Last week was spring break on Loyola’s campus, which afforded Charley Toomey the opportunity to take the Greyhounds to what he described as “lacrosse camp” for a team that found itself a surprising 1-4 and with Duke on its way to town.

Some of what Loyola’s longtime coach did was easy enough. With no classes to consider, the Greyhounds had a few two-a-day practices and spent as much (if not more) time on individual skills as preparing for a specific opponent.

Some of Toomey’s approach targeted his crop of fifth-year players, specifically asking them how well they knew the Greyhounds’ freshman class while emphasizing how Loyola usually has its best seasons with tight-knit teams.

And then Sunday’s 12-10 defeat of the Blue Devils prompted a new question. Is Loyola already figuring things out in midstream, much as it did last year when it surged to an at-large NCAA tournament berth after a wobbly start?

“Everybody has asked me, which team is this?” said Toomey, whose team plays host to Bucknell (6-1, 0-1 Patriot) on Saturday. “Is it the 5-5 team, or is it the team with the late run from last year? It’s hard to say, because as I’ve mentioned to our team plenty of times, this is a new group.”

Perhaps the most encouraging development was the defensive performance. Loyola allowed at least 11 goals in each of its first five games, and while Duke nearly hit that number, it needed a late burst to do so. The Greyhounds led 12-3 in the third quarter, and the Blue Devils scored five times in the last five minutes.

Brennan O’Neill scored four times, but Loyola held Duke’s Joe Robertson and Dyson Williams to a combined 2-for-11 shooting. Midfielder Nakeie Montgomery had two assists but did not score on two shots.

“I thought we took custody of our matchups,” Toomey said. “We knew Brennan O’Neill was going to be a handful, and he proved to be that over the course of the game. I think by and large, as a whole, the defense really took that step we needed them to in terms of sliding and recovering and communicating off the scrambles. Just really took another step.”

It was also a solid day for goalie Sam Shafer, a hero in last year’s NCAA tournament defeat of Denver, who was benched early in the season before re-emerging as Loyola’s starter. The Greyhounds have used three starters in the cage this season, and Shafer’s six-save showing in a 14-12 defeat of Lafayette was a subpar showing.

He made eight stops against Duke, solidifying for the moment his starting spot.

“As a goaltender myself, I don’t want any of our guys looking over their shoulder and feeling that pressure from the sideline,” Toomey said. “At the same time, I think they all understand, and Sam was the first one to come into my office after the Lafayette game to say, ‘It wasn’t my best game. I apologize, and I’ll continue to work and I know I need to be better.’ He put a good week of practice together and gave himself a chance against Duke. Now the challenge is to go out and do it again this week.”

Loyola also got a six-goal game from attackman Kevin Lindley, but not in the conventional way he’s typically finished throughout his career. The Greyhounds used the likes of Dylan Binney, Matt Heuston and Davis Lindsey more on attack, freeing up offensive coordinator Marc Van Arsdale to play some more familiar names in the middle of the field.

“One thing for Kevin that I thought was a real positive for Loyola is everything wasn’t just an inside feed,” Toomey said. “He was dodging to create on his own, he won a few matchups. That’s the Kevin we’ve come to expect to see.”

NUMBERS OF NOTE

4

Undefeated Division I teams remaining entering the weekend. Boston University (5-0), Cornell (5-0), Maryland (6-0) and Virginia (6-0) have made it to mid-March without a loss.

10

Points needed for Army attackman Brendan Nichtern to surpass the Black Knights’ career record of 238 set by 2002 graduate Tim Pearson. Nichtern has 19 goals and 27 assists in seven games this season for Army, which plays host to Lehigh on Saturday.

.773

Man-up offense percentage for Ohio State, the best in the country. The 5-1 Buckeyes have scored on 17 of 22 extra-man opportunities this season, including a 5-for-5 showing against Notre Dame last week.

1.000

Faceoff winning percentage for Mount St. Mary’s sophomore Ethan Holobinko in last week’s 12-11 loss to Mercer. Holobinko was 10-for-10 on the day and was the first Division I player to have a perfect day at the X this season with a minimum of 10 attempts. It occurred twice last year, with Denver’s TD Ierlan going 14 of 14 against Providence and 12 of 12 against St. John’s.