March 17, 2016 
The last two games played in Annapolis between Navy and Loyola were decided in overtime.
Game Day Storylines •
Scene Setter: After having its game against Lafayette postponed a week ago due to a campus-wide outbreak of the norovirus in Easton, Navy will look to overcome a 13-day lull when it plays host to league favorite Loyola on Saturday. Action is set for 1:00 PM at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with American Sports Network televising the contest. The Mids, who enter the game 3-2 and 1-1 in Patriot League action, are led by fifth-year head coach
Rick Sowell, while the 4-2 Greyhounds are under the direction of 11th-year head coach Charley Toomey. Saturday's contest marks the ninth meeting in a series Loyola leads, 5-3.
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Follow the Action: The Navy-Loyola game will be televised via American Sports Network with Jason Knapp and Steve Panarelli calling the action. Additionally, Pete Medhurst and Joe Miller will provide the call on 1430 AM / 99.9 FM WNAV. Radio coverage begins with the Navy Lacrosse Pregame Show at 12:45 PM. The game will also be streamed online for FREE via PatriotLeague.TV, while live stats will be available at NavySports.com.
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Records Are Made to Be Broken: Following a spectacular 15-for-21 faceoff performance by
Brady Dove at Bucknell, just 10 faceoff wins separate him from becoming the school record holder for career wins. Chris Pieczonka (2002-05) set the record with 363 wins. Dove holds school records for faceoff wins and attempts by a freshman and sophomore. The junior record is 173 by Chris Pieczonka during the Mids' magical trip to the NCAA Championship Game in 2004.
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#775: The Mids captured the program's 775th victory two weeks ago when they scored a 13-6 win at Bucknell. Navy owns a 775-341-14 mark in what is its 109th season of varsity lacrosse. Navy is the fourth-winningest program in DI men's lacrosse history and one of just five programs to amass 750 or more wins.
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A Tip of the Hat: Since the start of Navy's magical 2004 season, at least one Navy player has turned in a hat trick in 118 of the last 182 games (64.8). Among those 118 games, the Mids have won 83 contests (70.3). Navy put together an 8-0 record a year ago in the eight games a Mids scored three or more goals. The Mids are 2-2 this season.
Program Ties • Loyola head coach Charley Toomey served as the Naval Academy Prep School head coach during the 1993 season before joining the Navy coaching staff as an assistant for two years. He served under Bryan Matthews (1994) and Richie Meade (1995).
• Loyola assistant coach Ryan Moran spent three seasons (2006-08) as an assistant coach for the Midshipmen. He also served as the head coach at the Naval Academy Prep School during the 2005 campaign.
• Moran and Navy assistant coach
Ryan Wellner are both graduates of Chaminade High School. Wellner was a senior (`96) when Moran was a freshman (`99). Moran's father, Jack, gave Wellner his first coaching position in 2003 at Chaminade HS.
Meet the Mids • Navy will hold its annual Meet the Mids event following its game against Loyola on Saturday.
• Members of the Navy men's lacrosse team will be available for autographs on the Blue Concourse, with the first 300 kids in line for the postgame autograph session receiving a Navy lacrosse "Meet the Mids" t-shirt, compliments of Annapolis area Papa John's and Chick-fil-A.
Scouting the Greyhounds • Eleventh-year Loyola head coach Charley Toomey has directed his Greyhounds to a 4-2 record that features a flawless mark in Patriot League action.
• The Patriot League preseason favorite, Loyola is 2-0 in the conference, earning wins over Lafayette (12-8) and Holy Cross (10-9).
• Four of Loyola's six games to date have been against nationally-ranked foes and it has put together a 2-2 mark - wins over Virginia (11-4) and Johns Hopkins (9-8), while dropping decisions to Towson (8-10) and Duke (15-6).
• Leading the way for the Greyhounds is rookie attackman Pat Spencer, a Boys' Latin product who has produced 23 points on a team-high tying 10 goals and a team-best 13 assists. He is ranked 13th nationally in assists per game (2.17) and is 29th in points per game (3.83). Meanwhile, Patriot League Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Zach Herreweyers has amassed 15 points on a team-high tying 10 goals and 5 assist.
• Sophomore Grant Limone stands between the pipes where he is giving up 8.72 goals per game and owns a 51.5 save percentage.
• Graham Savio was a Second-Team All-Patriot League faceoff selection a year ago, but he has struggled this season, winning just 37.0 (27-73) percent of his draws. Sophomore Mike Orefice has stepped in to win 52.6 (30-57) percent of the faceoffs.
• Loyola has held four ot its six opponents to single digits, losing its two games when giving up 10 or more goals. The Greyhounds are 23rd in scoring defense (9.00) and 51st in man-down defense (55.6).
• On the flipside, the Greyhounds are 44th in scoring offense (9.33) and 61st in shooting percentage (23.7). Their extra-man unit has scored on 45.5 percent of its opportunities which is 16th nationally.
• Averaging just 10.00 turnovers per game, Loyola stands #1 in the country.
Navy vs. Loyola - The Series • The two programs are meeting for just the ninth time overall and the third time since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2014.
• Loyola owns a 5-3 advantage, taking victories in each of the last five contests. Three of the last four contests have been decided by a goal, including each of the last two played in Annapolis. Both of those contests the Greyhounds won in overtime - 8-7 in 2010 and 7-6 via 2OT in 2014
• Today's contest marks the seventh game in the series played in Annapolis with each team winning three times on Navy's home field.
• The two programs first met on May 6, 1939, with Navy scoring a 14-4 victory. The Mids also took wins over Loyola in 1942 (12-8) and 1943 (8-1). However, the two teams would not meet again until the NCAA Tournament in 1993. The Greyhounds dealt the Mids a 19-8 to end their season.
• The two programs rekindled the series in 2010 with Loyola scoring an 8-7 decision in overtime and a year later the Greyhounds earned a 9-8 come-from-behind win over the Mids in Baltimore.
Mids Among The Leader Boards • Navy is ranked among the top half of the country in 10 statistical categories, including top 20 rankings in four stats.
• The Mids have held three of their five opponents this season to single digits and stand #4 nationally and #1 in the Patriot League in scoring defense with their 7.00 goals per game average. Navy is averaging 9.40 caused turnovers per game which is #2 in the NCAA. Navy is 11th in clearing percentage, failing to successfully clear the ball just 9 times among 90 attempts. The Mids own a +2.60 scoring margin which stands 15th nationally.
• Additionally, the Mids are among the top 25 in assists per game (#21), faceoff % (#21), ground balls per game (#24) and turnovers per game (#24).
• Navy continues to struggle with its extra-man offense (#65) and man-down defense (#68).
• Individually, Navy has three players ranked among the top 10 in three statistical categories. Senior keeper
John Connors is fourth in goals-against average (6.74), junior long pole
Matt Rees is fifth in caused turnovers per game (2.40) and senior attackman
Patrick Keena is sixth in assists per game (2.40).
