Loy is top weapon for Hun

Senior helps Raider boys’ lacrosse improve to 6-0

By: Justin Feil
   Matt Loy is no secret weapon.
   You can’t be when you amass 283 points in four seasons of high school lacrosse. Loy, who played one year of varsity at Rutgers Prep before repeating his freshman year when he came to The Hun School, is finally a senior which means that opposing defenses are counting the days until he graduates.
   Loy is a well-known scoring commodity, the top-returning scorer from a Raiders team that reached the state Prep A final last year, but that doesn’t make it easy to contain him. He scored six goals and added an assist as the Raiders improved to 6-0 with a 17-10 win over Princeton Day School on Friday.
   "Matt Loy, out of the block, has been great," said Hun first-year coach Greg Provenzano. "He’s been an unselfish great player. He’s picking his points. He’s playing like an All-American. He’s stepping it up. He’s being a leader. It’s great to have a weapon like that. But it’s not a one-man show.
   "I’m most pleased with how they’re gelling as a team. The more we work as a team, offensively or defensively, the way we execute, the more we carry it out. I see glimpses of it. There is some great play. Our job, we just have to sustain it."
   Opponents are shifting more and more attention to Loy to open the field for others. Next up are West Windsor-Plainsboro North today and West Windsor-Plainsboro South on Friday. The Raiders follow up those away games by hosting Hill on Saturday. Loy is expecting challenges from all three of them.
   "The past two games, they’ve been trying to shut me off," said Loy, who scored 15 goals in Hun’s first two games of the season. "I’ve come to expect that now. As much as it stinks, I take it as a compliment. It’s nice that they view me as a threat."
   Loy has already surpassed the 200-point mark in his three years at Hun and individual accomplishments aren’t the thing that will satisfy him most. The Penn State-bound senior is more excited about how his final season with the Raiders is going. Hun is one of just 11 teams in the state who are still unbeaten, and they are ranked fifth in the latest laxpower.com rankings.
   "I’ve just been trying to lead the offense as best I can along with the team," said Loy, who is a captain. "I didn’t really set a goal for myself except winning the big games. Beating Lawrenceville would just be great. That’s a goal for everyone at Hun. Getting the Bianchi championship again, that’s another. We did that two years ago and it was a great thing. We’d like to do that again. Those are the two big ones."
   Hun took a step in the direction of that second goal with a Bianchi win over PDS, which dropped to 2-4 heading into. The Raiders actually trailed, 3-2, after the first quarter before holding a 15-4 edge in the next two quarters. If the Raiders are nitpicking, they talk about wanting to start faster, but they haven’t won by less than three goals all year.
   "We have some depth so we don’t tire easily," Provenzano said. "We haven’t started fast, but then they usually start kicking it in in the second and third. They’re running our systems real good. We try to focus them every day. They’re getting the idea that they’re actually really good. They’re getting to believe in themselves."
   Added Loy, "For the games we’ve had that seem big, like Voorhees and Hillsborough, we decided we weren’t going to let them dictate the game and we came out really strongly. It’s carried over. For some games, for example the Peddie game (a 9-6 win), they dictated the entire game. We decided we weren’t going to let that happen again."
   And when Hun started slowly against PDS, it didn’t take long to get it going in the second quarter. The Raiders elevated their game to match the intensity the Panthers brought.
   "Coach P said it the best," Loy said. "We felt the sense of urgency that we were in a close game and had to pick it up. We started getting ground balls, we started shooting better, we started passing better and our defense came together and our goalie made some more saves. We felt a sense of urgency and really brought it together.
   "I think that at the beginning of the season, every team, they came out expecting us to be what we were like last year," he added. "Now that we’re 6-0, even PDS they came out on fire, they wanted to knock us off. I think the West Windsors will be the same and so will Hill. I think other teams are raising their level for us."
   Loy is hoping that Hun can continue to raise its level. The Raiders have been strong at both ends. In front of goalie Trey Geier, the defense had held opponents to single-digit scoring in the first five games of the season. On offense, Loy and the Raiders have been clicking from the outset of the season.
   "The new style of offense that Coach P has put in, it’s a really free offense," Loy said. "He allows us to do what we need to do and we have a lot of freedom to shoot. His offense allows a lot of opportunities to be individuals on the field."
   The Raiders have proven they have a lot of individuals that can find the net. In all, eight different Hun players scored at least a goal in the win over PDS, and seven different Hun players recorded assists.
   "I love that. I love the balance of scoring," Provenzano said. "It makes us more of a threat. Too many one-dimensional teams don’t go anywhere. You play some teams and can figure it out in five minutes. They just do the same thing."
   Loy’s creativity and ability has helped make the offense more dangerous. He’s an individual that can take over a game. He shares the tools of all good offensive players.
   "Matt knows the game," Provenzano said. "He’s starting to understand his angles. His field sense is getting sharper. He’s fine-tuning his proven skills. Now he’s a three-dimensional threat. He has the stickwork, vision and field sense. It’s going to bode well for college.
   "He’s becoming a general out there. He takes it when he has it. When he doesn’t, he lays off and regroups and settles. That makes him more of a threat. His general all-around field sense has been improved."
   In the final month of his high school career, it figures to continue to improve. Loy hopes that means the Raiders continue their hot start and come up with what he really wants, a big finish to what’s been quite a career.
   "It’s a little different," Loy said. "It’s my senior year. This year, I know this is the last year I’m going to play high school lacrosse. I’m making it more important. I’m trying to lead the team by example. It’s nice getting those three years of extra experience under my belt. I’m trying to make this year a special year for myself and especially the team."