Loyola won just its sixth game of the season, but it was arguably its biggest.
BALTIMORE -- Loyola University Maryland coaches stressed the importance of playing fast and winning the "hustle plays" in Saturday's Patriot League game against the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Greyhounds came out ahead in many, beating the 18th-ranked Navy, 17-7, at Ridley Athletic Complex.
The Greyhounds (6-5 overall, 4-2 Patriot League) used 6-0 runs in each half and held advantages in several statistical categories, picking up 37 ground balls to the Midshipmen's 22, and outshooting them, 51-31.
Loyola also went 15-of-28 on face offs to mark the first time this season that Navy (7-4, 5-2) has not won more restarts than its opponents. The Midshipmen entered the game ranked seventh in NCAA Division I with a 64.1 percent success rate on face offs, but Graham Savio led the Greyhounds' effort by winning 15-of-26.
Defensively, Loyola held the Midshipmen's top scorer Patrick Keena without a point, and they did the same to Kevin Wendel, Navy's top midfield scorer.
Zach Herreweyers and Brian Sherlock each scored three goals for Loyola, while Herreweyers added a career-best three assists and Sherlock had one. Romar Dennis tallied a career-best four points with two goals and two assists, all coming in the first half as Loyola went up, 10-3 at the break.
The 17 goals allowed by Navy were the most it has yielded since 2003 when it gave up the same number to Johns Hopkins University.
