We began last week with a day trip to the University of Delaware for our rescheduled game from Spring Break. It was a surprisingly chilly and windy day! We came out strong, scoring the first eight goals of the game.

Things got a little sloppy in the second half and the final score came to 11-5 with the 'Hounds on top. This gave us a 7-1 record for the first half of the season. We also jumped to #13 in the polls on Monday which was exciting.

We returned to practice on Wednesday and Thursday before beginning a long weekend of travel, starting at Rutgers on Friday night. This weekend began our Big East competition, and we didn't show up the way we would have liked. Rutgers started off the game with a four goal lead. We battled back to make it an interesting and close game.

We were down by one with less than three minutes to go, but we didn't capitalize. It was definitely a heart breaker, but We can't win when we only play 20 or so minutes of solid lacrosse. We walked off of the field with a lot of regret which is a terrible way to end a game.

We then traveled to South Bend to face the Irish. This is a great rivalry we have built in the Big East and we were pumped to play...and thankful we had a chance to redeem ourselves from our disappointing show on Friday.  We gained a four goal lead, but ND cut it to 1one going into half time. Goalie Meg Steffe had an amazing game with 11 saves in the first half alone.

The game was physical and the officials were calling the game close which forced us to stay disciplined. We ended up losing 16-13 which again was a huge disappointment. We played tough the whole game and did some great things, but we definitely have things to work on before we face UConn on Friday where we are looking to get our first Big East win of the year.

We are facing a big weekend, with the Huskies on Friday and Syracuse on Sunday. We are definitely looking forward to getting back on our home turf and showing the Big East some real Loyola lacrosse.

I'll let you know what happens. Go Hounds!

We just got back from a crazy weekend on the road.  On Friday morning we left Baltimore for Rutgers... we stopped at in New Jersey at the house of our teammates, Elizabeth and Virginia Weber, for a great team lunch and then got back on the road.  We played Rutgers under the lights on their grass field and did not play as well as we could have.  We lost the game by one which was a major loss for us because Rutgers is in our conference.  We made mistakes that we can definitely learn from and what we have learned will definitely benefit us in our future games. 

On Saturday we flew out to Chicago and then drove to Notre Dame from there.  This was a long day of traveling so when we finally got to the field for practice, we were antsy and full of energy.  The next day we played a competitive game against the Irish.  We battled it out until the last whistle but unfortunately did not come out on top (16-13).  This was another Big East game, so the loss was a huge disappointment.  We can not let these two losses get us down - we still have so many games ahead of us that I know we can win, so we just have to take what we have learned from these losses into our next games.  We have two more conference games this upcoming weekend (UConn and Syracuse) so it should be a great weekend of lacrosse.  I'm excited to get back out onto our home turf and show what the Greyhounds are all about. 

With only a short amount of time left in my college career, I am determined to leave everything on the field without regrets.  Every time I walk off the turf I am want to feel proud of what I have accomplished that day and know that I have done my best.  I will be sure to let you know how our games go this upcoming weekend. 

Go Hounds!

We have had a few games since I last wrote, so let me give you a little update.  We lost our game against UVA a few weeks ago, but recently beat two big rivals: UMBC and Towson University.  Losing to UVA was a disappointment but we put out a good team effort.  The events of the game showed us what we need to work on in order to continue raising the level of our game.  The game against Towson was a great win, but quite a nail-biter.  We came back from being down 8-5 at half time to pull out a big win in the last few minutes of the game.  I think beating these two strong teams in a row will help our confidence in upcoming games.

Personally, I missed four days of practice last week because I was sick.  I forgot how frustrating it can be to be sidelined because of an injury or illness.  Sometimes I don't really think about how lucky I am to be playing lacrosse.  I think I take this gift for granted a lot of the time, so when I wasn't able to play last week it was kind of a reality check.  I've gotten back into practices this week and could not be happier about it.  I am so pumped to play against Davidson this weekend and am excited to get back into the groove of things, recognizing everyday that I play as a gift.  

Spring weather is in the air here in Baltimore which is going to make lacrosse season just that much better.  Can't wait for the next few weeks... I will be sure to keep you up to date!

Go Hounds!

-MC

Hi! It has been a couple of weeks since my first time writing and a lot has been going on here at Loyola. Let me update you...

We played Virginia on the February 21 and unfortunately lost. We definitely learned a lot from playing them; they have a strong team from top to bottom and made few mistakes. It was tough to lose the first game on our home field this season. Emily Gibson really stepped up; she played the best I have ever seen her play. She was coming up with the draws and hitting her shots.

We got another chance to play at home later that week against UMBC. We came out strong really wanting a win and it showed. Our attack was balanced and we hit some shots early in the game to get a nice lead. It is always fun to play Baltimore teams because of the rivalries that have been built over the years.

Spring break was this past week which is sometimes dreaded because an empty campus can be depressing. The weather was crazy - it went from snow on Monday to sunny 65 degree weather on Friday. The snow got in the way of our Wednesday game against Delaware which was really disappointing. It was supposed to be played there, but their field conditions were not playable. Despite the cancellation, we still had a good week filled with practices, team dinners and even laser tag!

We ended our spring break with a game at Towson. The weather was gorgeous and we were pumped to play. It had been nine days since our last game against UMBC, and we came out in the first half pretty flat, going into half time down 8-5. We re-grouped and came out in the second half a lot more focused and playing the way we should. We scored 5 of the first 6 goals of the second half, gaining the lead. We ended up winning 15-12. It was our first top 20 win of the season and we are really happy with the way we played in the second half. We really look forward to playing Towson every year and it was great to come out with a win.

Today was exciting because we found out that we are now ranked in the Inside Lacrosse Top 20! Check out our website, loyolagreyhounds.com, for more information.

We are now looking forward to a week of practice before we face Davidson at home on Sunday. So, for now it's back to reality with classes starting up again this morning.

Thanks for reading. I'll be keeping you updated! Go Hounds.