Loyola–Towson lacrosse rivalry

The Loyola–Towson lacrosse rivalry is an intercollegiate lacrosse rivalry between Baltimore's Loyola Greyhounds of the Patriot League and Towson Tigers of the Colonial Athletic Association. The teams first met in 1959 and competed at the NCAA Division II level until transferring up to Division I in 1980 for Towson and in 1982 for Loyola. The two programs share locations on Charles Street and are separated by only four and a half miles.^[1] They also share cross-street rivalries with foe Johns Hopkins (see Johns Hopkins–Loyola lacrosse rivalry). Successful in Division II, both the Greyhounds and Tigers have had success at the national level in the first division since moving up. Loyola has appeared in four Final Fours and won the 2012 national title, while Towson has appeared in three final fours of their own, in addition to their 1974 Division II championship. Through 2020, Loyola leads the series by a 34–29 margin,^[2] the most-played opponent for both schools.^[3][4]

Loyola–Towson lacrosse rivalry

Towson Tigers
Teams	Loyola Greyhounds Towson Tigers
First meeting	1959 Loyola 8, Towson 6
Latest meeting	March 2, 2023 Loyola 12, Towson 11^OT
Statistics
Meetings total	64
All-time series	Loyola leads, 35–31
Largest victory	Towson, 26–6 (1974)
Longest win streak	Towson, 11 (1969–1979)
Current win streak	Loyola, 1 (2023–Present)

Series History

Division II Years (1959 to 1981)

The series began in 1959, ending in a two-goal victory for the Greyhounds.^[5] Since that date, the rivalry has been played annually, with the lone exception being 1980. Loyola took seven of the first ten meetings, but the Tigers would dominate the 1970s, taking 11 straight matchups.^[6] This included a 20-goal thumping of the Hounds in 1974, the widest margin in the history of the rivalry.^[5] In '74, Towson would prevail in the 1974 NCAA Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship to claim its first national title, defeating the Hobart Statesmen 18–17 in double overtime.^[7] The Tigers would continue to make the tournament on a regular basis on legendary coach Carl Runk, while Loyola struggled to compete with Towson. In 1980, the Tigers would move up to Division I, accounting for the only interruption in the series to date.^[1] The following season, Loyola would down Towson 13–9 to end the losing streak and would finish the season as the national runner-up in Division II.^[8]

National Implications (1980s through 2000s)

The very next year, Loyola moved up to Division I in 1982,^[8] joining the Tigers. The first contest at this level went the way of Towson and the following games would gain increasing significance. 1983 was the first between two ranked programs and would go the way of the Tigers. Both teams would make their first appearances in the Division I tournament towards the end of the decade. The 1989 affair was particularly notable as the first between two Top 10 teams, as #3 Loyola topped #8 Towson by five. The next five meetings would also be between Top 10 teams, highlighted by Towson's upset of #1 Loyola in 1992, a home overtime victory. On the national stage, the two teams enjoyed renewed success. Dave Cottle's 1990 Greyhounds finished as national runner-up^[9] and the following season would result in Runk's squad losing to North Carolina in the championship.^[10] A few years later, Towson would upset Loyola 16–11 in the 1996 tournament in their first postseason meeting.^[11]

After long stretches of continued success, both programs struggled at points just before and after the turn of the century. With Cottle's departure before the 2002 season, the Hounds missed their first tournament in fifteen years. The Tigers would endure a four-year tournament drought of their own between 1996 and 2001 before new coach Tony Seamen would lead Towson to another Final Four. In 2006, new head coach Charley Toomey took over for Loyola and would return to the tournament the following year, but neither team was viewed as a serious contender at the national stage.

Recent Years (2010s to Present)

The rivalry's importance was renewed in the 2010s, particularly after the Hound's magical season in 2012, in which they defeated Towson 13–6 and won their first-ever national championship.^[12][13] New Tigers coach Shawn Nadelen quickly built a worthy competitor to Loyola,^[14] though the Greyhounds would get the best of their rival in the 2016 tournament to reach another Final Four.^[15][16] Towson would reach the semifinals the next year^[17] and, in 2019, would knock off another top-ranked Loyola,^[18] sending the Tigers to their first appearance at the top of the national polls in program history.^[19] Since 2008, Loyola has won 14 of 16 meetings, coinciding with their high-level success at the top of the collegiate sport. The rivalry records of the current head coaches, Toomey and Nadelen, stand at 12–4 and 2–8 respectively. This includes a dominant performance by the Hounds over winless Towson in 2020, with the nine goal margin representing the largest in the series in six years.^[20]

Rival Accomplishments

The following summarizes the accomplishments of the two programs.^{[21][22][23][24]}

Team	Loyola Greyhounds	Towson Tigers
Pre-NCAA National Titles	0	0
NCAA National Titles	1	1^
NCAA Final Four Appearances	5*	6^
NCAA Tournament Appearances	26*	21^
NCAA Tournament Record	17–25*	18–20^
Conference Tournament Titles	6	9
Conference Championships	10	14
Tewaarton Award Recipients	1	0
Lt. Raymond Enners Award Recipients	1	0
Consensus First Team All-Americans	17	4
All-time Program Record	537–408–7	472–344
All-time Winning Percentage	.568	.578

• Loyola's 1979 and 1981 NCAA tournament appearances came at the Division II level.
• ^Towson's 1974 NCAA tournament championship and all six tournament appearances from 1974 to 1979 came at the Division II level.

Game Results

Loyola victories

Towson victories

Tie games

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 1959 Towson, MD Loyola 8–6 2 1960 Towson, MD Loyola 10–7 3 1961 Towson, MD Towson 15–9 4 1962 Baltimore, MD Loyola 13–6 5 1963 Towson, MD Loyola 10–9 6 1964 Towson, MD Loyola 8–1 7 1965 Baltimore, MD Towson 7–6 8 1966 Towson, MD Towson 5–4 9 1967 Baltimore, MD Loyola 12–6 10 1968 Towson, MD Loyola 5–4 11 1969 Baltimore, MD Towson 11–10 12 1970 Towson, MD Towson 17–2 13 1971 Baltimore, MD Towson 13–4 14 1972 Towson, MD Towson 17–3 15 1973 Baltimore, MD #12 Towson 14–2 16 1974 Towson, MD Towson 26–6 17 1975 Baltimore, MD Towson 18–7 18 1976 Towson, MD Towson 20–6 19 1977 Baltimore, MD Towson 15–12 20 1978 Towson, MD Towson 20–12 21 1979 Baltimore, MD Towson 13–12 22 1981 Baltimore, MD Loyola 13–9 23 1982 Towson, MD Towson 22–14 No. Date Location Winner Score 24 1983 Baltimore, MD #12 Towson 12–9 25 1984 Towson, MD #13 Towson 11–7 26 1985 Baltimore, MD Loyola 7–5 27 1986 Towson, MD Towson 9–8 28 1987 Baltimore, MD #14 Towson 8–7 29 1988 Towson, MD #7 Loyola 10–9 30 1989 Baltimore, MD #3 Loyola 9–4 31 1990 Towson, MD #4 Loyola 17–12 32 1991 Baltimore, MD #6 Loyola 14–12 33 1992 Towson, MD #6 Towson 8–7^OT 34 1993 Baltimore, MD #8 Loyola 12–8 35 1994 Towson, MD #2 Loyola 13–12 36 1995 Baltimore, MD #3 Loyola 16–8 37 1996 Towson, MD #17 Towson 12–11^OT 38 1996 Annapolis, MD #14 Towson 16–11 39 1997 Baltimore, MD #8 Loyola 20–9 40 1998 Towson, MD #7 Loyola 12–8 41 1999 Baltimore, MD #1 Loyola 16–14 42 2000 Towson, MD #3 Loyola 13–8 43 2001 Baltimore, MD #18 Towson 19–14 44 2002 Towson, MD #4 Loyola 15–7 45 2003 Baltimore, MD #18 Towson 15–10 46 2004 Towson, MD Loyola 14–9 No. Date Location Winner Score 47 2005 Baltimore, MD Towson 7–5 48 2006 Towson, MD Towson 11–10 49 2007 Baltimore, MD #14 Towson 9–8 50 2008 Towson, MD Loyola 13–8 51 2009 Baltimore, MD #16 Loyola 11–8 52 2010 Baltimore, MD #14 Loyola 7–6 53 2011 Towson, MD #15 Loyola 3–2 54 2012 Baltimore, MD #13 Loyola 13–6 55 2013 Towson, MD #2 Loyola 14–9 56 2014 Baltimore, MD #9 Loyola 20–4 57 2015 Towson, MD #8 Loyola 15–11 58 2016 Baltimore, MD #11 Towson 10–8 59 2016 Columbus, OH #7 Loyola 10–8 60 2017 Towson, MD #12 Loyola 11–7 61 2018 Baltimore, MD #9 Loyola 12–8 62 2019 Towson, MD #7 Towson 12–10 63 2020 Baltimore, MD #12 Loyola 15–6 64 2021 Towson, MD Towson 7–6^OT 65 2022 Baltimore, MD Towson 11–8 66 2023 Towson, MD #7 Loyola 12–11^OT Series: Loyola leads 35–31 Source:^[25]

References

1. "Men's Lacrosse Extends Rivalry at No. 12 Loyola Wednesday". Towson University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
2. "Men's Lacrosse All-Time Series Records". Loyola University Maryland Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
3. "Men's Lacrosse Travels To Towson For Mid-Week Tilt". Loyola University Maryland Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
4. Lee, Edward. "Loyola Maryland at Towson men's lacrosse: Three things to watch". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
5. "Men's Lacrosse Game-By-Game Results". Loyola University Maryland Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
6. "Men's Lacrosse History vs Loyola University Maryland". Towson University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
7. "DII Men's Lacrosse Championship History | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
8. Harvin, Al; Times, Special To the New York (1981-05-18). "Adelphi Wins, 17-14, For Lacrosse Title". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
9. Grossman, Evan (2016-02-18). "The Visible, Invisible Legacy of the 1990 Syracuse Lacrosse Team". Vice. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
10. Wallace, William N. (1991-05-27). "LACROSSE; Towson Isn't a Surprise to Everyone". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
11. Litsky, Frank (1996-05-12). "LACROSSE;12 Games, 12 Victories, 1 Snub". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
12. Writer, By BILL WAGNER, Staff. "Country recruiting trail leads Loyola to top". capitalgazette.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. Preston, Mike. "Charley Toomey's life 'a whirlwind' since Loyola won national championship". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
14. "Loyola, Navy Advance to NCAA Men's Lacrosse Championship Quarterfinals". patriotleague.org. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
15. "Roster, Schedule, Results | Inside Lacrosse | Inside Lacrosse". www.insidelacrosse.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
16. Lee, Edward. "Postscript from Towson vs. Loyola Maryland men's lacrosse". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
17. Adsit, Morgan (2017-05-21). "Towson Tigers Head to the Final Four". WBFF. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
18. "No. 7 Towson unseat No. 1 Loyola in instant classic | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
19. Adsit, Morgan (2019-03-06). "Towson Lacrosse From Unranked to Number 1". WBFF. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
20. Preston, Mike. "No. 11 Loyola Maryland men's lacrosse surges past winless Towson, 15-6, for third straight victory". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
21. "2020 Men's Lacrosse Record Book (PDF)" (PDF). Towson University Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
22. "Men's Lacrosse NCAA Championships History". Loyola University Maryland Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
23. "Men's Lacrosse All-Americans". Loyola University Maryland Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
24. "Men's Lacrosse USILA & NCAA Major Award Winners". Loyola University Maryland Athletics. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
25. "2020 Towson Men's Lacrosse Record Book" (PDF). Retrieved 29 March 2019.