Navy handles Hounds to win Patriot League crown

For the first time since the Loyola Greyhounds team joined the Patriot League in 2014, the women’s lacrosse team lost a game against a conference opponent. On Sunday, at Ridley Athletic Complex, in the league’s championship game, Loyola saw their run of dominance end at 41 straight games and three straight titles.

The team that ended that run was the former heavyweight of the conference and in-state rival Navy Midshipmen. And it was not just an upset, it was a trouncing as the Mids rolled to a 15-5 victory to claim their first Patriot League Championship since 2013.

“I am proud of our team,” Navy head coach Cindy Timchal said. “They were committed to playing more lacrosse this season and they put it all on the line today. I am very proud of this team. Loyola is a tough team and they have gained the respect of our conference because of the level of play they have committed to. We were just focused on Navy playing well and together today. Things went our way. We were scrapping and doing all the little things. I am proud of our team. Proud of our captains.”

Navy doubled up on Loyola in shots (34-17), groundballs (18-9) and led in draw controls (13-9) while going a perfect 19-for-19 on clears and holding a 3-1 advantage on free position goals. Navy also had fewer turnovers, committing only nine while causing eight Loyola’s 16 miscues.

Jenna Collins had just a marvelous game with five goals and three assists to lead the victory. Along with her five-point game in their semifinals victory over Lehigh, Collins was named the Patriot League Tournament Most Outstanding Player. She, along with Meg O’Donnell, Morgan Young and Meghan Hubley, was picked to the All-Tournament team.

Young opened the game with a free position goal in the fourth minute of the game. Four minutes later, Collins put Navy ahead 2-0 with a free position goal.

Loyola wasn’t going to let Navy run away with things that quickly. Hannah Powers scored her 45th goal of the season off a feed from Hannah Savage just 32 seconds later to make it a 2-1 game, but Navy would dominate possession as they went on a four-goal run to push ahead 6-1.

Julia Collins scored her first of three goals in the 11th minute to spark the run. Kelly Larkin, O’Donnell and Kayla Harris all followed to give Navy the five-goal lead.

Loyola’s Frankie Kamely, who was put on the All-Tournament team along with teammates Sabrina Tabasso and Bailey Mathis, ended the 14-minute scoring drought for Loyola, but they would go another 13 minutes and into the second half before they would score again. Meanwhile, O’Donnell scored again to end the first half with Navy ahead 7-2. Larkin them opened the second half with a goal off Jenna Collins’ second straight assist. Larkin soon returned the favor just 30 seconds later on a feed to Collins to put Navy up 9-2.

Navy’s strong possession game gave them their lead at halftime and it carried through into the second half. Loyola just couldn’t crack the Navy defense. Ingrid Boyum also finished the game with six saves for the Mids.

Cami Whiteford did her best to keep Loyola alive in the second half with two goals, but in between those scores were goals by both Jenna and Julia Collins. After Whiteford’s second goal, the twins scored three in a row and Andie O’Sullivan made it a four-goal run to put Navy up 15-4 with only five minutes left. Larkin assisted the last two goals in the run to finished the game with six points on two goals and four helpers.

Savage scored one final, but a meaningless goal in the final minutes of the game for Loyola.

Navy will play in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since their 2013 Patriot League Championship season and will learn their opponent during the selection show. Loyola’s season is likely finished after suffering the upset loss.

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Corey Johns

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You could say Corey was born to become a sports journalist. His father won a national championship coaching college soccer. His mother is a baseball fanatic who hasn't missed seeing an Orioles game since 1983 (literally, sometimes it's annoying). His great uncle was a big-time boxing promoter and his maternal grandfather was once a department head at the Baltimore Sun. Basically, sports and journalism run through his blood. He played just about every little league sports there was when he was a kid and was a multi-sport athlete in high school; even playing in the first-ever high school sanction Rugby game in the country. Eventually he retired from sports as an undefeated Maryland state Rugby champion as a high school senior. Perhaps lack of athletic talent has more to do with the retirement, but he will tell you that it more had to do with a great desire to jump right into media. Upon his graduation from University of Maryland, Baltimore County as a triple communications major, Corey started the So Much Sports network and has continued to grow his websites and continues to work to make them premier sports media outlets.

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