Dec. 20, 2005

College Park, Md. - Maryland men's lacrosse coach Dave Cottle has released the Terps' 2006 schedule. The Terps, who reached the NCAA Final Four in 2005 and finished the season ranked No. 4 in the final USILA Geico/STX coaches' poll, will once again play one of the most competitive schedules in the nation in 2005. Maryland takes on eight teams that finished 2005 ranked in the top 20, including the other three schools that reached the 2005 Final Four.

The Terps are coming off last year's 11-6 campaign that saw them reach the NCAA semifinals for the second time in four years under Coach Cottle. Maryland will return nine starters, six of whom earned All-America honors, including first team midfielder Bill McGlone and second team attackman Joe Walters.

"This year's schedule is exciting, but it is a very challenging one," said Cottle. "We play some of the top schools in the country both at home and away from College Park. We've got the makings of a good team so we're looking forward to the challenge. One thing we're especially please about is the opportunity to host the ACC tournament in Baltimore again."

Maryland's 2006 schedule is the second-toughest in the nation according to Inside Lacrosse magazine, which will release it's preseason rankings and All-America teams on December 26.

The 2006 schedule kicks off with a pair of high-profile road games at Georgetown and 2005 NCAA runner-up Duke. Other highlights include back-to-back home games with ACC rival Virginia and Navy. The 102nd meeting between Maryland and arch-rival Johns Hopkins will take place on Saturday, April 15 at 8:00 p.m. at Homewood Field.

Sacred Heart is the only new opponent from the 2005 schedule. The Terps will meet the Pioneers for the first time ever on Tuesday April 18 at 3:00 p.m.

Maryland will be then host the 2006 ACC Tournament, which will be held in M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, on April 28 and 30. The Terps are the two-time defending conference champs, having defeated Virginia, 12-11, in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 2004 and Duke, 9-5, in Baltimore last season.

The full television schedule is not yet available, but the Terrapins are already scheduled for two nationally televised games on WMAR/ESPNU in 2006. The first will be on March 11 when Towson visits College Park, while the other is the Hopkins game in Baltimore.