US Lacrosse Magazine released the Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Men’s Preseason Top 20 on Jan. 2. Team-by-team previews will be unveiled on uslaxmagazine.com through the end of the month and will also appear as part of the magazine’s NCAA preview edition in February.

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No. 6 Loyola

2018 Record: 13-4 (7-1 Patriot League)
Coach: Charley Toomey (14th year)

All-Time Record: 521-404-7
NCAA Appearances: 22
Final Fours: 3
Championships: 1

From the day he first walked onto the practice field at Loyola University in the fall of 2015, Greyhounds attackman Pat Spencer has stuck out as their most gifted player.

Over three sparkling seasons, Spencer has rewritten school and Patriot League record books, totaling 166 assists and 266 points. He has toyed with most defenses with his size, strength, creative shooting and unerring vision as one of the game’s most accurate and timely passers.

Twice, Spencer has been a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award. He is the prime reason Loyola has gone 37-14 overall, won 26 of 30 league games and bagged three league titles, and reached the NCAA tournament’s final four in 2016. He likely will end up statistically ranked among the all-time greats in Division I history in assists and points.

And yet, as he enters his last college season as a co-captain (which he has been unofficially since he arrived), Spencer is an unfulfilled superstar, for reasons that cut to the heart of his deep competitive streak.

“We have not found a way to win in that big-game environment,” said Spencer, referencing Loyola’s NCAA tournament stumbles, including two against eventual NCAA champions – North Carolina in the 2016 semifinals and Yale in last year’s quarterfinals. In 2017, the Greyhounds suffered a first-round defeat to Ohio State.

The Spencer-led Greyhounds also have fared poorly against perennial national power Duke in the regular season, dropping three decisions by nearly nine goals per outing.

“I think we’ve had two teams, maybe three, that were good enough to win it all, had we put the pieces together,” Spencer said.

“More than anything, Pat is a captain because he absolutely hates to lose and he instills that every day,” Loyola coach Charley Toomey said. “At our team retreat [in the fall], he spoke up and told our guys we have to be tougher in our big environments this year.”

Even though the Greyhounds suffered key losses to graduation on defense and at midfield, Spencer sees returning offensive starters such as sophomore attackmen Kevin Lindley (37 goals) and Aiden Olmstead (40 points) building on strong seasons.

When asked if this spring comes down to a win-it-all-or-bust mentality for him, Spencer said, “When you have a lot of talented guys who want to compete as much as you do, like we have in our locker room, it is fun to be a part of. But a national championship is the end goal for me.”

The Case For Loyola

The Greyhounds have been the class of the Patriot League since joining the conference in 2013, and senior attackman Pat Spencer – two-time Tewaaraton finalist, arguably the best feeder and quarterback in Division I – is back. Sophomore attackmen Kevin Lindley and Aiden Olmstead return as starters after fine freshman seasons, senior John Duffy leads a deep midfield, while senior goalie Jacob Stover enters this third full season as a starter to anchor a defense that will look to get out in transition at every opportunity. Loyola will toughen up in February and March with non-conference outings against Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Rutgers and Duke.

The Case Against Loyola

The Greyhounds took a big hit at midfield with the graduation of Jay Drapeau, who led Loyola with 41 goals and produced many timely scores. The defense lost key pieces of its rope unit and two-thirds of its close unit to graduation, including MLL first-round draft pick Foster Huggins. It also remains to be seen whether FOGO Bailey Savio has improved sufficiently to make the Greyhounds more productive in the faceoff game. And even with Spencer, Loyola has not shined enough in May on the bigger NCAA tournament stages. The Greyhounds have been eliminated in two of the past three tournaments by eventual NCAA champs North Carolina and Yale.

Path to the Playoffs

The Patriot League has been a friend to Loyola. The Greyhounds have dominated the league (33-7 regular-season record) and have won the conference tournament – securing an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament as a result – four times in their five seasons as league members. Loyola should enter the 2019 season as the consensus pick to repeat as league champs. Instead of needing to win the conference tournament to reach the NCAAs again, the Greyhounds should enhance their at-large chances with two wins against non-conference competition.

Players To Watch

John Duffy, M, Sr.
26G, 9A, 32.5 SH%, 27 GB

After blossoming in a second-line role in 2017, Duffy stepped up as a scorer last year by complementing Drapeau effectively. Duffy also enjoyed most of his runs by taking on short-stick defensive midfielders. That will change. “Duff will draw the pole [LSM] this year every time. It’s a new world for him,” Toomey said.

Jacob Stover, G, Sr.
53.3 SV%, 8.54 GAA, 9.4 SV/G

Stover was good enough to step into the cage midway through his freshman season, get on a roll in Patriot League play and help the Greyhounds reach their first final four since 2012. He has owned the position ever since, keeps getting better, and is now the dean of the defense. “He’s a good as any stopper that’s played at Loyola,” said Toomey, a former goalie there.

Ryan McNulty, LSM, Jr.
4G, 2A, 53 GB, 15 CT

At 6-foot-2, 210 pounds, McNulty has everything Loyola wants out of its long-stick midfielder. He’s a transition igniter who can fly down the field. McNulty also is a ground ball machine, with flash in traffic. “He’s probably our best athlete. He does things a lot of kids can’t do,” Toomey said. “He’ll be an All-American this year.”

National Rankings

Power Ratings (Scale of 1-5)

Offense
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Defense
⭐⭐⭐

Goalkeeping
⭐⭐⭐⭐

Faceoff
⭐⭐⭐

120

Number of goals the Greyhounds scored against their eight Patriot League competitors. Loyola won seven of those games by averaging 15.4 tallies, and beat their victims by an average of eight goals. The conference can’t wait to say goodbye to Spencer.

5-Year Trend
Man-Up Offense

Coach Confidential
Charley Toomey

“We need to play in a way that we don’t feel like we have to create a new identity. Whether it’s our clearing, our transition game or how we want to play [half-field] offense, we don’t need to change our ways, even with a [new] shot clock.”

Enemy Lines

“I don’t see the rules changes affecting them at all. It’s a smart coaching staff. They know how to play fast and patient. The new shot clock rules really are not going to change them at all. You can still decide how you want to play the game. … They do more with the coaching of the game and schemes and advantages than most coaching staffs. I won’t be surprised to see them adapt very fluidly to the new rules and certainly what they’ve gotten from themselves offensively is really dynamic and scary for the rest of us.”

“I love Charley Toomey and what he does. Maybe the best player in college lacrosse is Pat Spencer. I just love the way they play. Their coaching staff is creative. Their poles have the freedom to make plays in the offensive box and they’re tough as nails defensively.”