Loyola Cubs Finish Their Perfect League Season

Loyola entered their final league home game against Notre Dame with multiple missing players but judging from their play early on they were still determined to come out with a win at home. The Cubs came out with a goal early in the second half with a shot from senior Spencer Roberts. However, Notre Dame did not back down after conceding a goal early; they kept their press high and put lots of pressure on the Loyola defenders. Loyola finally got the ball back on the Notre Dame half and immediately put on a quick attack. Loyola scored another goal with a well placed bottom-left corner shot from senior captain Nate Smith-Hastie coming off a great ball from senior Malcolm Hawkins. With Loyola up 2-0, Notre Dame was now playing in an uphill battle. After that goal, both teams went back and forth with unsuccessful attacks, causing the score to remain at 2-0 Loyola’s lead heading into halftime. Coming out of halftime Loyola reignited their sense of urgency on offense and came up with a goal from freshman Marco Bottene after he followed up a shot from senior Jake Rodgers. With that third goal being scored so early in the half, Notre Dame’s energy on both ends of the field took a blow. After multiple attempts through the second half, junior Erik Estrada finally scored one off a pretty pass raising the Loyola lead to 5-0. Loyola piled on another goal shortly after following a great shot from junior Caden Ambrose. With the game coming to an end, Loyola finished off the home scheudle strong and set the bar for playoff action soon to come with a big 6-0 win over Notre Dame at home!  

-Dominic Elrington