Patriot League

Coming off its most successful athletic year in school history, Loyola announced Wednesday that it will be leaving the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference after more than 20 years to join the Patriot League beginning in 2013-14. The decision to leave the MAAC had as much to do with academics as athletics, according to those involved in the process. “The Patriot League has been a very strong academic league, and at the same time it was very strong in athletics, so it was very appealing to us,” third-year athletic director Jim Paquette said.

Here is the opening installment of a series that checks in with the seven Division I programs in the state to give a glimpse into the past and the future. Teams are scheduled to appear according to the chronological order in which their seasons ended. So Monday begins with a visit with Navy. REVIEW The good: As the Midshipmen learned last year when longtime coach Richie Meade was dismissed, the bottom line is wins and losses. In that department, the team improved from last year's 4-9 record, going 6-6 this season.

No. 7 Maryland's defensive approach to Saturday's road contest against No. 12 Colgate sounds like a simple task: pay a lot of attention to Peter Baum. That's easier said than done. The junior attackman leads Division I in points per game (5.7) and goals per game (3.9) and was named the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year last week. The Terps are still debating whether to assign sophomore Michael Ehrhardt or freshman Goran Murray to Baum, but Ehrhardt - who has shadowed Johns Hopkins senior atatckman Chris Boland and Navy sophomore attackman Tucker Hull this season - said Baum is unlike any other player the defense and defensive coordinator Kevin Warne has faced thus far. “He can do everything,” Ehrhardt said.

Monmouth scored 10 unanswered goals to defeat Mount St. Mary's, 11-3, in the Northeast Conference women's lacrosse championship game on Sunday in Fairfield, Conn. Lindsay Diaz (Dulaney), Hannah Gutcher (Mount de Sales) and Gabe Little (North Carroll) scored for the Mountaineers (9-10). Brigid McTavish (South Carroll) made 10 saves in the loss. Little, McTavish, and Meaghan Conlon (Liberty) were named to the All-Tournament team. Sam Lillo scored four goals for the Hawks, who won their fourth NEC championship.

The Navy women's lacrosse team spent the bulk of this season tearing through the overmatched and underwhelming Patriot League. On Sunday, the host Midshipmen put an exclamation point on perhaps their best season in school history, scoring the game's first five goals and cruising to an 18-11 win over Holy Cross to claim their third straight Patriot League tournament title. "We really put a punctuation on this season," Navy coach Cindy Timchal said. "It was a total team effort, and the credit [went to]

Steele Stanwick (Loyola) set a career-high at Mile High Friday night, scoring six goals to power No. 6 Virginia past Penn, 10-8, at the Mile High Classic in Denver. Stanwick moved up to No. 22 on the all-time career points list in men's lacrosse with 260. Virginia has won four straight against the Quakers (3-10). No. 2 Massachusetts 17, Delaware 6: Will Manny had six goals to power the visiting Minutemen (13-0, 6-0 Colonial Athletic Association) past the Blue Hens (6-9, 1-5)

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to help you become more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Navy senior defender Kierstin King, a Hereford graduate and three-time All-Patriot League selection. The Midshipmen's only team captain, she is Navy's career leader in ground balls with 150. Despite missing the last six games of her sophomore year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament, she will break the program record for career starts Friday in the Patriot League semifinals when the two-time defending champion Mids (15-2)

RJ Wickham was Navy's lone representative on the All-Patriot League first team, the conference announced Tuesday. The senior goalkeeper ranked first in the league in saves per game (11.3) and 11th in Division I in save percentage (.570). Wickham was a first-team selection in 2010. Sophomore attackman Tucker Hull and sophomore long-stick midfielder Pat Kiernan were selected to the second team. Hull, the Rookie of the Year last spring, finished with 23 goals and 24 assists and ranked third in the Patriot League in points per game (3.9)

Loren Generi, Navy Freshman, Bayport, N.Y., attacker Generi scored a career-high seven goals last Friday to help Navy clinch the Patriot League regular-season title with a 19-6 win over second-place American. The seven goals - which came on just nine shots - tied the school's single-game scoring record for freshmen and were one shy of Danielle Vivonetto's single-game school mark. Generi scored five straight goals during a 15-1 run and added eight draw controls and three ground balls.

For the second straight year, Navy will meet Johns Hopkins with little to play for. That's because the Midshipmen have been eliminated from Patriot League tournament and therefore the NCAA tournament. So Saturday's noon contest against the No. 9 Blue Jays at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium will be Navy's last until 2013. The upcoming finality of the season was a sobering reality for coach Rick Sowell. “I wish we were playing another couple weeks,” he said Tuesday.