The final game of a West Coast is difficult for any East Coast squad, be it the Cleveland Indians or the Saint Ignatius lacrosse team.
The Wildcats' lengthy trip to San Diego and Los Angeles ended with a tough loss on Wednesday evening. Just as the Indians fell to the Angels, the Lax Cats dropped a 12-8 decision to the Loyola Cubs.
After touring the Naval Air Station on Coronado Island on Tuesday with Patrick "Brick" Yarcusko '08, the Wildcats traveled north to Los Angeles on Wednesday. Loyola, LA's Jesuit boys school, provided a big challenge for the Cats.
Loyola's defense stiffened in the second half, preventing an anticipated Wildcats' run, sending the men of Gary Cintron packing with its second straight loss.
The game started out fairly slowly, with the teams trading possessions. Loyola grabbed the lead after a lengthy possession at the 7-minute mark on a nice goal to start the scoring.
The Wildcats evened out the score with 5:39 left in the first, as Michael Boehm took advantage of a broken Loyola clear for an easy score. The Lax Cats then took a 2-1 lead as Nate Conry approached from the left side and sent the ball into the back of the net with 4:25 remaining.
The Cubs scored a minute later to knot the game at two, with a high shot to beat a screened Charlie Minard. The Wildcats' sophomore played well otherwise, stopping a few Loyola shots to keep the game at 2-2 entering the second.
The second stanza was one of runs. The Wildcats tore off three straight goals to start play. Connor Cmiel got the party started with a do-it-yourself goal. The sophomore started out from the far left side before dodging and weaving into the slot, and finishing left side.
Ian Flynn followed up with another one-man-show goal. The senior dodged and found twine from the right side. Just seconds later, Anthony Ameo won the faceoff and found Conry, who slung it from the left side down to a cutting Boehm for an easy tally, the third in 70 seconds.
Loyola halted the run with 6:17 left in the second. The Cubs went right down Broadway on a breakaway goal. About a minute later, a slick Loyola pass from the far right side into the left-side of the slot allowed the Cubs to narrow the deficit to 5-4.
Flynn then struck again with 4:52 on the clock to ebb the Cubs' run. Flynn bobbed to the crease and scoring on an acrobatic goal on the man-up.
Loyola then started to gain momentum. The hosts fired shot after shot on net, hoping to tie the game before half. Only Minard halted Loyola's charge, with three critical saves in the final few minutes of the second quarter. The Cubs did score with 53 seconds left in the quarter, but overall, Minard deserves plenty of props for holding the Cubs at bay and keeping the Cats in the lead, 6-5, heading into the third.
The Cubs tied up the contest early in the third. The hosts matriculated down the field after a Wildcats turnover and a Cub attacker finished the job on a shot from the near side after beating his man.
A man-up opportunity nearly resulted in a Wildcats goal to retake the lead, but a good Loyola save and another near miss prevented the Wildcats from notching a goal early in the third.
The Wildcats dominated possession for much of the quarter, but could not find twine. Instead, the Cubs took their first lead since early in the first on a bounce shot from the right side. The Cubs made it a 2-goal lead less than a minute later, utilizing a pass from X to the slot for a tally.
The score remained 8-6 Loyola entering the final period, despite a few near misses by both teams in the final minutes. Despite the Loyola run, Minard played quite well, turning away a number of high-quality Cubs chances.
The Cubs extended the lead to three with 6:06 left in the fourth after the squads traded possessions to start the quarter. The Wildcats struck back with a passion in the next portion of the period, as Chris Larsen fired a wonderful shot to beat the Loyola netminder with 5:05 left to narrow the score to 9-7. The visitors then fired off a breakaway, as Merick Hartley cut to the crease, but a straightaway save by the Cubs turned the momentum around.
The Cubs scored three straight in the final minutes to put the game out of reach. Nate Conry scored a goal in the final minute to place the final score at 12-8.
The Wildcats will now return to Cleveland and start preparations for Hamburg (NY). The Lax Cats and Bulldogs will square off on Sunday at 4 pm on Wasmer Field. The SIBN will have live coverage.