Not only has Army never been able to beat Loyola in its 11 years of playing college women’s lacrosse, no team in the Patriot League has been able to defeat the Greyhounds in the regular season since they joined the conference in 2014.
That all came to a sudden end on Saturday at Michie Stadium.
Rushing out to a 10-1 lead midway through the second quarter, the No. 24 Black Knights defeated No. 16-ranked Loyola, 18-10, ending both the Greyhounds’ nine-game winning streak against Army and an amazing league-wide 93-game regular season winning streak.
Loyola did lose to Navy three times, in 2017, 2018 and last year, in the championship game of the league’s postseason tournament.
The victory moved Army to 6-2 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League. Loyola is now 4-4 overall (1-1 in the Patriot League) this season.
“This victory means everything to our program,” said Army coach Michelle Tumolo. “We had a number of alumni, parents and others in the stands and I am just so happy for them and our current players today. It just shows how far our program has come and what we can accomplish when we all work together. It was an amazing game.”
As they have for years now, senior co-captains Brigid Duffy and Allison Reilly led the charge. Duffy scored six goals and had an assist, while Reilly had five assists and scored three times. Duffy now has 301 total points in her career at West Point, a team record, while Reilly is right on her tail, with 296 total points.
“They have just been amazing for us,” Tumolo said about her two leading scorers. “They get the best defenders on them every game and are often double and tripled teamed. But they are our leaders and just so resilient and always get the job done.”
Still, if Army is going to make more noise this season, other players will have to step up to take some pressure off of Duffy and Reilly.
Against Loyola, the help was there, including three goals from juniors Sarah Wood and Ryan Remaly and a strong performance in net by senior goalie Lindsey Serafine, who stopped 10 of 20 shots on goal. The defense also caused 14 turnovers.
“I just thought we were really ready for this game,” Tumolo added. “We practiced all week with intention and focus and I felt we were going to give them our best game. I also think the coaching staff did a great job of making adjustments on defense and that showed in the first quarter when Loyola managed just one goal.
“On offense, we also made adjustments on the draw. We scored in so many ways and against man-to-man and zone defenses. The staff got the team prepared and confident.”
