Courtesy of Loyola Maryland Athletics Communications
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Pat Spencer’s collegiate lacrosse career of records, awards and plaudits came to a fitting conclusion Thursday night when he became the first Loyola University Maryland and second Patriot League men’s lacrosse player to receive the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player.
A four-time All-American and Patriot League Offensive Player of the Year, Spencer received the trophy in a ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
“This is obviously a special night for Loyola University Maryland, our program and the Spencer family,” said Head Coach Charley Toomey. “It has been a joy to watch the development of Pat through high school and his final lacrosse game collegiately. People see what Pat brings to the program on the field, but as the head coach, I appreciate everything that he has brought to Loyola lacrosse in the classroom and in the locker room.
“Pat has lived in a fishbowl since his freshman year. Watching him handle those moments both on and off the field has been remarkable. He came to us as a player, but he is leaving as a coach on the field for Loyola. We both played for Bobby Shriver (at Boys’ Latin School of Maryland), and for Pat to stay local and have his parents and grandparents at scrimmages and games was something that was very special to him, and it means so much to us, too.
“The bar in our program was already high when Pat showed up, but he continued to raise it, and he leaves it as high as it ever has been. One of the best things with Pat departing is that we know he will always remain close to our program and Loyola, especially while he is in the stands for the next four years watching his brother, Cam, play for our men’s basketball team.”
From his first two games as a Greyhound – contests in which he scored eight combined points in wins over the University of Virginia and Johns Hopkins University – Spencer set a path to becoming the most-decorated player in school history.
Last week, he became the first Loyola to earn United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association (USILA) All-America honors four times, picking up his third-straight first-team recognition. He was named the USILA’s Lt. Raymond J. Enners Most Outstanding Player in 2019 after earning the organization’s Lt. Col. J.I. “Jack” Turnbull Outstanding Attackman of the Year honor in 2018.
Spencer is the first player in Patriot League history to earn the conference’s Offensive Player of the Year honors all four years, was a four-time All-Patriot League First Team honoree and earned the organization’s Rookie of the Year trophy in 2016. He joins Colgate's Peter Baum as the second League player to win the Tewaaraton, when he captured the award in 2012.
At Loyola, he was a four-time Team Most Valuable Player, the school’s Male Junior Athlete of the Year in 2018 and Senior Athlete of the Year in 2019, and last month was the recipient of Loyola’s John Mohler Award as the top senior student-athlete for his graduating class.
“This is an incredible honor for Pat as the deserving recipient of the Tewaaraton,” said Donna Woodruff, Loyola’s assistant vice president and director of athletics. “It has been our pleasure to share in Pat’s career as an exceptional student and athlete at Loyola University Maryland and we are thrilled at his selection as the first Greyhound to be recognized as the nation’s top lacrosse player. I know I speak for all past, present and future Greyhounds in extending my sincere congratulations to Pat on his impressive career and in celebrating this well-deserved honor.”
His honors came after compiling statistical highs and records that reach to the top of national, conference and school charts.
In the 2019 NCAA Championships First Round against Syracuse University, Spencer became the NCAA Division I’s all-time leader in assists and later finished his career with 231 over his 68 games. He totaled 380 points in those outings to finish second in NCAA history in that statistical category.
Those numbers, of course, also stand as Loyola and Patriot League records, too. His 149 career goals are two shy of the school’s all-time record and are fourth in the conference.
Spencer, who graduated from Loyola this month with a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance, never finished a season with fewer than 83 points, posting remarkably consistent numbers throughout his four seasons.
He started his career by tying what was then the Loyola single-season points record, scoring 89 on 37 goals and 52 assists in 2016, and he followed that with 83 points and a then-school-record 55 assists as a sophomore. Spencer reset the school records for both points and assists in a season in his junior campaign of 2018, finishing the year with 59 assists and 94 points.
The native of Davidsonville, Maryland, in nearby Anne Arundel County saved possibly his best performances for his senior season.
“It is difficult to put in words what Pat has meant to our offense and the Program the three years that I have been privileged to coach him,” said Marc Van Arsdale, Loyola’s offensive coordinator. “Much has been written and said about his tremendous athletic attributes such as his skill, IQ, quickness, competitiveness amongst many others, and rightfully so, but it is his ability to raise the level of play of everyone around him and his patience with younger players’ development which I will remember most. I have learned as much from him as from anyone I have ever coached, and I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to work with him.”
Spencer had career-highs across the board offensively in 2019, finishing his Tewaaraton-winning 17-game slate with 49 goals, 65 assists and 114 points. His assist and point totals set school and Patriot League records, while his goals were a career-best and sixth-most at Loyola. He had four of his seven-career games with 10 or more points during the season, recording 11 on three occasions including the NCAA Quarterfinal against Penn State University.
He opened the year with three-straight seven-point games in victories over Virginia, Johns Hopkins and Rutgers University, and he followed that with 5- and 11-point outings versus Towson University and College of the Holy Cross.
Early in Patriot League play, he had consecutive eight-point games, only to back those up with 10 points against Colgate University and five goals and six assists for 11 versus Lehigh University.
Spencer continued his dynamic year in the postseason, scoring nine points on three goals and six assists in a first-round win over Syracuse before going off for six goals and five assists against the Nittany Lions in his lacrosse finale.
Over the course of his career, Spencer scored at least one point in all 68 games, amassing 64 multi-point affairs. He had five or more points in 43 of those outings, helping make his 5.58 points per game 10
th-most in NCAA Division I history. Coincidentally, he also had 43 games with three or more assists, and his 3.40 assists per game rank sixth in school history.
Loyola enjoyed considerable success as a team during Spencer’s time with the program, going 49-19 (.721) overall, reaching the NCAA Tournament four times – a trip to the semifinals in 2016 and quarterfinal visits in 2018 and 2019 – winning three Patriot League Regular-Season Championships and three Patriot League Tournament titles.