The Loyola Greyhounds are the athletic teams that represent Loyola University Maryland. The teams include men and women's basketball, cross country, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, swimming & diving, and tennis. Men's sports also include golf, while women's sports also include track and field and volleyball. The Greyhounds compete in NCAA Division I and have been a member of the Patriot League for all sports since July 1, 2013.
Loyola's fight song, "Howl for the Hounds," was written by Andrew R. Grillo and Michael R. Sellitto and unveiled in November 2003.[2]
History
Conference affiliations
Loyola's athletic programs made the transition to NCAA Division I from Division II when it became a charter member of the ECAC-Metro Conference in 1981.[3] The circuit's name was changed to the Northeast Conference on August 1, 1988.[4]
The Loyola men's basketball team has a long history and has been playing since the 1908-1909 season. In all that time, the team has appeared twice, 1994 and 2012, in the NCAA tournament. The team plays its games in Reitz Arena and is coached by Tavaras Hardy.
Skip Prosser spent one season as head coach of the Greyhounds, leading them to their first-ever Division I Tournament appearance in 1994. In 2012, as winners of the MAAC tournament, Loyola earned its second trip to the NCAA tournament under then-head coach Jimmy Patsos.
The Loyola men's lacrosse team has played since 1938, with a two-year break in 1944 and 1945, winning over 400 games in that time.[14] They won its first championship in the sport, the first national title in the university's Division I history, in 2012.[15] The Loyola women's lacrosse program is fifth all-time among NCAA Division I women's lacrosse teams with 362 wins.[16] The Greyhounds maintain several annual rivalries, headlined by Johns Hopkins (series page) and Towson (series page).
The Loyola Men's Soccer team has consistently proven to be one of the most successful teams in the athletic department. Since 1965, the team has suffered only four losing seasons. The team is a perennial power in the MAAC and has reached the NCAA Division I National Tournament seven times since joining Division I in 1979, including quarterfinal appearances in 1986 and 1987 and a Sweet 16 appearance in 2001. Loyola enjoyed an undefeated regular season in 2008 before being upset in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.[17] Former Greyhounds include the 2009 Major League Soccer Goalkeeper of the Year, Zach Thornton as well as many others who have played in the MLS and other professional leagues.[18]
2 GCAA Academic All-Americans: Patrick McCormick and Ryan McCarthy[21]
Rugby
Spring 2007 season play
The Loyola University Rugby Football Club is the men's rugby union team that represents Loyola in the National Small College Rugby Organization.[22] The club is composed of over 50 student-athletes, alumni volunteers, and professional trainers. Founded in 1976 by a group of Loyola students, LURFC continues to be the oldest and most active club sport at the college.[23] LURFC and its players have achieved many All-American titles and U.S. Rugby rankings, currently ranked #8 in the country and in the NSCRO "Sweet 16" in 2017.[24]
The Greyhound ruggers have also traveled abroad to play Irish teams, including teams in Limerick, Dublin, and Cork.[24] Loyola plays on Lugano Field, located on the grounds of the Ridley Athletic Center. Lugano Field is a state of the art turf pitch that, while used by the university as a whole, is a "rugby first" pitch, regulation size, lined and with limited grandstands. It is named in honor of the most decorated player in Loyola history, Sean Lugano, who died serving others in the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001.[25]
Former teams
Football
Loyola's football program has been defunct since 1933.
Wrestling
Loyola's wrestling program was discontinued in 1987.[26]
