Dec. 23, 2005

COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The athletics teams at the University of Maryland have had an unparalleled run of success in the Fall 2005 semester and a record number of fans have taken notice.

This fall, the Terrapins garnered two national championships - in field hockey and men's soccer - shares of three Atlantic Coast Conference titles (field hockey, men's soccer regular-season and a co-championship in volleyball) and placed three squads in NCAA Tournament play.

Individuals in fall sports have also fared well from Maryland, as Paula Infante was the Honda Award winner as the field hockey national player of the year, linebacker D'Qwell Jackson was voted the ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and soccer forward Jason Garey received national player of the year honors from some soccer publications and is one of the finalists for the Hermann Award, given to the official national player of the year.

Garey was also the ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American of the Year in men's soccer as selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America.

On the field, Maryland's shares of three ACC championships marked only the third time in the last 12 years the Terps have had as many league titles in fall sports. Maryland earned three fall regular-season or tournament titles in 1996 and 2001.

In addition, Maryland has set a number of attendance figures during the fall as fans have enjoyed being part of the Terrapins' success:

* The men's soccer team drew 6,203 to Ludwig Field when it hosted fifth-ranked Indiana on Oct. 29, setting a new single-game record and marking only the second time in school history Maryland has drawn more than 4,500 to a men's soccer match. The previous single-game high was 6,143 when the Terps hosted UCLA on Sept. 5, 2003.

*, Maryland attracted an average of 2,548 to Ludwig Field this season, also a school record (2,046 per game in 2004). With 33,121 coming to 13 home games this fall, the Terps also snapped the total home attendance record of 29,853 set in 2003.

* The women's volleyball team drew 1,321 on Oct. 21 to witness Maryland defeating North Carolina, setting a single-match attendance mark for volleyball in the Comcast Center Pavilion. The Terps also broke the 1,000 mark on Nov. 4 when 1,144 attended a match against Virginia. An average of 621 per match watched the Terps this season in 14 home events.

* The Maryland field hockey team had 1,306 in attendance when the Terps hosted Wake Forest in the final of the ACC Tournament on Nov. 6, which matched the No. 1 and No. 3 teams in the nation. The Terps, who won the 2005 NCAA National Championship as well as the ACC title, had 5,746 fans attend 13 home dates (442 average) at the newly finished Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.

* Maryland set a single-season record for average football attendance in 2005 when an average of 52,426 came to five home dates at Byrd Stadium. The Terps drew 262,129 over those games.

* Maryland's football team had all five home crowds surpass the 50,000 mark, with the 54,838 who witnessed the Thursday night game with Virginia Tech on Oct. 20 rank second in school history. Maryland's other home crowds in 2005 ranked 7th (52,656, Oct. 1 vs. Virginia), 9th (52,413, Sept. 17 vs. West Virginia) and 18th (51,585, Nov. 19 vs. Boston College) on the all-time single-game list.