Feb. 28, 2002

No. 6 MARYLAND (2-0) at No. 9 DUKE (1-0)
SATURDAY, MARCH 2, 2002 o 1:00 p.m.
KOSKINEN STADIUM (6,500/Grass), DURHAM, N.C.

o The Terps will get their first taste of ACC competition this weekend as No. 6 Maryland heads to Durham, N.C., to take on No. 9 Duke this Saturday at 1 p.m. in Koskinen Stadium.

o Once again, the Maryland-Duke match-up is the first in the conference schedule, a tradtion that began two decades ago.

o The Terps and Blue Devils have developed one of the top rivalries in the sport. Last season, Maryland took the regular-season match-up, 13-5 on March 4, but Duke came back to upset the Terps, 10-6 in the ACC championship at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando on April 22.

o Saturday's game is the 60th in the Maryland-Duke rivalry that dates to 1940. The Terps hold a 49-10 adantage in the series, its most wins against any opponent in history.

o The Terps come into the game with a 2-0 record with a 13-6 win over Hobart and an 18-0 shutout of Mount St. Mary's last Tuesday. Ten different players scored against the Mount with Mike Morsell (Hungtingdon Valley, Pa.) leading the way (4 goals, 3 assists).

o Duke is 1-0 after handing Butler a 12-4 defeat in the season opener for both teams last Saturday at Koskinen Stadium.

Game Facts
Maryland:
2002 Record: 2-0 (0-0 ACC)
2002 Preseason Rank: 6th (Coaches/Inside Lacrosse)
Head Coach: Dave Cottle (Salisbury '78)
Coach's Record: 183-70 (.723)/20th season
Coach's Record at UM: 2-0 (1.000)/1st season
Ass't Coach: Dave Slafkosky (Johns Hopkins '74)
Ass't Coach: Jon Stainbrook (Nazareth '93)
Ass't Coach: Graham Niemi (Maryland '97)
Leading Scorers: Mike Morsell (4g, 4a, 8 pts.), Mike Mollot (5g, 1a, 6pts.), Dan LaMonica (2g, 4a, 6pts.)

Duke:
2002 Record: 1-0 (0-0 ACC)
2002 Preseason Rank: 9th (Coaches/Inside Lacrosse)
Head Coach: Mike Pressler (Washington & Lee '82)
Coach's Record: 185-75 (.712)/18th season
Coach's Record at DU: 110-55 (.667)/12th season
Associate Head Coach: Joe Alberici (Alfred '93)
Ass't Coach: Jon Lantzy (Michigan State '91)
Leading Scorers: Alex Lieske (0g, 5a, 5pts.), Kevin Cassese (3g, 1a, 4pts.), Dan Chemotti (3g, 1a, 4pts.)

Series Info:
All-Time Series: Maryland leads 49-10
Last Meeting: Duke won 10-6 on April 22, 2001 at ACCs

ITS EARLY, BUT THE STATS ARE AWESOME
o Yes, we are only two games into the 2002 season, but Maryland has posted some impressive and interesting numbers.

o The Terps' 18-0 shutout of Mount St. Mary's last Tuesday was the program's first in 32 years -- since Maryland blanked Duke 19-0 on April 20, 1970.

o Last season, in all of Division I lacrosse there was only one shutout as Dartmouth blanked Boston College 12-0 on April 24, 2001.

o The 18-goal margin of victory against Mount St. Mary's was the largest since a 21-2 shelling of Radford on April 1, 1997.

o Against the Mount, the Terps piled up 65 shots, the most since they also had 65 against Providence on Feb. 27, 1999. The also had 60 groundballs -- 15 in each quarter-- the most since scooping up 63 against Delaware on March 15, 2000.

o In two games, Maryland has outscored its opponents 31-6 and average of 15.5-3.0. The Terps have not allowed a goal in the first, second or third quarters, out-scoring its foes 23-0 through the first 45 minutes of each game.

o The Terps have outshot their opponents 114-51 including domianting totals of 42-4 in the first quarter, 25-10 in the second quarter and 26-7 in the third quarter. Overall, the Terps have 76 shots on goal as compared to just 31 for its opponents.

o The Terps have scooped up 97 groundballs while the opponents have just 66. The Terps have cleared the ball 82.1 percent of the time (32-of-39) while on riding, the Terps' foes have been successful just 47.8 percent of the time (22-of-46).

o Junior goalie Danny McCormick (McLean, Va.) has an unbelievable 1.91 goals against average, which drops his overall career mark to 4.46 in 215 minutes over the last three seasons.

o Senior captain Mike Morsell had a career-high four goals and three assists for a career-best seven points against Mount St. Mary's. He now has seven goals and 10 points in his career against the Mount. Overall for his career, he has 14 goals and 23 points, meaning half of his goals have come against the Mount.

o Senior face-off specialist Brian Carroll (East Rockaway, N.Y.) has won 74.2 percent of his face-offs (23-of-31).

SERIES HISTORY WITH DUKE
o Maryland and Duke battle for the 60th time on Saturday afternoon. The Terps hold a 49-10 edge (.831) in the series that dates back to 1940. Maryland's 49 wins against the Blue Devils are the most against any opponent. The teams have split the last 10 games.

o The Terps topped the Blue Devils, 13-5 in the team's regular-season game last season on March 4, 2001 at Byrd Stadium. Andrew "Buggs" Combs scored five times and the man-down defense allowed just one goal on 16 chances.

o In the ACC Tournament championship, Duke upset the No. 1 seeded Terps to claim the conference title, 10-6 at Disney's Wide World of Sports in Orlando on April 22, 2001. Mike LaMonica (Parkton, Md.) scored three goals in the game.

o Two sesons ago, Maryland won, 7-6, in the ACC Tournament semifinals April 21, 2000, at Byrd Stadium. Brian Zeller scored two goals and added two assists in the win.

o Face-off man Brian Carroll had one of the best days of his career, winning 11-of-15 draws against one of the nation's top face-off men Scott Bross. That game was the third straight between the teams decided by one goal and eighth in a span of 18, dating to 1989.

o In the regular-season meeting of 2000, Duke defeated Maryland by one goal for the second straight time, 9-8, on March 4 in Durham.

o The Terps dominated the series from 1955 through 1988, winning all 27 meetings.

o The teams have met twice in the NCAA Tournament with Maryland winning 13-11 in 1992 and Duke retaliating 14-9 in 1994.

THE LAST 10 VS. DUKE
Apr. 22, 2001 Duke 10, Maryland 6 (ACC F)
Mar. 4, 2001 Maryland 13, Duke 5
Apr. 21, 2000 Maryland 7, Duke 6 (ACC SF)
Mar. 4, 2000 Duke 8, Maryland 7
Mar. 7, 1999 Duke 11, Maryland 10
Feb. 28, 1998 Maryland 15, Duke 9
Apr. 18, 1997 Duke 17, Maryland 10 (ACC SF)
Mar. 1, 1997 Duke 11, Maryland 10
Mar. 2, 1996 Maryland 12, Duke 6
Mar. 4, 1995 Maryland 8, Duke 6

TERPS VS. DUKE
o Mike Mollot leads the Terps in career scoring vs. Duke with 11 points on four goals and seven assists. He had three goals and an assist in the March 4, 2001 meeting at Byrd and a goal and an assist in the ACC final last April as he was named to the ACC All-Tournament team. Mollot totaled five assists in 2000's two meetings.

o Mike LaMonica notched a hat trick against Duke in the ACC final in Orlando last April and now has five goals against the Blue Devils. Brother Dan LaMonica has four goals and a pair of assists for six points vs. Duke in his two games as a freshman in 2001.

o Goalie Danny McCormick has never faced Duke.

o Coach Dave Cottle has a 4-4 career record against Duke while coaching at Loyola. He led the Greyhounds to a 10-8 win at Duke last season on March 10, 2001. He also led the Hounds to a one-goal 11-10 win over Duke, two years ago on March 11, 2000.

Goals-Assists-Points Vs. Duke
Mike Mollot 4-7-11
Dan LaMonica 4-2-6
Mike LaMonica 5-0-5
Mike Morsell 2-0-2
Craig Hochstadt 2-0-2
Alex Poole 1-0-1
Matt Urlock 1-0-1
Ian Healy 0-1-1
Jamie Daue 0-1-1

MARYLAND IN THE SEASON OPENERS
o The Terps (1-0) opened the season with an impressive 13-6 victory over Hobart last Saturday. Maryland's defense, led by preseason All-Americans Michael Howley (Wantagh, N.Y.) and Chris Passavia (Stony Brook, N.Y.) and junior goalie Danny McCormick (McLean, Va.), shut out Hobart for the first three quarters in building a 9-0 lead. McCormick, in his first college start, made 14 saves in 56 minutes of action and allowed just three goals. Dan LaMonica (Parkton, Md.) led the Terps with two goals and three assists for five points. Mike Mollot (Holbrook, N.Y.) netted three goals in the fourth quarter for his fifth career hat trick.

o Maryland has a 73-3-1 (.958) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season after the 13-6 win over Hobart last Saturday. The Terps have won their last nine openers and 17 of the last 18, with the only loss coming to Duke in 1993.

o Last season, Maryland defeated Air Force, 16-3 on Feb. 24 at the Denver Pioneer Face-Off Classic.

o After losing their 1925 opener to Yale, 5-3, the Terps went on to win 40 consecutive season openers from 1926 through 1967. The streak was broken when Maryland tied Princeton, 6-6, in the 1968 opener. Following the deadlock, Maryland went on to win its next 14 openers, giving the Terps a 54-0-1 record over a 57-year span (Maryland did not field a team in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II.)

THE LAST NINE OPENERS o The Terps have a nine-game winning streak in season openers after the win over Hobart. Five of those wins came against Villanova (1994-98), three over Denver and one each over Mount St. Mary's, Air Force and Hobart. Over the nine-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 132-44 in those games. Maryland last lost a season opener in 1993, when it fell to Duke 9-5 on March 6.

FIVE NAMED PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
o Maryland features five preseason All-Americans as voted on by the coaches for Face-Off Yearbook. First-teamer junior Michael Howley (Wantagh, N.Y.) leads the way. Sophomore Dan LaMonica (Parkton, Md.) is a preseason third team All-American. Senior Mike LaMonica (Parkton, Md.), junior Mike Mollot (Holbrook, N.Y.) and sophomore Chris Passavia (Stony Brook, N.Y.) are all preseason honorable mention All-Americans.

o Last season, Howley was a second team USILA All-American and Mollot was an honorable mention All-American.

o Howley was also named a preseason All-American by Lacrosse Magazine, which released just one team of stars.

o On the 360Lacrosse.com preseason All-American list, Howley was named to the second team. Four Terps were named honorable mention All-Americans: Dan LaMonica, Mike LaMonica, Mike Mollot and Chris Passavia.

TERPS RANKED NO. 6 IN PRESEASON COACHES POLL
o The Maryland men's lacrosse team is ranked No. 6 in the Face-Off Yearbook Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll released by Inside Lacrosse. The Terps, under new head coach Dave Cottle, are one of three ACC teams in the top 10. Maryland, which finished the 2001 season ranked No. 3, will take on 10 teams ranked in the preseason top 25: No. 3 Johns Hopkins (April 13), No. 4 Towson (March 9), No. 5 Virginia (March 30), No. 9 Duke (March 2), No. 13 North Carolina (March 23), No. 14 Navy (April 5), No. 18 UMBC (May 4), No. 19 Bucknell (March 12), No. 21 Delaware (March 16) and No. 23 Hobart (Feb. 23).

o The Terps were ranked No. 5 in the preseason poll released by Lacrosse Magazine.

SENIOR CAPTAINS
o Maryland will feature four senior captains in 2002. New coach Dave Cottle has named Andy Burman (Kensington, Md.), Mike LaMonica (Parkton, Md.), Mike Morsell (Huntingdon Valley, Pa,) and Nate Watkins (Elmira, N.Y.) as the captains for the team.

AMERICA'S TEAM
o Of course the sport of lacrosse is a regional one, being played mostly in the Northeast, but Maryland's coaching staff has combed the nation far and wide to compose the 2002 Terp roster which features players from a school-record 11 states. Never before has Maryland had more than eight states represented on its roster. However, the 2002 team includes the first-ever recruits from California and Colorado, giving the team its first Western natives since the start of the program in 1924.

o Coming from California are Peter Ellis and Drew Virk, both of whom are from Ross, Calif., and played at St. Ignatius College Prep in San Francisco. From Colorado is freshman Mark Foster, who prepped at Kent Denver.

o Add to that freshman Dave Matz, who is the first player from Vermont to play for the Terps, and 11 states are represented in total. Of the 11 newcomers on the roster for 2002, nine different states are represented.

o Two other players on the roster previously were the first recruits from their states, as junior Brett Harper came from Upper Arlington High School in Ohio and junior Sean Leary came to College Park from Detroit Country Day School in Michigan in 1999.

TERPS' 77TH SEASON OF LACROSSE
o The Terps begin the third season of the new century with an all-time record of 617-197-4, dating back to the first varsity team in 1924 (a team was not fielded in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II). Maryland has finished every one of its previous 76 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 13-3. The program's 600th win came against Duke on April 21, 2000, 7-6 in the ACC Semifinals at Byrd Stadium.

o In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland recorded its most wins in any decade with a 95-47 record. The .669 winning percentage matched Maryland's win percentage of the 1980s when the Terps went 83-41 and also compiled a .669 win percentage.

MEDIA INFORMATION
o Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland men's lacrosse news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email men's lacrosse contact Jason Yellin at jyellin@wam.umd.edu with the message "Men's Lacrosse Email" as the subject and you will receive every update distributed about the team.

o Terrapin Fan Phone: The Fan Phone is currently experiencing technical difficulties. It will be rectified soon.

THREE GAMES ON WMAR