Spencer Is Best Rookie In Div. I

 As a teenager, Davidsonville's Pat Spencer followed men's lacrosse standouts like Matt Danowski and Steele Stanwick  and tried to emulate their games. Now a freshman attackman at  Loyola Maryland, Spencer is being compared to them.

Labeled the best rookie in Division I, Spencer has scored 71 points on 30 goals and 41 assists. The Davidsonville resident and Boys' Latin graduate has tied the Greyhounds' Division I record for points, set a freshman record for assists, and ranks fifth in the program's record book for assists in a single season.

Spencer is the undisputed offensive leader of a Loyola team that captured the Patriot League tournament championship for the second time in three years, earned the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament, and will welcome Duke (11-7) to a first-round contest at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore on Saturday at 12 p.m.

CBS Sports Network analyst Evan Washburn, who covered Spencer's Patriot League tournament final-record 10 points in a 14-6 rout of Army on May 1, said Spencer at this stage may be better than Stanwick, the 2011 recipient of the Tewaaraton Award, college lacrosse's version of the Heisman Trophy.

"He's as good an attackman as I've seen personally this year," said Washburn, a former Delaware defenseman. "There's no visible flaw to his game, and he just keeps getting better at this point of the season, which is something you don't often see with young guys. Usually they tend to hit a wall as we go and at times, they're overwhelmed by the moment. But in a championship moment, he was at his best."


There is a lot more to this story and it can be read at: http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/college/lacrosse/bs-sp-lacrosse-loyola-pat-spencer-0513-20160512-story.html

Another article from today about  Spencer and Loyola can be read at:  http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/lacrosse-blog/bal-loyola-maryland-men-s-lacrosse-got-rematch-with-duke-it-may-or-may-not-have-wanted-20160511-story.html