April 6, 2006

College Park, Md. - It's a bounce-back game for both teams as the fourth-ranked Maryland Terrapins host No. 8 Navy Friday night at Byrd Stadium. The game, which will be televised nationally on CSTV, is scheduled for an 8:00 p.m. face-off. The game can also be heard on the Terrapin Sports Radio Network.

• The Terps (6-2/2-1 ACC) are coming off of a 15-5 loss to No. 1 Virginia last Saturday in Byrd Stadium, while the Midshipmen (7-2/4-1 Patriot) come into the game after dropping a 9-5 decision to Georgetown in Annapolis last Saturday.

• The game will feature four of the leading candidates for the Tewaaraton Trophy. Maryland's dynamic offensive duo of Joe Walters and Xander Ritz is the top scoring twosome in Division I, averaging 4.63 goals per game (Penn's D.J. Andrzejewski and James Riordan are the only other teammates in the top 20 in goals per game in the NCAA at 2.25 gpg each). They will have to deal with Navy's Matt Russell, who leads the NCAA with a 4.42 goals allowed average. The Mids are led on offense by junior Ian Dingman, who is ninth in the NCAA with 2.33 goals per game.

Top 5 Terp Tidbits
• Maryland leads the all-time series with Navy 49-30-1.

• The Terps' are 21-12 all-time vs. the Midshipmen in College Park.

• Of the Terps' 114 points (70 G, 44 A) in 2006, 81 (71.1%) have been produced by seniors, including 29 by Joe Walters and 27 by Xander Ritz.

• Thirteen different Terps have scored goals through eight games, with three having scored points in every game.

• In its four home games in 2006, Maryland has won 65.0% of its face-offs. The Terps are led by David Tamberrino who is 43-of-64 at home this year.

Coaching Match-Up
• Maryland head coach Dave Cottle is currently the third winningest active coach in the country with a 72.3 win percentage with a record of 232-89. He is also 51-19 as head coach of the Terps. Navy's Richie Meade is in his 12th season at Navy and has a 93-62 (60.0) record with the Mids. He is 120-85 overall in 16 years as a coach for a 58.5 winning percentage.

• Head coach Dave Cottle has a 3-2 lifetime record against Navy. In addition his 2-2 record vs. Navy while at Maryland, Cottle led Loyola to a 19-8 victory over Navy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 1993. The 2002 game marked the first meeting of Cottle and Navy's Richie Meade as head coaches.

The Maryland-Navy Rivalry
• The Maryland-Navy rivalry is the second-longest in Terrapin lacrosse history with Maryland holding a 49-30-1 advantage, dating to 1924. The 49 wins are the second-highest number of victories Maryland has against any team. Maryland has defeated Duke 53 times.

• Maryland has won 11 of the last 13 meetings, but Navy has won the last two games - a 9-6 decision in College Park in 2004 and a 9-8 win at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium last season.

• Prior to the 2004 upset, Navy's last win in the series came in 1992, as the Mids upset Maryland, 11-3 in College Park.

• Before last season's last-minute victory, Navy had not beaten Maryland in Annapolis since 1985. The 13th-ranked Mids defeated the No. 6 Terrapins 7-5.

• The last time the Midshipmen won three straight games over the Terps was 35 years ago. Navy won 7-6 in 1969, 6-3 in 1970 and 10-5 win 1971.

• The last time Navy won back-to-back games in College Park was 1966, which marked the final year of an eight-game winning streak for the Midshipmen, including four straight in College Park. During that eight-year run (1960-67), Navy was either the outright national champions or shared the title each season.

• When Navy and Maryland get together it's fair to assume it is going to be a close game. During the past 26 meetings, 14 have ended with a winning margin of one or two goals, including four straight 6-5 Terp victories from 1999-2002.

• Last season's game was another of those one-goal affairs as the Mids and Terps battled into the game's final seconds before Navy emerged with a 9-8 win on Graham Gill's game-winning goal with 14 seconds left in the contest. All five Terrapins that scored in that contest - Joe Walters (3-0=3), Brendan Healy (2-2=4), Xander Ritz (1-1=2), Bill McGlone (1-0=1) and David Tamberrino (1-0=1) - return for this year's game.

• The most goals the Terps have ever scored on the Mids in a single game came in 1998's 21-7 Maryland victory.

• This decade the Terps hold a 4-2 advantage in the series, but during the 1990s, Maryland won nine of the 10 meetings, with the only Navy victory coming in 1992, 11-3.

• Maryland has also won all four meetings in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps captured their last national championship in 1975 with a 20-13 win over Navy. Maryland also defeated Navy in NCAA semifinal games in 1971, 1976 and 1979.

Individual Terps vs. Navy
• All five of the Terps who scored goals vs. the Midshipmen last season return for another shot at Navy. That group is led by Joe Walters, who has scored 10 goals in three meetings with the Mids. The senior All-American also has one assist to bring his point total vs. Navy to 11.

• Bill McGlone has scored one goal in each of the last two games vs. Navy, while fellow senior Brendan Healy broke through vs. the Midshipmen last season with two goals and two assists.

• Xander Ritz is the only other Terp with multiple points vs. Navy. He scored a goal and added an assist last year to go along with an assist in the 2004 meeting for a total of three points vs. the Mids.

• Senior face-off specialist David Tamberrino scored the lone goal of his career in last season's 9-8 defeat at Navy. The Luthervillle, Md., native, is also 13 of 25 at the X vs. the Mids for a .520 winning percentage.

• All-America goalie Harry Alford saw late time in the 2004 game vs. the Mids, made six saves in last season's 9-8 defeat.

Maryland-Navy Connections
• There are 28 players combined from the Maryland and Navy rosters that will face high school teammates in Saturday's game. They come from four different states and represent 10 separate high schools.

• St. Mary's High School boasts the most alumni in the game with five. Jason Carter and Will Dalton will take the field for the Terps, while Colin Finnegan, Brendan Teague and Andrew Thorp are on the Mids' roster.

• Two schools will have four former alums, with each having one Terp and three Midshipmen. DeMatha Catholic is represented by Maryland freshman Danny Gallagher and Navy's Looney brothers, Billy & Steve, and Colin Benko. New York's St. Anthony's High also has four alums in Terp senior Michael Hartofilis and Midshipmen Michael Beggins, Mikelas Visguass and Roger Wieland.

• Six high schools will have just one rep on each sideline, but Loyola Blakefield will have three alumni in the game: Maryland's David Tamberrino and Navy's Bobby Lennon and Tommy Pheland.

Home vs. Away
• A lot is made in sports about the home-field advantage, but for the Maryland men's lacrosse team it has been better away from home than it has been in College Park. The Terps have played four games at home and four on the road and the numbers show an edge for the Terps when they are in enemy territory.

• Maryland is averaging 8.23 goals per game in its home games, which is almost a full goal less than the 8.9 goals the Terps average on the road.

• Shooting percentage, which is one of Coach Dave Cottle's key statistics, is another tell-tale stat, and it shows that Maryland is shooting much better on the road. In College Park the Terps are shooting 21.5% (34/158) and on the road they are shooting 26.7% (36/135). Shots on goal percentage shows a clear advantage for road games, 61.5% to 56.3%.

• Player of the year candidate Joe Walters, the team's leading scorer overall, is also the Terps' top scorer on the road with nine goals and five assist for 14 points. Xander Ritz also has 14 points in road games on 12 goals and two assists. Walters also leads the squad in scoring at home with eight goals and seven assists for 15 points. Ritz is second in home scoring, totaling 13 points on eight goals and five assists.

• The Maryland defense has been dominating no matter where it has played this season, but the 15-5 loss at home to Virginia swings the numbers in favor of the road. As a team, the Terps are allowing opponents 7.26 goals per game (just 4.8 gpg before the UVa game) at home and just 5.2 gpg on the road. Junior All-American Steve Whittenberg leads Maryland with 14 caused turnovers at home and is two behind junior long pole Ryan Clarke's eight CT's in road games. In goal, Harry Alford, a Kelly Award candidate, has made 37 saves in the team's home games with a 7.73 GAA and a .597 save pct. On the road the junior has racked up 42 saves with a 5.25 GAA and a .667 save pct.

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.

• 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 five times in its first eight 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.

• Maryland may have lost its first game of 2006 to Bucknell, 7-6 in 2OT, but the Terrapin defense turned in another stellar effort, led by junior All-American Steve Whittenberg, who surpassed his Towson-effort by causing six Bison turnovers and picking up five groundballs. As a team, the Terps caused 15 of Bucknell's 23 turnovers and won the groundball battle, 37-22. Even though Bucknell scored twice in each of the first three quarters for a 6-3 lead heading into the fourth, Maryland's D shutout the Bison in the fourth, allowing the Terrapin offense to score three unanswered goals to tie the game. Overall the Terps held Bucknell scoreless for 27:47 before giving up the game-winning goal with nine seconds left in the second overtime.

• It didn't get to 20 scoreless minutes, but that's because the clock ran out during Maryland's dominating defensive performance in its 9-4 win at UMBC. The Terp defense gave up just the four goals and there was only one assist on the Retriever scores. Maryland held just a one-goal lead going into the fourth quater, but the defense shutout UMBC in the final period to allow the offense to score four unanswered goals. It was the sixth time this season that Maryland has not allowed a goal in a quarter.

• It will be hard to top the Terrapin defense's effort in the 14-2 thrashing of Dartmouth. While it is impressive that the Terps held the Big Green scoreless for the first 53:32 of the game, it is even more impressive that Dartmouth did not even get off a shot until the 6:56 mark of the second quarter. The Big Green comitted 25 turnovers in the game with 19 of those caused by a Maryland player, including four by Ryan Clarke and three each by Joe Cinosky and Ray Megill.

• Maryland turned in another impressive defensive performance in its 9-6 win at North Carolina to raise the Terps' record to 6-1. For the fifth time this season, Maryland held an opponent scoreless for more than 20 minutes - this time 21:26, bridging the third and fourth quarters, during which the Terrapin offense was able to score five unanswered goals. Ryan Clarke and Jimmy Borell were impressive in the defensive midfield, combining for eight groundballs and two caused turnovers.

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

• Joe Walters' point scoring streak is now at 40 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. After scoring the game's first goal, Walters also dished out two assists for a three-point effort vs. Bucknell. Three fourth-quarter goals helped the Terps toa 9-4 win at UMBC. The streak was never in jeopardy vs. Dartmouth as Walters picked up an assist on the game's first goal. In total, Walters tied his career-best with seven points vs. the Big Green on four goals and three assists. At North Carolina Walters extended his steak to 40 and did something he had never done before - score five goals in a game. He has two six-goal games and seven four-goal games during his amazing career. The streak appeared to be in jeopardy, but an assist on Bill McGlone's third-quarter goal pushed it to 41 games.

• Xander Ritz now has a point scoring streak of 25 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. Ritz continued his torrid scoring pace against Bucknell with two goals and two assists, his fourth multi-point game in four games this season. Ritz's fifth multi-point game of the season came with a three-goal effort at UMBC. Rtiz not only kept up his point-scoring streak with five points on three goals and two assists vs. Dartmouth, but it was also the sixth-straight multi-point game for the Terrapin senior. He kept the point-streak alive, but the multi-point streak came to an end at Carolina with just one assist vs. the Tar Heels. The one-game multi-point break was just that as Ritz scored two vs. No. 1 Virginia to keep his scoring streak alive.

• 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.

• While not as long of a streak as Walters' or Ritz's, Bill McGlone has managed to score a goal in each of Maryland's eight games this season.

In College Park 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 17-6 (.739) at Byrd Stadium. During the four-plus seasons, Maryland has had to play seven games (6-2) at the Field Hockey/Lacrosse Complex. The Dartmouth game was the first for a Cottle-coached Terrapin team at Ludwig Field (a 14-2 Terp victory). If you add those to Maryland's Byrd Stadium total, the Terrapins are 24-8 (.750) in games played in College Park since 2002.

Ritz Addition Gives Terps Four On Tewaaraton Trophy Watch List
• Seniors Joe Walters and Bill McGlone were 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.

• Senior attackman/midfielder Xander Ritz was one of three players added to the list on March 27 after scoring 18 goals and adding seven assists in Maryland's first seven games of the season.

• 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 667-216-4, 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 74-27 for a .733 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.

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.