Navy coaches have encouraged sophomore attackman Jack Ray to use his tremendous size to force his way to the goal more often. Ray picked an opportune time to heed that advice.

Ray's unassisted goal with 37.7 seconds remaining in regulation was the game-winner as Navy slipped past No. 13 Loyola Maryland, 10-9, in a pivotal Patriot League men's lacrosse game Saturday.

The 6-foot-6, 261-pound Ray found himself being covered behind the cage by defenseman Foster Huggins, who checks in at 5-10, 180 pounds. Ray drove right past Huggins and flipped a 2-yard shot past Loyola goalie Jacob Stover (McDonogh).

“Our middie made a really good dodge down the alley and that enabled me to get free. There was no slide on the back side, so I dipped my shoulder and went for it,” said Ray, who had taken a pass from midfielder Kevin Wendel.

Long-stick midfielder Matt Rees (Boys' Latin) scooped the ground ball off the ensuing faceoff and Navy salted away the remaining seconds to end a five-game losing streak to Loyola.

“It was a good day for Navy. Loyola is one of the better teams in the country so it's a nice win for our program,” Navy coach Rick Sowell said.

Sophomore midfielder Casey Rees (Boys' Latin) scored a career-high five goals to lead the Midshipmen, who raced to a 7-2 first-half lead then withstood a rally by the visiting Greyhounds.

Senior attackman Patrick Keena had three assists while Ray added two assists for Navy (4-2, 2-1 Patriot League). Brady Dove won 13 of 23 faceoffs for the Mids, who earned their first one-goal win of the season after losing to both Johns Hopkins and Boston University in double overtime.

Junior midfielder Brian Sherlock had two goals and an assist while freshman attackman Patrick Spencer (Boys' Latin) added a goal and two assists for Loyola (4-3, 2-1).

Sowell was worried about rust and a possible slow start because of a 13-day layoff. Those fears proved unfounded as Navy stormed to a 5-1 lead after one quarter.

Rees got things started with just one minute elapsed, firing an overhand shot past goalie Grant Limone. Greyson Torain made an unassisted goal at 8:56 and the Mids scored off the ensuing faceoff with D.J. Plumer scooping a ground ball and passing ahead to long pole Matt Rees for a cannon blast that made it 3-1.

Midfielder Kevin Wendel came out of the box and immediately beat a short stick to score off a dodge down the right alley while Casey Rees followed with another shot to close a dominant opening period.

“Give Navy all the credit in the world. They came out and played with a ton of energy. I looked at our effort in that first quarter and I saw a lot of what I saw last week against Duke,” Loyola coach Charley Toomey said, referring to the Greyhounds' 15-6 loss.