Phillylacrosse.com, Posted 5/28/12
From Press Release and Staff Reports
Eric Lusby scored four goals and junior midfielder Chris Layne (Malvern Prep) dished three assists and added a groundball to help lead the Loyola University Maryland men’s lacrosse team to a 9-3 win over Maryland at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., today, giving the school its first-ever Division I National Championship.
Lusby set an NCAA Championship record, scoring 17 goals over the four game. Lusby was one of six Greyhounds to score in the game, with Mike Sawyer, Davis Butts, Justin Ward, Pat Byrnes and Phil Dobson also notching tallies.
The Terrapins took the lead to start the game on an unassisted goal by Jesse Barnhardt.
After Butts and Lusby scored three minutes apart at the end of the first quarter to give Loyla the lead, Maryland notched a pair early in the second quarter to reclaim a 3-2 lead with 10:40 left in the first half. That would be the last goal Maryland would score.
The Greyhounds scored the last seven of the contest, with Sawyer scoring what would prove to be the game-winner with 5:57 left in the second quarter that gave Loyola a 4-3 lead.
Lusby scored three times in the second half, while the Loyola defense held the Terrapins scoreless for the final 40:40 of the game.
The Greyhounds won the title in the team’s second appearance at the Division I level, the first appearance coming in 1990. It is the first Division I National Championship in Loyola history, and the first second overall with the 1976 men’s soccer team winning the Division II national crown.
Sophomore goalie Niko Amato (la Salle) had eight saves for the Terps.
