BALTIMORE — Loyola University Maryland committed 15 turnovers, and six Colgate University goals resulted on possessions gained from the miscues Saturday afternoon, and the Raiders defeated the Greyhounds, 11-4, in Patriot League men’s lacrosse action.
Colgate (5-4 overall, 3-2 Patriot League) scored four-straight to open the game, and all four of the Raiders’ tallies came after Loyola turned the ball over. Three times, the turnovers were uncaused by Colgate.
The Greyhounds (5-5, 3-2) nearly scored the game’s first goal when Jordan Germershausen took a Tyler Albrecht wing-to-crease pass on a man-up possession. Germershausen put the ball in the net, but he stepped in the crease, and the goal was nullified.
Just over a minute later on its offensive end, Colgate scored when Ryan Walsh shot a pass to Chase Wittich on the doorstep at 11:58.
Walsh, Matt Clarkson and Cameron Williams then scored for Colgate within a four-minute stretch midway through the first quarter. Williams’ goal at 4:13 put the Raiders in front, 4-0, and came on an extra-man opportunitiy.
Loyola finish broke through with 31.6 seconds left in the first quarter when Nikko Pontrello created an opening with a dodge from behind and fed a pass to Zach Herreweyers on the crease, narrowing the gap to three.
Williams and Peter Donato, however, scored for Colgate at 9:05 and 6:22, in the second quarter, and Loyola did not score for more than 15 minutes.
The Greyhounds caused a Coglate turnover on a ride, and Ryan Fournier fed Mike Kutzer in transition for Kutzer’s first goal of the season with 7.5 ticks left.
Neither Loyola, nor Coglate, scored in the third quarter’s first five minutes, but Colgate then ripped off five-straight goals over a six-plus minute span to lead 11-2 on an unassisted Wittich goal at 3:29.
Albrecht broke the stretch by bulling through traffic at goal-line extended to score with 92 ticks left in the third, and Jay Drapeau converted a long north-south run with a goal just over a second before the third quarter expired.
Loyola had possession to start the fourth quarter, and it took four shots before a turnover gave possession back to the Raiders. The turnover was a sign of things to come as the Greyhounds either had transition shots on goal saved cleanly or turned the ball over on their next six possessions in what would be a scoreless final frame.
Williams finished with a game-high four goals and five points, while Wittich scored twice for the Raiders. Clarkson, Donato and Walsh each had two assists, as eight of Colgate’s 11 goals came from feeds.
Graham Savio continued solid play at the faceoff ‘X’ for Loyola, winning 13-of-19, and his game-high six ground balls helped Loyola hold a 31-28 edge in that category.
The Greyhounds are back in action on Saturday, April 4, when they host their final regular-seaosn home game at 2:30 p.m. against the U.S. Naval Academy.
