- Chris Jastrzembski
Previewing Loyola's 2022 men's lacrosse schedule
The Loyola Greyhounds are the 14th team in our 2022 men’s college lacrosse schedule preview series and the first team from the Patriot League. Loyola finished 10-6 overall in 2021 and 4-3 in Patriot League play. The Greyhounds made it to the Patriot League title game, but had to withdraw due to COVID protocol within the program. They did qualify for the NCAA Tournament, where they upset 7th seeded Denver before falling to Duke in overtime in the quarterfinals.
Here's their entire 2022 spring schedule:
WHO'S IN?
Maryland Terrapins (2/12)
Johns Hopkins Blue Jays (2/19)
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (2/26)
Duke Blue Devils (3/12, teams played each other in NCAA Tournament)
Holy Cross Crusaders (4/2)
Boston University Terriers (4/16)
Colgate Raiders (4/23)
Despite being Patriot League opponents, BU, Colgate, and Holy Cross did not play some of their league foes (Loyola was one of them) last season due to the Patriot League's temporary division formatting.
WHO'S OUT?
Richmond Spiders (8-7 W/OT)
Virginia Cavaliers (15-12 L)
Utah Utes (20-8 W)
CIRCLE THESE DATES
2/12 at Maryland: Loyola begins their season with three-straight games against Big Ten opponents. The first coming against in-state foe Maryland for the first time since 2015. That early April meeting was tied at 10 in the fourth quarter before Bryan Cole's goal with 3:05 left gave the Terps the eventual win. The Greyhounds are 3-20 all-time against the Terrapins, but one of those wins gave Loyola a national championship back in 2012.
2/19 at Johns Hopkins: Homewood Field and the Ridley Athletic Complex are separated by 2.7 miles. It's about an eight minute drive or a 55 minute walk. Ridley is actually not on Charles Street, where the Loyola campus is on. Back to lacrosse, the Greyhounds have won the last three meetings against the Blue Jays and six of the last seven. They're 9-48 all-time against Johns Hopkins, meaning two-thirds of their all-time wins have come within the last 10 years. Defeating Maryland, Johns Hopkins, and Rutgers would mean Loyola would become the Big Ten Mid-Atlantic Champion.
3/2 vs. Towson: One of the more enjoyable midweek matchups returns after being played on a Saturday last season. Towson and Loyola have usually been in or around the top 20 for the past handful of seasons. The Tigers completed a comeback last year with a 7-6 win in overtime which felt like the dagger to Loyola's at-large hopes. We were wrong.
4/19 at Georgetown: And this was where the Greyhounds came barking back to life, defeating the Hoyas by a pair of goals at Ridley. Loyola outscored Georgetown 7-3 in the second half and were led by four-point efforts from Kevin Lindley and Peter Swindell. Lindley and teammate Aidan Olmstead are college lacrosse's version of Peyton Siva and Perry Ellis because it feels like they've been at Loyola forever. This is their final year in college, we think.
4/29 vs. Lehigh: A very rare occurrence happened to the Greyhounds last year. They lost to Lehigh. Matter of fact, it was the first time ever in 15 meetings dating back to their first in 1942 that Loyola fell to Lehigh. Instead of early March like last year, the teams will meet in their Patriot League regular season finales. That should have some seeding implications for the upcoming conference tournament. It could also have bye and hosting implications.