BALTIMORE - In a battle of Baltimore lacrosse programs, UMBC outscored Loyola 7-4 in the second half, but ultimately fell 12-8 on Friday night. UMBC falls to 0-2, while Loyola picks up its first win to move to 1-2.
The Greyhounds opened the contest with five first-quarter goals, taking a 3-0 lead just over five minutes into the game.
Connor Chick put UMBC on the board 54 seconds into the second quarter, scoring off a feed from
Nick Gutierrez. Loyola would score the next three goals, taking an 8-1 lead into halftime.
The momentum began to shift in UMBC's direction in the third as
Ryan Demato and
Jameson Coffman scored goals for the Retrievers to cut the deficit to five. Loyola answered back with two more goals, but a
Jack Fish unassisted goal with 1:30 left in the third pulled UMBC within six heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter rally began just 2:21 seconds in as
Corey Myers found
Xander Maxwell to cut the deficit back to five. 38 seconds later, Chick found
Jake Kucinski for his first goal of the day, making it a 10-6 game. Less than a minute later,
Nathan Ward found Fish for his second of the day and the three-goal flurry pulled UMBC within three for the first time since the 9:59 mark of the opening quarter.
With 8:58 to play, Kenan Everhart put an end to the four-goal run, pushing Loyola back ahead by four, but the goal of the night from Myers off a beautiful behind-the-back feed from Maxwell quickly brought UMBC back within three. Loyola would hold the Retrievers off the board for the final 6:48, adding one more Mason Cook goal with 1:41 to play to seal the 12-8 win.
Despite a hot start from Loyola's Carson Hall,
Alex Steers won 14-of-23 face-offs, picking up a game-high seven ground balls.
Casey Pung caused four turnovers for the Retrievers, and
Connor McMahon made 11 saves. McMahon has made 10 or more saves in both games this season, and now has six games in his career with double-digit saves.
UMBC hits the road for four straight contests, starting on Tuesday at Mount St. Mary's.
