Brendan Nichtern’s record-breaking moment Saturday was, fittingly enough, a smart, simple play that helped Army pad its lead at Loyola.

After Loyola misplayed a switch behind the cage, Nichtern found Reese Burek for an open look in the fourth quarter of the Black Knights’ 14-12 triumph in Baltimore. It’s the sort of play the Army senior has made time and time again over the last four seasons.

It was part of a five-point quarter and a three-goal, four-assist game for Nichtern, who moved past Tim Pearson for Army’s career points record. Nichtern has 241 points, and he also passed Pearson later in the game for the most assists (143) in program history.

“It wasn’t head down, let me try to run through two or three people,” Army coach Joe Alberici said. “One of Brendan’s gifts is his vision and his understanding of the game and his ability to take what the defense is giving him.”

Nichtern has 23 goals and 35 assists as Army (7-2, 3-1 Patriot) heads to Bucknell on Saturday. Nichtern leads the country in points per game (6.44) and is one shy of Michigan’s Josh Zawada for total points this season, albeit while playing in one fewer game.

He’s already surpassed his point total from last year’s truncated season (57), and his school record of 50 assists (set as a freshman in 2019) appears within reach with five games plus any conference or NCAA tournament action still to come.

“I’ve definitely grown a lot,” Nichtern said. “I think the biggest thing through the four years is getting more mature with the ball. It’s very important for every team not to have their X guy turning the ball over, and that’s something I take pride in. The coaching staff is always talking to me and saying, ‘You have to cut that out,’ and that’s something I’ve worked on.”

Thanks to the NCAA’s blanket eligibility waiver for players who had the 2020 season cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, plenty of records have fallen. But at Army, there are only four years of eligibility to work with, and no one is getting a bonus year with a military obligation looming.

Nichtern’s marks make for a more apples-to-apples comparison than many other schools — and considering he lost half a season in 2020, they’re all the more impressive.

But what stands out to Alberici is the calming effect Nichtern has had on Burek and Paul Johnson, a pair of junior attackmen who played sparingly prior to this season.

“The way Brendan is able to orchestrate that and the offense, and then who he is as a leader, extends way beyond the playing field,” Alberici said. “People see on Saturdays why he’s so special. I’ve been blessed to see it every day since he walked onto campus.”

The Massapequa, N.Y., product was the Patriot League’s offensive player of the year last season and a third-team All-America pick. It’s possible he earns even more attention in his final college season, especially after helping the Black Knights win two of their most high-profile road games of the season — at Syracuse and Loyola.

“In my opinion, I think Brendan is one of the very best players in the country,” Alberici said. “What I do know is I don’t think there’s another guy who means more to his team than Brendan means to the Army lacrosse family.”

NUMBERS OF NOTE

9-1

Record for Rutgers through 10 games, its best mark at this point in the season since the Scarlet Knights went 9-1 in 1956. Brian Brecht’s team opened Big Ten play with an 18-7 rout of Ohio State on Sunday.

14

Victories in a row for Virginia coming off a loss in the same season, including Saturday’s 12-8 defeat of Notre Dame after the Cavaliers fell to Maryland a week earlier. Coach Lars Tiffany’s team last dropped back-to-back games in the same year since falling to Duke and Penn in the final two games of the 2017 season.

14

Points for Boston University’s Vince D’Alto in the Terriers’ 21-11 victory over Lafayette, tied for the third most in Division I history. D’Alto had seven goals and seven assists in his 14-point outing, the most for any D-I player since Michael Sowers had three goals and 11 assists for Princeton against Colgate on Feb. 18, 2020. The Division I record is 16, set by Air Force’s Bill Woolford in a 1975 game against Colorado State.

32

Faceoff victories for Boston University’s Conor Calderone in that same victory over Lafayette, tying the Division I record set by Hobart’s Matthew Pedicine on Feb. 16, 2019. Calderone won 32 of 34 faceoffs and grabbed 21 groundballs to help the Terriers improve to 7-1.