By Michael Wojtychiw

CHICAGO – The first day of competition marked a number of firsts for Loyola. Manager Justin Dunn, who took over the reins as leader of the Ramblers program, was making his head coaching debut, and the team was looking to establish a new core after key varsity players like Tommy Zipprich, Michael Sullivan, Dylan Gripman and Oscar Blazer graduated to the college game.

There might be new faces, but the same Loyola stepped out onto the field in the season opener against Young at the Michelle Obama Athletic Complex.

The Ramblers did just what they did in their abbreviated spring season — walk away with a win, this time defeating the host Dolphins 2-0.

“It’s been a bit of a whirlwind the past couple weeks,” Dunn said. “Having to deal with everything in a running a program, especially as a 24 year-old that’s also a teacher at a different school, it’s tough.

“But I knew a lot of the guys returning and that’s been really helpful, especially the senior leaders who have been helpful in creating the environment and the rhetoric that we want to have. We knew the guys from last year were leaving, but we’re really confident in who we have. It’s all about building that chemistry, team environment.