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March 11, 2002
MARYLAND (3-1) vs. BUCKNELL (0-3)
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 2002 * 3:00 p.m.
CHRISTY MATHEWSON STADIUM (13,100/Grass), LEWISBURG, PA.
o Coming off a big 15-10 win over No. 5 Towson, the Maryland men's lacrosse team heads to Lewisburg, Pa., for the first time in history to take on the Bucknell Bison this Tuesday afternoon at Christy Mathewson Memorial Stadium at 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live over the internet with a link at umterps.com and www.bucknellbison.com.
o The Terps are believed to be the highest ranked team to ever play at Bucknell. As of Monday, the Terps are awaiting the newest USILA Poll which is released in the late afternoon. Maryland was the No. 7 team in the poll last week and is sure to move up after the win over No. 5 Towson.
o Bucknell is 0-3 after falling to No. 13 North Carolina (12-3), No. 25 Harvard (10-9) and No. 16 Penn (7-5) last Saturday.
MOLLOT NAMED NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK BY WARRIOR/INSIDE LAX
o In leading the Terps to the 15-10 victory over Towson, junior Mike Mollot (Holbrook, N.Y.) was named the National Player of the Week by Warrior/Inside Lacrosse. Mollot had a career day against Towson last Saturday as he tied his career high with seven points. The win avenged the loss the Terps suffered last year in the NCAA quarterfinals to the Tigers. The junior scored a career-high five goals and added two assists to tie his career best with seven points, which he had done twice before. This was his sixth career hat trick. He started an 8-2 run and scored four of his five goals during the stretch which lasted until the fourth quarter as the Terps broke up a 6-6 game in the second quarter.
NATIONAL SCORING LEADERS
Player, Team G-A=Pts.
1. Miichael Powell, Syracuse 15-11=26
2. Josh Coffman, Syracuse 14-5=19
3. Matt Brown, Denver 16-3=19
4. Dave Pittard, Navy 10-8=18
5. Curtis Smith, Ohio State 12-6=18
6. Mike Mollot, Maryland 11-6=17
o Mollot leads the Terps in points with 17 and goals with 11. Those totals also rank among the national leaders. He is sixth in point scoring and tied for seventh in goals.
o With the seven points, Mollot also became the 30th player in Maryland history to surpass the 100-point plateau. He currently has 45 goals and 59 assists for 104 points in two-plus seasons.
OFFENSE FILLING UP THE NETS
o With a new offensive system in place under new coach Dave Cottle, the Maryland attack has scoring at the faster pace and taking more shots than in recent years.
o That fact was played out against Towson, thought to be one of the nation's top offensive teams in its own right. With 15 goals, the Terps produced their highest goal total against a top-10 team in four seasons. The last time Maryland scored at least 15 goals against a highly-ranked team came on May 23, 1998, when the Terps piled up a 19-8 victory over No. 1 Loyola in the NCAA Quarterfinals. That team was coached by current Maryland coach Dave Cottle.
NATIONAL TEAM OFFENSE
Team Goals (GPG)
1. Denver 67 (13.40)
2. Syracuse 66 (16.50)
3. MARYLAND 54 (13.50)
4. North Carolina 52 (13.00)
5. Penn State 50 (12.50)
o Maryland ranks fifth in the nation in goals scored per game (13.5) and third overall in total goals (54). Only Denver (67) and Syracuse (66) have more goals this season.
o Mike Mollot leads the team with 11 goals, Mike LaMonica (Parkton, Md.) is second with seven goals after scoring three against Towson. Brother Dan LaMonica, (Parkton, Md.) has five goals, also scoring three vs. Towson.. Six players have four or five goals, giving the team a well-rounded offense.
o Junior Ryan Moran (Setauket, N.Y.) and J.R. Bordley (Vienna, Va.) each have scored the first four goals of their careers.
o Maryland has been shooting the ball at an uncanny pace this season. The Terps have nearly doubled their opponents shot total, as the Terps have 223 shots while holding their foes to just 116.
o Leading the shot barrage is Mike LaMonica, who has a team-high 46 shots. LaMonica had a career-high 18 shots vs. Towson. With his brother, Dan LaMonica, the siblings outshot the entire Towson team, 30-28, as Dan took 12 shots.
TERP DEFENSE CONTINUES TO BE ROCK SOLID
o Maryland has made defense a stable of its success over the past few seasons and 2002 is no different. With preseason All-Americans Michael Howley (Wantagh, N.Y.) and Chris Passavia (Stony Brook, N.Y.) leading the way, the Terps have allowed just 6.25 goals per game to rank fourth in the nation in team defense.
NATIONAL TEAM DEFENSE
Team GPG (GA)
1. Dartmouth 5.00 (10)
2. Pennsylvania 5.50 (11)
3. Lafayette 6.00 (6)
4. MARYLAND 6.25 (25)
5. Johns Hopkins 6.50 (13)
o Also playing key roles on the defense are defensive midfielders Paul Gillette (Severna Park, Md.), Brett Harper (Columbus, Ohio) and Carrington King (Crozet, Va.) along with close defenders Lee Zink (Rowayton, Conn.) and Dave Wagner (Severna Park, Md.).
o Gillette leads the defensive crew with 17 groundballs -- second to Brian Carroll's 20 groundballs -- as three others also have more than 10 groundballs after just four games (Passavia-15, Harper-12 and Howley-10).
o In goal, junior Danny McCormick (McLean, Va.) has been solid in his first season as the team's starter, posting 5.89 goals against average and a 63.3 save percentage.
o Last season, the Terps were No. 2 in the nation in team defense giving up just 6.31 goals per game.
THE SERIES WITH BUCKNELL
o The Terps have won all three games against Bucknell, oustcoring the Bison 36-13 in the meetings.
o Maryland won last year's battle, 8-4 at College Park on March 27, 2001. The game originally scheduled for March 6, 2001 was postponed due to a snow storm in the east. Andrew "Buggs" Combs led the Terps with four goals, while Mike LaMonica (2g, 1a) and Mike Mollot (1a, 2g) posted three-point games.
o The Terps won the 2000 meeting, 9-3 at Byrd Stadium as the team's renewed the series that started in 1981. In that first game, Maryland topped Bucknell, 19-6 on March 28, 1981 in the first round of the Loyola Invitational Tournament in Baltimore.
o Against teams from the current Patriot League, Maryland has an overall record of 29-20 with a win coming against Hobart earlier this season. The series records are: Army (19-19), Bucknell (3-0), Hobart (3-0), Lafayette (1-0), Lehigh (3-1), the Terps have never played Colgate.
INDIVIDUAL TERPS VS. BUCKNELL
o Six different Terps have scored against Bucknell over the past two years. Mike Mollot leads the way with three goals and four assists for seven points. Mike LaMonica, Alex Poole (Hunt Valley, Md.) and Nate Watkins (Elmira, N.Y.) all have one goal and assist against the Bison.
o Danny McCormick (McLean, Va.) played five minutes in the 200 game, making two saves, allowing no goals.
o Coach Dave Cottle has a 1-0 record against the Bison, recording his second-career coaching win over Bucknell with a 15-8 victory early in the 1983 season.
THREE GAMES ON WMAR-TV
o WMAR-TV (channel 2) in Baltimore will continue its bold concept of telecasting college lacrosse in the state of Maryland by presenting the Lacrosse Game of the Week. Beginning Saturday, March 2 and continuing through Saturday, May 4, WMAR will broadcast 13 games live.
o The Terps will be featured on WMAR three times: March 9, when Towson comes to Byrd Stadium, April 5 when the Terps host Navy and April 13 as part of a men's-women's doubleheader vs. Johns Hopkins. The seven-time defending NCAA champ Terp women face the Blue Jays at noon, followed by the men's game at 3 p.m..
o Former All-American goalie Quint Kessenich joins WMAR's broadcast team of Scott Garceau and Keith Mills to bring the Baltimore area the greatest lacrosse television coverage ever.
WMUC (88.1) TO BROADCAST GAMES
o WMUC (88.1 FM) and wmuc.umd.edu will broadcast up to nine men's lacrosse games in 2002. A tentative schedule has been set, but is subject to change due to other Maryland sporting events. The action will be called by Rishi Barran, Evan Parker, Steve Rudenstein and Josh Madden. A pregame show precedes each game.
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.
