ANNAPOLIS, Md. // The fourth-seeded Navy men's lacrosse team (8-8 / 5-3 Patriot League) used a 5-0 run in the third and fourth quarters to close to within 2 goals, but back-to-back strikes by Evan James salted the game away for Loyola (8-7, 4-4 Patriot League) as the fifth-seeded Hounds earned a 12-7 victory Tuesday evening in the Patriot League Quarterfinals played at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Loyola, who never trailed in the game, jumped out to a 7-1 halftime lead and led by as many as 7.

James, a midfielder turned attackman in recent weeks, gave Loyola a 2-0 lead before the Mids would get an emotional extra-man goal from co-captain Patrick Skalniak (M / Sr / Dallas, Texas) at the 5:12 mark. Skalniak, who was thought to have suffered a season-ending back injury March 4 against Lehigh, was cleared last week and returned to the field for a final time on Tuesday. The All-American and Tewaaraton Award Watch List honoree missed 9 games before returning Tuesday night, scoring Navy's first extra-man goal since the Villanova game on March 21.

The Greyhounds went on to score 2 goals over the final 47 seconds of the opening frame, both in transition, to take a 4-1 lead into the second quarter.

Loyola's defense forced Navy into 7 turnovers over the next 15 minutes of action and held the Mids scoreless as the Hounds tacked on 3 goals to take a 7-1 lead into the break.

Loyola took its largest lead in the game at 8-1 when Seth Higgins (M / Jr) found Davis Lindsey (M / Jr) positioned at the crease for the goal to open the second half.

Navy, however, won the ensuing faceoff and 9 seconds later ended a 23-minute scoring drought when when Scott Stensrud (DM / Jr / Lagrangeville, N.Y.) found Xavier Arline (A / Jr / Wading River, N.Y.) for his first goal of the evening.

Loyola extended its lead back to 7 (9-2) when James scored his fourth goal of the night, targeting his shot from the left wing.

Navy went on to take advantage of a delay of game penalty on Loyola at the 6:41 mark with Arline scoring the Mids' second extra-man goal of the game and sparking a 5-0 run that would spill into the middle of the fourth quarter. During that run, Henry Tolker (A / So / Catonsville, Md.) would score a pair of goals off Mac Haley (A / Fr / Shady Side, Md.) assists, Skalniak scored his second of the game and capping the run was a spectacular catch and shoot by Jack Flaherty (M / Fr / Massapequa, N.Y.) off an assist by Skalniak with the shot clock under 5.

While Navy trimmed the deficit to just 2 (9-7) with 6:30 to play, the Mids would get no closer. Loyola tallied the final 3 goals of the game, including a pair on an empty net, to capture the win and advance to the Patriot League Tournament Semifinals where the Hounds will meet top-seeded Boston U. on Friday at 4:00 pm.

Arline, Skalniak and Tolker paced the Mids with 2 goals apiece, while both Skalniak and Tolker each contributed an assist.

Skalniak finished his career with 99 points on 55 goals and 44 assists in 36 games. The 99 points are the 11th most by a midfielder in program history.

Meanwhile, Haley became the 15th freshman in school history to score 30 points. With his 2 assists in the contest, he hit the 30-point milestone, while his 14 assists this season rank ninth on the Mids' all-time freshman list.

Defensively, Pat Ryan (GK / Sr / Groton, Mass.) made 11 stops between the pipes in his final collegiate game, while 5 different players recorded caused turnovers.

After winning just 11 of the 23 draws in the first meeting this season against Loyola, Anthony Ghobriel dominated Tuesday night's contest. He won 17 of the 22 faceoffs (77.3), including 11 of the 12 draws in the second half to help Navy put together its late run. Midway through the second quarter, Ghobriel won his 174th faceoff of the season, breaking Navy's single-season faceoff wins record set by Chris Pieczonka (173 in 2004) that stood for nearly 2 decades. The second-year player finished the year winning 185 of his 306 faceoffs (60.5). Additionally, he moved into eighth on the Mids' all-time faceoff wins leader board, posting 191 wins in his first-two seasons.

James led Loyola with a career-high 6 goals on 9 shots, while Matthew Minicus (A / Fr) turned in a pair of goals. Goalkeeper Luke Staudt was stout in goal where he made 18 saves and allowed just 7 goals, while the Loyola defense recorded 6 caused turnovers in the contest.

### Go Navy ###