March 9, 1998

COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- In the first quarter of the Maryland-Towson game yesterday, the Terps had 14 possessions and scored eight times. That's offense.

Over that same 15-minute stretch, the Tigers had control of the ball eight times, but Maryland limited them to one goal. That's defense.

There isn't much more to the game except for goaltending, and the No. 3 Terps had that, too, with Kevin Healy chalking up a better than 2-to-1 saves to goals allowed ratio, as Maryland romped, 17-6.

No. 15 Towson (1-1) was not only outmaneuvered from the start, it was outnumbered throughout, as Maryland coach Dick Edell kept running in players.

"We recruit these kids because we think they can play here, so why not try to work them in early and get them some good runs?" Edell said.

Indeed. Ten different players tallied goals for the 3-0 Terps and 11 were credited with assists.

"The fact we can put 28 or 29 guys out there will show up in the latter part of games. This is a big week for us with games Wednesday [Penn State] and Saturday [Cornell]. Usually, you have to `rope-a-dope' your way through one. I think we can go all-out because of our depth and conditioning," Edell said.

The game had no sooner started when Scott Hochstadt took the ball out of the deep right corner and went all the way in for an unassisted goal, starting his eighth career hat trick. The junior was on the board again a couple of minutes later.

What turned out to be Towson's last gasp came just 3: 39 into the game when Steve Preis hit the first of his three first-half goals to make it 2-1. Maryland then scored seven straight goals and appeared to maintain control of the ball about 80 percent of the time, even when stopped by Towson's improving defense.

All told, the Terps had a dozen more possessions than Towson, as Matt Haggerty and Chris Nohe controlled the faceoff circle, 17-6. "We stress getting and keeping possession," said Edell. "The other team can't make line switches and they're running backward while trying to defend."

Which is exactly the game Towson was forced to play most of the day. Hochstadt had three assists to go with his three goals and Matt Hahn added a hat trick and an assist. Terps freshman Buggs Combs, the son of Towson football coach Gordy Combs, also contributed three goals.

                       Towson   1 2 1 2 --  6

                       Maryland 8 3 4 2 -- 17

                       Goals: T--Preis 3, Paradise, Ford; M--Combs 3, Hahn 3,
                       Hochstadt 3, Kemezis 2, Ruhl, Hanna, Malone, Whipple,
                       Rannigan, Sullivan. Assists: T--Paradise 2, Stark, Horrigan;
                       M--Hochstadt 3, Whipple 2, Zeller, Kemezis, Halford, Ruhl,
                       Radin, Osberg, Hahn, Pasqualina, Haggerty. Saves:
                       T--Harrigan 9, Champney 2; M--Healy 9, Keenan 1, McGinnis 1.