but whatever happens they had a great season and they should be proud of all they accomplished.”