Women's Soccer Overwhelmed in MAAC Finals

The Loyola Women’s Soccer Team’s bid for consecutive MAAC Tournament Championships ended Sunday afternoon with a 3-0 loss to Fairfield in the final. The loss is a disappointing one for the ‘Hounds, who earned the #1 seed after being crowned regular season champions. Fairfield’s Ahna Johnson scored all three goals of the title match and a steady Stags defense, anchored by goalie Kelly Broudreau, did not allow a goal.

The loss marked their first set back in conference play this season and capped their overall record at 10-6-1. Lea Day, Lina Staropoli, and Heather Cooke were selected to the all-tournament team.

Busy Weekend for the 'Hounds

Women’s Soccer, Volleyball, Men’s Soccer, Basketball, and the Swimming and diving and Crew Teams will all be in action this weekend in upstate New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, and our very own friendly confines of the Evergreen Campus.

Most notably, the Women’s Soccer team will participate in the 4-team MAAC Tournament held on the Siena University campus in Loudonville, NY. They are the top seed in the bracket and if they can pickup a pair of wins, they’ll be crowned champions and awarded with a trip to the NCAA tournament for the second year in a row.

Men’s Soccer moved up to #6 in the national rankings and will play Rider in Lawrenceville, NJ in their last contest of the regular season and with a win they will secure a perfect conference record of 9-0 and will have completed their first unbeaten season at 17-0-1 since 1986. They have already clinched the MAAC regular season conference championship and will have the #1 seed in the MAAC Tournament, which will be held in Poughkeepsie, NY on the campus of Marist College, November 14-16.

And for college basketball junkies, like myself, your first chance to see the Men’s Basketball Team will be tonight at Reitz Arena at 7pm for a scrimmage against DIII power Catholic University. It will be the first opportunity to see Coach Jimmy Patsos’ newest players including Providence transfer, Jamaal Barney, who is eligible after sitting out his residency year last season. Stay tuned, for a complete game wrap-up and season preview in the coming days.

Women's Soccer Dominates in MAAC Semis - Readies for Sunday's Title Match

Loyola’s Women’s Soccer team is in Loudonville, NY for one reason and one reason only this weekend… to win two matches and gain a trip to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season.

They wasted absolutely no time getting off on the right foot. Just nineteen minutes into their semifinal match against of Canisius, the ‘Hounds had already built a 3-0 lead. Due to an aggressive Loyola attack and stingy defense, the Golden Griffens were never able to get back in the contest and found themselves on the losing end of a 4-2 result. The tallies for the Greyhounds were registered by Theresa Ferraina, Christina Gomez, Lina Staropoli, and Lea Day.

The winner of Friday’s second semifinal, either the #2 seeded Fairfield Stags or the host and 3^rd seeded Saints of Siena, will face Loyola, now unbeaten in 12 straight games, Sunday afternoon at 1pm for the MAAC Tournament Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

Men's and Women's Soccer pick up pairs of wins, MAAC Titles

Greyhound soccer players had everything neatly laid out in front of them heading into their last weekend of their regular season schedule. Each team would take the field twice and if they secured victories, they would each be crowned regular season Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Champions for the 2nd consecutive season.

A true credit to Coaches Mark Mettrick and Katherine Remy Vettori, both squads got the job done… in emphatic fashion.

The men defeated St Peter’s 1-nil on Friday and dominated an outclassed Siena team Sunday afternoon 3-0. The ‘Hounds will close the regular season a perfect 9-0 in conference with a win next weekend over Rider. As it stands now they are 8-0 in the MAAC and 16-0-1 overall. A #1 seed has been secured in the upcoming four-team MAAC Tournament, and they may have potentially assured themselves a couple home games in the NCAA Tournament in a few weeks.

The women’s team proved that it’s not how you start the season, but instead it’s how you end it. They had a tough mountain to scale in upstate New York on their way to the summit. After Friday’s 2-0 win over Marist, it came down to a 1 game season with Siena. In the winner-takes-all final game of conference play, Loyola got 2 goals from senior Lea Day, and a hard fought 2-1 victory over the Saints. They started the season 0-5-2, but now ride an 11 game unbeaten streak where they’ve gone 9-0-2 and have ended the year with an impressive 9-5-4 record.

Upcoming for the Loyola men’s squad will be the previously mentioned Rider game in Lawrenceville, NJ this coming Saturday then a trip to Poughkeepsie, NY for the MAAC tournament to be held, November 14-16. Next up for the women is their chance to send themselves to the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row. They’ll play the Golden Griffins of Canisius in the semifinals of the MAAC tournament on Friday. Looming in the finals could be a rematch with the tourny’s host, Siena, on November 9th.

Soccer Teams to start MAAC Play this Week

This weekend on DGA Field the Women’s Soccer Team will host a pair of games against Iona and Fairfield to kickoff their ’08 conference schedule. Loyola is the defending conference champion and will head into MAAC play having won their last two matches over Villanova and American. Their tough preconference schedule has them well prepared for the rigors of playing familiar opponents, and Coach Katherine Vettori expects her group to keep their momentum going. Kickoff against the Gaels will be at 4:30 this afternoon and Sunday’s game against the Stags will begin at 1PM.

As for the 16th ranked Men’s Soccer Team, they will have a one more test to pass before they get started in MAAC play. They will take the field at home in DGA Field against Quinnipiac Saturday afternoon at 1 o’clock, which will conclude their preconference schedule (pending if the UMBC game is made up or not). Already having played high caliber opponents the schedule gets no easier as Loyola will have the unenviable task of starting in conference on the road taking on the two Buffalo schools, Niagara next Friday and Cansius next Sunday.

In the past weeks action, after being rained out against UMBC the ‘Hounds collected a hard fought 1-0 victory over the Princeton Tigers on Wednesday afternoon. Eddie Dines was able to knock a header in with 12 minutes left to play to give Loyola the winning tally. As what is now expected the defense was stellar and frustrated Tiger attackers all afternoon. Now time to update the streaks… The win ups the Greyhounds unbeaten streak to 16, the shutout is their 12th consecutive at home, and they have now won 22 of their last 23 overall and 15 straight on DGA Field – Unreal.

Greyhound team on the road for the weekend

While Women’s Soccer, Tennis, and Volleyball will all be in action this weekend, none will compete in the friendly confines of the Evergreen Campus. Both the Soccer and Tennis squads will be in Lewisburg, PA to take on Bucknell and participate in the Bucknell Invitational respectively. As for the volleyball team, they will be in New York City for matches against MAAC opponents Iona and Manhattan Saturday and Sunday.

Men’s Soccer will be in Emmitsburg, MD to take on Mt. St. Mary’s for their first of two road trips within the state; next weekend they will head west on the Beltway to Catonsville to take on the Retrievers of UMBC.

Men’s Golf after a 15th place finish at the Ron Moore Invitational in Colorado will be idle. The Mulieri brothers, senior Mike and freshman Jay, lead the ‘Hounds as they tied for 44th place in the individual competition.

Busy Weekend ahead for Greyhounds

The Loyola women’s soccer, tennis, volleyball and cross country teams as well as the men’s soccer, cross country, and golf teams will all take on competition this weekend.

Women’s Soccer (0-3-1), the defending MAAC Champs, will have two opportunities to pick up their first victory of the season as they will host a pair of home games this weekend on DGA Field, taking on VCU Friday afternoon at 4:30 and the Indiana Hoosiers Sunday afternoon at noon.

Women’s Volleyball (2-6) will spend the weekend in northern New Jersey and will play 3 matches in the span of 2 days. Coming off a win in their home opener against Morgan St. the ‘Hounds will take on Sacred Heart Friday, and have a pair of matches Saturday as they will take the court against UMBC and the weekend’s hosts NJIT at 10AM and noon respectively.

Women’s Tennis and the both Cross-Country teams will all compete in in-state tournaments as the ladies will hit the courts in the Towson 4+1 Tournament on the Tigers’ Campus and the harriers will run in the Navy Invitational in Annapolis.

The defending MAAC champ Men’s Golf Team, led by Coach Tom Biedleman, will take aim at the Ron Moore Tournament team title in Denver, Colorado in their first action of the season. The Greyhounds will compete against the likes of Ohio St., Iowa, Iowa St., Hawaii, the Air Force Academy, and hosts, the University of Denver, in this seventeen team tournament to be played Sunday-Tuesday.

As for the undefeated Men’s Soccer squad (4-0), they will take their #23 national ranking to the District to take on George Washington University Saturday at 3PM.

Good luck to everyone and be sure to check loyolagreyhounds.com for results.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Ready or not, here they come! Diane Geppi-Aikens, sporting new field turf, and Loyola University Maryland, sporting a new name, will play hosts to the first action of the new school year this weekend for the Greyhounds.

The men’s soccer team will welcome the Fordham Rams, the Drexel Dragons, and the Hawks of Hartwick College for the second annual Black and Decker Soccer Classic commencing today with a double-header of action. “The Dogs” will kickoff second with a 5:00PM start time against Fordham after the conclusion of the Drexel-Hartwick match.

Sunday will be a busy day on the DGA pitch with three games scheduled, including the home opener for the Loyola Women’s Soccer Team. FU-Drexel will commence at 10:30AM followed by the Loyola-Hartwick men’s match at 2PM, and play will conclude with the Loyola women taking on Old Dominion at 5PM.

Both Loyola futbol clubs have high expectations for themselves after both claimed MAAC Championships last season. Returning starters are a plenty on both sides, with the men even garnering a preseason rank of 30 in the NCSAA/addidas Preseason National Rankings.

On the men’s side keep an eye on the stingy Loyola defense that last season shut out more opponents than any other Division I in the country. The voters for the Hermann Trophy, soccer’s equivalent of the Heisman Trophy, certainly have. Junior defender Tennant McVea and junior goalkeeper Milos Kocic were graced the prestigious honor of being named to the preseason Hermann Trophy Watch List.

Stay tuned to the Hound’s Bark for a more detailed preview of both the men’s and women’s seasons to come soon! Until then, if you’re around the Evergreen Campus this weekend – stop by Diane Geppi-Aikens Field for some great action o