Despite a few hiccups through the middle of their conference schedule, your Army Black Knights still control their own destiny heading into this year’s Patriot League Tournament. Thanks to last weekend’s blowout, 14-9 win over Navy, Army now sits 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the conference. That ties them with Boston University for second place, but a win this week over Loyola — along with a win by BU over Lafayette — will knot all three teams at the top of the conference, giving the Black Knights the pole position heading into the Tournament.
Given recent history, we’re honestly not sure how badly the Black Knights need to host the conference championship. However, they would definitely like to earn a first round bye, and a win on Saturday will all but guarantee it.
POV: you're on the field at the 2026 Army-Navy men's lacrosse game 👀#FamilyToughnessTradition pic.twitter.com/YTqxgvVLaf
— Army Men's Lacrosse (@ArmyWP_MLax) April 15, 2026
The Loyola Greyhounds
The Greyhounds come into this week’s contest at 8-4 overall but atop the Patriot League standings at 5-1 in the conference. They lost — badly — to Maryland and Johns Hopkins to start the season and later to Lehigh and Georgetown in mid-March, but they also own wins over Colgate, Towson, Boston University, and Lafayette. Their win over BU was particularly impressive. They absolutely stomped the Terriers, 19-11, in what was expected to be a very close game. They’ll host the Black Knights on Senior Day this weekend and are giving away one-pint silicon cups to try to boost attendance for what has become a high-leverage late-season contest.
Both Loyola and Army seem to be playing their best lacrosse late in the season. The Black Knights rounded into form by drubbing Bucknell and then Navy in back-to-back weeks. The Greyhounds did the same by beating the brakes off of BU and Lafayette. This sets up a classic, old-school rivalry between the two best teams in the League over the past decade for ownership of the regular season title.
The @DenverOutlaws have their guy.
— Inside Lacrosse (@Inside_Lacrosse) April 14, 2026
Who won this BLOCKBUSTER draft-day trade for @ArmyWP_MLax star Evan Plunkett? pic.twitter.com/39BAqkO3Qz
On the offensive end, Attackmen Mathew Minicus and Mason Cook did most of the damage against the Terriers. Minicus tallied 5 goals plus an assist. Cook dropped 6 points on just 7 shots-on-goal. That’s pinpoint precision. What’s even crazier is that they did this in a game in which the Greyhounds as a team won just 14/34 faceoffs. Their defense gave up just *1* point in the first half against BU and then just 3 points in the first half against Lafayette. At the same time, their offense scored 11 and 10 points in those same first halves, respectively, so that by the time either opponent found their feet, the game was already all but over.
On defense, senior Goalie Max Watkinson is having an incredible season. Dude has saved 53% of the shots-on-goal he’s seen this season and made *17* saves against just 11 goals allowed against BU. That’s truly outstanding work.
Army will need excellent ball movement early in this one in order to break down this Greyhounds defense and keep themselves close through the first half of this weekend’s contest. They cannot afford to fall behind the way they did a few times earlier in the season.
Photographer Lynn Fern got a bunch of great shots this past weekend. Her full Photobook is up on our Patreon Page.
Match-Up Notes
Army may have an opportunity in the faceoff circle this week, but as we said, they’ll still need to make the most of their offensive possessions. Loyola has scored a ton of points on relatively few shots-on-goal the past two weeks, and they’ve done an incredible job preventing opponents from getting good looks over that same time period. BU outshot the Greyhounds 57-44 two weeks ago and still lost by eight! This in a game in which the Terriers dominated at the faceoff X and picked up 12 more ground balls.
How is that possible?
Answer: Loyola’s defense forced a ton of bad shots, and they got great goalie play to go along with it. They also got up big early, forcing BU to be a lot more aggressive than they’d probably have preferred in their offensive end.
To prevent falling into this same trap, the Black Knights will need to play good defense themselves, limit the Greyhounds’ shooting percentage, and control possessions throughout this contest. As noted, they absolutely cannot afford to get off to a slow start, too.
.@ArmyWP_MLax won the Star on Saturday in front a big crowd at Michie Stadium!#ArmyNavy
— Army-Navy Game (@ArmyNavyGame) April 15, 2026
🎥 Highlights ⤵️ pic.twitter.com/XVPDKP1TxQ
As of this writing, Inside Lacrosse has Army ranked #14 while Loyola currently sits at #18. Maybe the Black Knights would have a slight advantage on a neutral field, but since they’ll play at Loyola this weekend, the game is probably a pick’em. The outcome will come down to whose defense prevents their opponent’s offense from getting hot when it counts. Army’s defense has been good at that all season, but Loyola has an excellent defense as well, and they’ve played outstanding lacrosse the last two weeks.
This will be a big game, friends. There’s a lot on the line for both teams. We should expect a close contest.
First faceoff goes at noon. ESPN+ has coverage.
Go Army! Beat Loyola!!!
