April 27, 2000

By Chris McManes
Special to the Prince George's Journal

COLLEGE PARK, Md. They have celebrated the accomplishment of advancing to two national championship games, and they have cried when they were left out of the NCAA Tournament. On Friday night, the seven seniors on the Maryland men's lacrosse team will play their final regular-season home game at Byrd Stadium.

"It's bittersweet," Terrapins 17-year Coach Dick Edell said. "They're ready for the next stage of their life, but their careers go so quick. It seems like only yesterday they were sitting in your office as a high-school senior and the next thing you know, you're writing a job recommendation for them."

The ninth-ranked Terps (8-4) will have their work cut out for them Friday at 8 p.m against a Yale (8-4) team that enters with a five-game winning streak. The Terrapins need to win their final two regular seasons to almost guarantee their entrance into the 12-team NCAA playoffs.

"I think this year's been an emotional ride for us, because we don't score a lot of goals," said Edell, whose team failed to reach the NCAA Tournament last year after eight straight berths. "I think for sheer excitement, this might be the most exciting season I've ever been around."

Excitement was plentiful for Maryland's seniors in 1997-1998 when, as freshmen and sophomores, they advanced to consecutive national title games.

"They were probably thinking this is standard operating procedure around here," Edell said. "And I wish it was. We had a little void on their chart last year, but I really think we're going to end this thing on another postseason experience."

Seniors Geoff Burnham, Jason Carrier, Casey Connor, Dan Hughes, Marcus LaChapelle, Jeff Shirk and Brian Zeller enter Friday's contest with a four-year record of 42-17 (.712). Hughes and Zeller redshirted their freshman year in 1996, while Carrier and Shirk have been friends since their preschool days.

"It brings a lot of memories to mind all into one special night -- this Friday night," Carrier said. "So we're looking forward to it."

The seniors appeared in their first national title game in 1997 after playoff victories over Georgetown, Virginia and Syracuse. Zeller scored his first career three-goal game in the 18-17 win over Syracuse, which Byrd Stadium hosted in front of a lacrosse-record crowd of 30,580.

"And I'd say 80 percent of them were Maryland fans," Carrier said. "So that made it even more special, and it was against Syracuse -- a supreme team with (All-American) Casey Powell. When we beat them, it was just an unbelievable experience."

The next year the Terps won their first eight games, captured the Atlantic Coast Conference title and entered their quarterfinal matchup with Johns Hopkins sporting a record of 12-2. With 25 seconds left in overtime, Zeller scored to send Maryland to its second straight Final Four. He calls it the personal highlight of his career.

"It was at Byrd Stadium, and again it was a pretty big crowd (11,261)" said Zeller, a midfielder who was named second-team All-American that year after tallying 20 goals and 13 assists. "It was just a crazy feeling having the whole team jump on you after you just scored the winning goal."

Carrier, a three-year starting defenseman, recalled the Terps' 14-11 ACC title game victory over Virginia on the Cavaliers' home field. "Anytime you win a championship, it's extremely special," he said. "And that one was unbelievable considering it was in the pouring rain and it was against an unbelievable team."

After losing to Princeton for the 1997 title, 19-7, Maryland entered the 1998 championship game with the most victories (14) in its 77 years of lacrosse. But No. 15 proved elusive as the Tigers prevailed again, 15-5 in New Brunswick, N.J.

But that disappointment paled by comparison to the emptiness the Terrapins felt last year, when despite a record of 9-5, their name was not called by the NCAA selection committee. As the players and coaches watched in stunned disbelief, tears flowed.

"It was a helpless, horrible feeling," Carrier said. "It was definitely the hardest thing I've ever been through. We put so much effort into the season, and then to have that happen. For the rest of my life, I'll never want to experience that again.

"We sure don't want that to happen again this year."

Zeller said he felt especially bad because after missing 1996 with a broken right foot, the seniors whose careers ended that day were the players with whom he had first entered college.

"That was definitely the low point seeing those guys that upset, just knowing that they're done," Zeller said. "But I was one of the lucky guys that got to come back and hopefully make a difference."

If the Terrapins make the playoffs and can win twice, they would get to play at Byrd Stadium again in the Final Four on May 27 and 29.

"That would be great," Zeller said. "I definitely don't expect Friday night to be my last game in Byrd. I don't think any of the seniors do."