2008 Woodie Awards
Lax drops opener to Irish
Kat Kienle
Issue date: 2/19/08 Section: Sports
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Assistant Sports Editor
If there were any first game jitters left entering the second-half of Saturday's matchup against No. 10 Notre Dame, they certainly no longer affected the Loyola men's lacrosse team. Yet, despite an explosive third quarter and exceptional collegiate debut performance by freshman Jake Hagelin in goal, the Fighting Irish spoiled opening weekend for the Greyhounds with a late goal and 7-6 victory at Diane Geppi-Aikens Field.
"They showed a lot of heart today," said coach Charley Toomey. "They came out ready to play and did with passion. We stayed together and got the ball back to put ourselves in the position to tie and even win the game. They battled adversity and I am very proud of them."
Despite the highly energized Greyhounds winning the faceoff and taking the day's first couple of shots on goal, a save by Notre Dame goalie Joey Kemp gave the Irish possession which junior Ryan Hoff soon converted for the game's first goal at the 10:50 mark. The Irish would then capitalize on an extra-man opportunity a minute later and net another before the end of the first quarter to take a 3-0 lead.
However, Loyola would soon answer the Notre Dame run when sophomore Collin Finnerty, after a feed from senior Shane Koppens, cracked the scoring column at the 11:49 mark for the Greyhound's first goal. Both sides would however exchange a pair of goals in the second, Loyola's next coming from junior Jake Willcox, leaving the margin 5-2 entering intermission.
"We came out playing fast and riding hard, but we didn't take good shots and threw the ball away sometimes," said Koppens. "We just didn't capitalize on the opportunities we had up front and outside."
The Greyhounds would however emerge in third quarter, erasing the Irish lead with a very productive and physical 15 minutes. A 3-0 surge with goals from freshman Matt Langan, Willcox, and sophomore Cooper MacDonnell, paralleled by a solid defensive effort by Hagelin and his surrounding defense to hinder Notre Dame around the cage, yielded a 5-5 tied game entering the fourth-quarter.
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