Feb. 21, 2003
No. 5 MARYLAND (0-0) vs. No. 6 GEORGETOWN (0-0)
SATURDAY, FEB. 22, 2003 * 11:00 a.m.
ARTIFICIAL TURF FACILITY (1,000/Turf), COLLEGE PARK, MD.
Live Coverage: WMUCSports.com
Tickets: Free admission at all, but there is a $5 parking charge in the garage due to the men's basketball game at 2 p.m. (Free parking in Lots 1 and Z)
Welcome To The 2003 Season
* This Saturday's Maryland-Georgetown game kicks off the 2003 regular season for both clubs. The game marks the first-ever regular season match-up between the schools located less than 15 miles apart. The teams have scrimmaged each other for many years over the last decade before agreeing to start a regular-season series this season. The teams have met just once in history, the 1997 NCAA Tournament, as the Terps downed the Hoyas, 14-10 at Towson.
* Maryland comes into the season after a 9-4 campaign in 2002 when they lost all four games by just one goal, including three in overtime.
* Georgetown reached the NCAA quarterfinals last season and finished 12-3 overall. They topped Manhattan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national runner-up Princeton, 14-13 in the quarters at Hofstra.
The Last and Only Meeting
* Maryland defeated Georgetown, 14-10, in the only previous meeting between the schools in men's lacrosse in the first round of the 1997 NCAA Tournament at Towson. The Terps jumped out to a 6-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back as they began their run to the second of three trips to the NCAA championship game in a four-year span.
* All-American Scott Hochstadt, the school's 16th all-time leading scorer, led the way for Maryland as he posted five goals. Andrew Whipple added three for Maryland as the Terps outshot the Hoyas, 42-25.
* Georgetown was led by Kevin Hubschmann, who had three goals. Goalie Brian Hole had a sensational game, making 22 saves.
Six Terps Named Preseason All-Americans
* The Maryland men's lacrosse team has placed six players on the Inside Lacrosse/Face-Off Yearbook Preseason All-America list. Senior defenseman Michael Howley (Wantagh, N.Y.) and junior defender Chris Passavia (Stony Brook, N.Y.) were both named to the preseason first team. Last season Howley was a USILA second-team All-American and Passavia was a member of the third team.
* Senior midfield/attackman Mike Mollot (Holbrook, N.Y.) was named a second team preseason All-American after he was a USILA second teamer last season. Junior attacker Dan LaMonica (Parkton, Md.) was also named to the second team. Last season, he was a USILA honorable mention All-American.
* Goalie Danny McCormick (McLean, Va.) was named to the preseason honorable mention list after being a USILA honorable mention All-American last year. Newcomer attackman Brian Hunt (West Chester, Pa.), who comes to Maryland as a graduate student after playing at Yale, was also named a preseason honorable mention All-American as he makes his debut as a Terp this spring. Hunt missed all of last year with a broken ankle.
Leading Scorers All Around
* It is believed that the 2003 Maryland men's lacrosse team is in the process of making NCAA sports history as the Terps have a roster unlike any other in the history of college athletics. Maryland has a roster that has four players who led their respective teams in scoring in their last seasons of action. It is still being researched by the NCAA, but it is believed that this is the first instance of its kind in any sport.
* Maryland returns its own leading scorer from 2002 in senior Mike Mollot, who had 46 points on 23 goals and 23 assists last season. The Terps have added three new players who join the team from other Division I programs where each of them led their respective teams in scoring in their last year of action.
* Graduate student Brian Hunt topped Yale's scoring chart in 2001 and finished fourth in the nation in points with 58 on 28 goals and 30 assists.
* Joe Parker, who is also a graduate student, played one year of lacrosse at Colgate last season, where he also led the team in points with 48 on 29 goals and 19 assists.
* Finally, junior transfer Justin Smith, who comes to the Terps from UMBC, was the Retrievers' leading scorer last season with 24 points on 18 goals and six assists.
2003 Schedule Notes
* For 2003, Maryland has added several new opponents including Saturday's foe Georgetown; Stony Brook, Butler and Notre Dame. The Terps will also continue their long-time rivalries with ACC foes Duke, North Carolina and Virginia along with local battles against Johns Hopkins, Navy, Towson and UMBC.
* The Terps will appear on the WMAR Channel 2 Television Game of the Week for a school-record four occasions. Maryland will be featured in the first two games of the package as they host Duke on March 1 at 1 p.m. and travel to Towson on March 8 for a 1 p.m. face-off. The greatest rivalry in lacrosse renews once again on WMAR for the sixth year in a row as Johns Hopkins comes to College Park for a Saturday, April 12, prime time match-up. The Terps will also play in a televised prime-time game as they host UMBC on April 25 at 7:30 p.m.
* "We are very excited about our schedule for the spring of 2003," said Dave Cottle, who enters his second season at the helm of the Terps' program. "We feel we have added some games against top-quality opponents that make it one of the toughest schedules in the nation."
* The Terps take on seven teams that finished in last season's final USILA/STX Poll (No. 1 Johns Hopkins, No. 3 Virginia, No. 4 Georgetown, No. 9 Duke, No. 12 North Carolina, No. 15 Navy and No. 18 Towson). They also play five teams that qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2002: Duke, Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, Stony Brook and Virginia.
* The games with Georgetown, Stony Brook, Butler and Notre Dame will all be the first regular-season meetings against those teams. The Terps have faced the Hoyas, Bulldogs and Fighting Irish each once before, all in NCAA Tournament games.
* The ACC Tournament will be held in Charlottesville, Va., on April 18 and 20, 2003 at the University of Virginia, the site of the Terps' last ACC title in 1998.
Terps No. 5 In Preseason Poll
* The Maryland men's lacrosse team is ranked No. 5 in the Inside Lacrosse magazine 2003 preseason top 25 coaches poll released Dec. 6, 2002. The Terps, who finished the 2002 season at No. 10, join fellow ACC schools Virginia, Duke and North Carolina, which are ranked No. 4, No. 7 and No. 9, respectively, in dominating this year's top 10.
* "I'm very happy with our No. 5 ranking," Terrapin head coach Dave Cottle said. "This is going to be a very competitive year and I'm looking forward to the spring."
* Maryland will face nine teams ranked in the preseason top 25 during the 2003 season: No. 3 Johns Hopkins (Apr. 12), No. 4 Virginia (Mar. 29), No. 6 Georgetown (Feb. 22), No. 7 Duke (Mar. 1), No. 9 North Carolina (Mar. 22), No. 13 Towson (Mar. 8), No. 14 Navy (Apr. 5), No. 17 Notre Dame (May 3) and No. 24 Bucknell (Mar. 11).
* They also scrimmaged No. 1 Syracuse (losing 15-14) and No. 2 Princeton (tying 6-6) prior to the regular season.
