Loyola hosts Liberty Saturday in NCAA Division I Tournament

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - The Loyola men’s soccer team and its players have earned plenty of honors this postseason: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year.

But for the Greyhounds, nothing is better than hosting their first NCAA Division I Tournament game in 14 years when they welcome Liberty to Diane Geppi-Aikens Field on Saturday afternoon at 1.

“Loyola soccer hasn’t hosted a [NCAA Tournament] game for a long time,” Loyola coach Mark Mettrick said. “We have the new style turf and it’s great for a program to host. It’s good for our players and good for our school.”

The Greyhounds (18-3) locked up a spot in the 48-team field since 2002 by defeating St. Peter’s, 1-0, to win the conference tournament this past Sunday.

And with a win over Liberty (13-4-2), the Greyhounds advance to play 13th-seeded Maryland (10-5-4) on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in College Park.

But with a team that starts five freshman and only has three seniors who get significant playing time, it will be Mettrick’s task to keep his team focused on the Big South Champion Flames and not the Terrapins, who are traditionally one of the best teams in the country.

“We have to make sure as coaches we keep the team focused on the first round game and not make the mistake of overlooking this game, because Liberty is very capable of beating us,” Mettrick said. “They have 13 wins and if you look at their history they are always at the top of their conference. It is dangerous for our players to overlook and think ahead, so we have to make sure as coaches we focus on the game and nothing else, and we will do that.”

Conference Rookie of the Year forward Phil Banister has posted 12 goals and 7 assists to lead an offense that has scored 37 goals in 21 games. That has been more than enough for sophomore defender Tennant McVea, who was named the conference’s Defensive Player of the Year for leading a unit along with freshman Mike Deasel and goalie Milos Kocic. Loyola has recorded 15 shutouts and allowed just 11 goals this season.

“We’ve been working at it all year and our main goal was to get Loyola back to the NCAA Tournament,” Deasel said. “Hard work has been working for us all year.”

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY AT LOYOLA COLLEGE

» RECORDS: Liberty: 13-4-2; Loyola: 18-3.

» KICKOFF: Saturday, 1 p.m.

» WHERE: Diane Geppi-Aikens Field, Baltimore

» TO THE WINNER: A trip to College Park on Wednesday at 5 p.m. to play 13th-seeded Maryland (10-5-4) for a berth in the Sweet 16.

» SCHOOL’S ADDRESS: 4501 North Charles Street, Baltimore, 21210.

» DIRECTIONS: Take I-83 North to Exit 9A, Cold Spring Lane East. Merge onto West Cold Spring Lane. Turn left onto North Charles Street, MD-139 and end at school.

dcarey@baltimoreexaminer.com

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