March 13, 2006

College Park, Md. - The No. 1 Maryland men's lacrosse team (3-0) hosts the Bucknell Bison (1-3) at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex on Tuesday, March 14 at 7:00 p.m.

• The game, and every Terrapin home game, can be heard on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network. Stations carrying Maryland men's lacrosse this season are: ESPN Radio 1300 AM (WJFK), Baltimore (Flagship); WTBO AM 1450, Cumberland (tape delay); WARK AM 1490, Hagerstown; WQMR FM 101.1, Ocean City (tape delay); WAMD AM 970, Aberdeen. Calling the action will be a pair of Maryland alums: Steve Stofberg ('94) on play-by-play and former Terp defenseman Dan Radebaugh, who was a first team All-American in 1995.

• Maryland enters the game off of its 9-6 victory over No. 15 Towson last Saturday in the Terps' 2006 home opener. The Bison are 1-3 on the year after dropping a 9-5 decision to No. 4 Navy in San Diego, Calif., at "The First Four."

Top 5 Terp Tidbits • Maryland leads the all-time series with Bucknell 7-0.

• The Terps' are 4-0 vs. the Bison in games played in College Park.

• Of the Terps' 43 points (27 G, 16 A) in 2006, 31 (72.1%) have been produced by seniors, including 12 by Xander Ritz.

• Joe Walters leads current Terps in scoring vs. Bucknell with 16 points on nine goals and seven assists.

• The last time Bucknell visited College Park, Walters set his career high with seven points on three goals and a personal best four assists.

Terps As No. 1
• The Terps took over the top spot in Inside Lacrosse's Media Poll last week after beating former No. 1 Duke, 8-7 in OT last Saturday in Durham, N.C. This marks the eighth time Maryland has earned the No. 1 ranking since 1986. • Overall, Maryland has played 21 games as the No. 1-ranked team and is 14-7 in those games. • The last time the Terps were the nation's top team was in April of 2004. Maryland's two-week run at the top of the polls ended with a 9-6 loss to No. 4 Navy in College Park. • The ranking is also the earliest the Terps have achieved the No. 1 ranking in a season. Previous to this week, the earliest Maryland was ranked No. 1 was March 26, 2001. • The longest Maryland has held on to the No. 1 ranking was seven weeks in 1987. That streak came to an end with a 13-8 loss to No. 4 Johns Hopkins in the NCAA Semifinals.

Coaching Match-Up
• Coach Dave Cottle has a 5-0 career record against Towson while coaching at Loyola and Maryland. He was 1-0 vs. the Bison while at Loyola. He is 4-0 vs. Bucknell as the coach at Maryland, winning 16-6 in 2002, 14-8 in 2003, 14-7 in 2004 and 14-10 last season Overall, Cottle has a 229-88 record in 24 years at Maryland and Loyola. He is 48-17 with the Terps in four-plus seasons.

• Bucknell's Frank Fedorjaka is in his first year at Buckenll with a 1-3 record. He took over the Bison program after serving as an assistant coach under Sid Jamieson for seven seasons.

The Maryland-Bucknell Series
• The Terps have won all seven games against Bucknell, outscoring the Bison 94-44 in the meetings. Maryland has outscored the Bison by an average of 13.4-6.3.

• Last season saw Maryland get multiple-goals from five players to beat the Bison 14-10 in just the second meeting between the two schools in Lewisburg, Pa. Bill McGlone led the scoring parade for the Terps with two goals and two assists, while Brendan Healy scored three goals and Michael Phipps and Joe Walters each had two goals and an assist. Maryland controlled the game throughout, thanks in large part to a commanding 47-27 advantage in groundballs.

• The Terps dominated the 2004 game at both ends of the field, ending with a 14-7 victory in College Park on March 17. Offensively, Joe Walters picked up where he left off from 2003 vs. the Bison, scoring a career-high seven points on three goals and a career-best four assists. Brendan Healy scored the first hat trick of his career, while Thomas Alford picked up his first career point with an assist. On the defensive side of the ball the Terps allowed only 25 shots, won the groundball battle 42-28 and caused 17 turnovers. Maryland also controlled the face-off circle taking 14 of 24 draws, with David Tamberrino winning six-of-11.

• The 2003 game was a high-scoring affair -- after may pegged it for a low-scoring defensive game -- as the Terps beat the Bison, 14-8 in College Park on March 11, 2003. Joe Walters led the way with four goals and set his career-high with six points. Ryan Moran had four goals and Mike Mollot had four assists in a game that was 6-6 at the end of the first quarter. Bill McGlone scored the go-ahead goal to make it 7-6 in the second quarter.

• Against teams from the current Patriot League, Maryland has an overall record of 82-50-1. The series records are: Army (20-19), Bucknell (7-0), Hobart (3-0), Lafayette (1-0), Lehigh (3-1) and Navy (48-30-1). The Terps have never played Colgate.

Bucknell-Maryland Connections
• Even though Bucknell and Maryland are not geographic rivals, there are a few connections between the two schools:

• Former Boy's Latin teammates Scott Slosson and Evan Burns will meet for the second time on the college level.

• Bison sophomore Austin Sanders played for Coach Rob Bordley, father of former Terp J.R. Bordley at Landon High School, which is also the alma mater of Maryland's Brendan Healy and Rob Morrison.

• David Tamberrino will meet up with fellow Loyola Blakefield alum Patrick Keeney, a Bucknell sophomore.

• Sophomore Joe Cinosky will square off with fellow Mountain Lakes grad Mark Lane.

• Terp junior Ryan Clarke will compete against former Chaminade teammate Doug Buckley.

• Charlie Wiggins and fellow Darien alum Billy Haire will meet up again.

• Freshman Michael Cooke will see fellow St. Paul's alum Brent Hargest, a Maryland senior, for the only time in college.

Individual Terps vs. Bucknell
• Ten different Terps have earned points against Bucknell over the past three years. Joe Walters leads the way with nine goals and seven assists for 16 points -- including seven points on three goals and four assists in the 2004 contest.

• Sopohmore attackman Max Ritz scored his first collegiate goal in last year's 14-10 Terrapin victory.

• In goal Harry Alford will be seeing Bucknell for the third time. He saw his most significant time as a freshman in the '04 game vs. the Bison, playing just over 10 minutes and making four saves. Last season he made 10 saves in just over 57 minutes of action.

• Senior face-off specialist David Tamberrino has been impressive over the that two meetings against Bucknell winning 12 of 20 face-offs taken for a 60.0 winning percentage.

Defense Proves To Be Strong Again
• Heading into the 2005 season the big question mark surrounding the Terps was their defense. The entire starting close defense from 2004, consisting National Defensive Player of the Year Lee Zink and All-Americans Chris Passavia and Dave Wagner, Team MVP short-stick D-middie Paul Gillette, and All-America goalie Tim McGinnis were lost to graduation. Taking that group's place figured to be no easy task, but it proved to be easier than previously imagined. With nearly the entire 2005 defense returning for 2006 take a look at how this year's defense stacks up to the previous two:

• During the last two seasons, Maryland held its' opponents scoreless for long stretches of game time. The 2004 Terps kept opponents scoreless for stretches of 20 or more minutes eight times. Last year Maryland did it on seven occasions, and was just seconds away from keeping the high-powered Duke (1st meeting) and Navy offenses off the board for more than 20 minutes. This season the Terrapin defense has already done it twice in its first three games.

• At No. 7 Georgetown in the season opener, the Hoyas took a 2-1 lead with 0:13 left in the first quarter. Maryland's defense, lead by sophomore goalie Harry Alford, who totaled 14 saves in the 10-4 victory, didn't allow the seventh-ranked Hoyas another goal until 7:09 in the fourth quarter, a total time of 38:05. Of the Hoyas' four goals, two were scored during a Maryland penalty.

• Even though the Terp defense did not hold No. 1 Duke scoreless for any 20-minute stretch, it did hold one of the nation's most prolific offenses to the Blue Devils' lowest scoring output of the season. Prior to scoring just seven goals vs. Maryland, Duke had put up 20 on Butler, 13 on Villanova and 16 on Bellarmine for an average of 16.3 goals per game.

• In their first home game of 2006 against No. 15 Towson, the Terps dominated the first half of play, holding the Tigers scoreless for a 4-0 Maryland advantage at the half. Towson didn't get on the board until the 8:28 mark of the third quarter, which ended its scoring drought to 36:32. The Terp defense caused 14 of the Tigers' 24 turnovers, including a career-best five CT's by Steve Whittenberg. Maryland also controlled the game on the ground, beating Towson in groundballs 40-21.

Streaking Terps
• Two Terps entered the 2006 season game with point-scoring streaks and both emerged from the Towson game in tact.

• Joe Walters' point scoring streak is now at 36 games. He tallied three assists vs. the Hoyas in the '06 season opener. He followed that up with a one-goal, two-assist effort at Duke. Against Towson the senior came out firing and finished the game with three goals and an assist for a game-high four points.

• Xander Ritz now has a point scoring streak of 20 games. After scoring a then-career-best four goals at Georgetown, the senior midfielder/attackman scored five goals to re-set his career high and added an assist at Duke. While Ritz didn't dominate Towson like he did the Hoyas and Blue Devils, he still managed a goal and an assist in Maryland's 9-6 win.

• The last time Walters did not score a point in a game was May 24, 2003 in the NCAA Semifinals vs. eventual National Champion Virginia. For Ritz, he was last held scoreless in the 2004 NCAA Quarterfinal game vs. Princeton.

Terps Among ACC Stat Leaders
• The Terps are off to a 3-0 start and have several players near the top the ACC stat charts.

• Xander Ritz is the conference's leading scorer in points and goals per game. The senior midfielder/attackman's average of 3.3 goals per game is one better than Virginia's Matt Ward who is averaging 2.3 gpg. He also is the ACC leader in points per game with a 4.0 average. Ritz is also ranked first in man-up goals (5) and game-winning goals (2).

• Joe Walters had been quiet as a goal scorer prior to the Towson game, but with three goals and an assist vs. the Tigers he has climbed several of the ACC charts. The senior attackman is second in the ACC in assists per game (2.0). Walters is fifth in points per game (3.3), tied for 10th in goals per game (1.33) and is first in shots per game (8.67).

• Max Ritz is also among the ACC's leaders in goals per game, tying for 10th with 1.33 gpg. The sophomore attackman is also tied with Maryland senior midfielder Bill McGlone with two man-up goals.

• David Tamberrino is ranked third in face-off percentage (30/49, .612), but that average is second among players with more than 40 face-offs taken.

• In goal, Harry Alford is first in saves per game (12.67) and second in save percentage (69.1) and goals against average (5.65 GAA). The junior is also among the leaders in groundballs per game, checking in at third with an average of 4.33. Junior Ryan Clarke is tied for fourth with 4.0 groundballs per game.

At Byrd Stadium Under Coach Cottle
• Home field advantage is a big factor in college men's lacrosse and it's no different for the Maryland Terrapins under Coach Dave Cottle. Since Cottle took over the reigns of the Terps' program prior to the 2002 season, Maryland is 17-5 (.773) at Byrd Stadium. During the four-plue seasons, Maryland has had to play seven games (6-1) at the Field Hockey/Lacrosse Complex. If you add those to Maryland's Byrd Stadium total, the Terrapins are 23-6 (.793) in games played in College Park since 2002.

Maryland In Season Openers
• Maryland is now 77-3-1 (.957) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 13 openers and 21 of the last 22, with the only loss coming to Duke in 1993, when it fell to Duke 9-5 on March 6.

• 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.)

13 Straight In Season Openers
• Following their 10-4 win at No. 7 Georgetown, the Terps will enter the 2007 with a 13-game winning streak in season openers. Five of those wins came against Villanova (1994-98) and the last eight over Denver, Mount St. Mary's, Air Force, Hobart, Duke and Georgetown (three times). Over the 13-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 182-66 (an average score of 14.0-5.1) in those games.

• The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 13 years. Maryland has not allowed an opponent to score 10 or more goals in a season opener since Syracuse beat the Terps, 16-13 on March 9, 1983.

Three Terps Named To Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List
• Seniors Joe Walters and Bill McGlone are joined by junior Harry Alford on the preseason "Watch List" for the 2006 Tewaaraton Trophy. Walters is a two-time semifinalist for the award and McGlone was on the preseason watch list in 2005. For Alford, this is his first appearance on the watch list.

• The Tewaaraton Trophy is awarded each year to the top male and female varsity lacrosse player, as chosen by the selection committee. The sixth annual award will be given at a banquet in June. The event will take place in Washington D.C. at the National Geographic Society headquarters.

Terps' 81st Season Of Lacrosse
• The Terps boast an all-time record of 664-214-4, 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 80 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 11-6. The program reached the 650-win milestone with a 16-12 win over Army in the first round of the 2004 NCAA tournament at Byrd Stadium.

• Since 2000, Maryland is 71-25 for a .740 win percentage. 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.

Terps Second In Strength Of Schedule
• According to Face-Off Magazine, Maryland's 2006 schedule is ranked as the second toughest in the NCAA behind only North Carolina.

• The Terps are scheduled to play eight teams ranked in the preseason Inside Lacrosse media poll and two other opponents that received votes. In the latest IL Media Poll, eight of Maryland's opponents are ranked in the Top 20, including three of the top four and four of the top 10. In addition to those eight teams, UMBC and North Carolina are among others receiving votes and are both 2006 Terrapin opponents.

• Maryland has already played two Top 10 teams on the road and are 2-0 in those contests. Additionally Maryland topped No. 15 Towson in its home opener.

2006 Captains: Healy, Lang, McGlone, X. Ritz
• Four players have been named team captains for the 2006 season. The quartet, which was voted on by the team during the fall season, consists of seniors Brendan Healy, Ryan Lang, Bill McGlone and Xander Ritz.