BALTIMORE – Loyola University Maryland used another second-half run, scoring six goals in a row, to take command of an 11-6 non-conference victory over No. 18 Georgetown University on Wednesday night at Ridley Athletic Complex.
The fifth-ranked Greyhounds (7-0 overall) held the Hoyas (4-2) to just two second half goals while Eric Lusby and Mike Sawyer each scored three times during the run that spanned the third and fourth quarters.
Lusby finished with a career-high tying five goals, and Sawyer’s three were his sixth hat trick in seven games this season.
Loyola’s run was its seventh of the season of four or more in a row. Last Saturday, the Greyhounds used a 10-0 run to start the secondhalf in a 15-8 defeat of Air Force.
“I’ll give my guys a lot of credit,” Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey said of his team’s second-half runs. “They come out of halftime and know they’re in a dire situation and they have to scrap and claw.”
Brian Casey scored 1:53 into the third quarter for Georgetown, tying the game at 5-5, but the Greyhounds recorded an extra-mantally less than three minutes later to take the lead for good.
Justin Ward started behind the goal, rolled the crease and drew a slide from a Hoyas defender. He threaded a pass to Sawyer 10 yards out in front of the goal, and Sawyer winged a hard shot past Georgetown’s Matt Winter at 10:44, pushing Loyola up 6-5.
Sawyer then added an assisted goal, followed by two Lusby scores at 7:53, 3:39 and 0:22, to stake Loyola to a 9-5 advantage leading into the fourth quarter.
Sawyer scored again off a Ward assist 1:54 into the final stanza, and Lusby got his hands free from the right side to put a shot inside the far post at 9:21, making it 11-5 Loyola.
Casey would add a final Georgetown goal with 5:48 to play, but the Greyhounds would not allow the Hoyas to draw closer than five.
Loyola doubled up Georgetown in shots, 48-24, but Winter made 14 saves for the Hoyas. Jack Runkel made six in goal for the Greyhounds, as the Loyola defense limited quality looks by the Hoyas.
Sean O’Sullivan put Loyola up, 1-0, 3:02 into the game, but Dan McKinney bookended a Francis McDonough goal, and Georgetown led 3-1 less than seven minutes in.
Loyola, however, scored four in a row, starting with a Lusby goal at 7:45 off a Davis Butts assist. Josh Hawkins then weaved his way through traffic, scoring 23 seconds later to tie the game at 3-3.
Lusby scored again with 56 ticks left in the first off an O’Sullivan assist, and Chris Layne dodged to the middle of the box and scored at 10:54 in the second quarter to put Loyola up 5-3.
Jason McFadden tallied an extra-man strike at 6:11 that made it a one-goal game at halftime.
The win pushed the Greyhounds to their best start since 2002 when they also opened the year 7-0.
Loyola is back in action on Saturday afternoon from Catonsville, Md., when it travels to play UMBC at 7 o’clock.