Updated Semi-Regularly
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - (August 23) Former Terps Set To Battle For MLL Championship
A quick look at the rosters of the four remaining Major League Lacrosse teams that will compete for the 2008 MLL Championship will show that a former University of Maryland men's lacrosse player will be hoisting the trophy when championship weekend comes to an end on Sunday, August 24.
In the first semifinal the Rochester Rattlers, the top overall seed, will take on the Philadelphia Barrage.
Helping lead the Rattlers is Joe Walters, the Terps' all-time leader in points and goals. Walters was named to his first All-MLL squad this season after scoring 32 goals with 12 assists in 12 games for the Rattlers, which ranked second on the team in points. His 44 points tied him for sixth in the MLL and ranked second among all midfielders.
The anchor for the Barrage is Brian "Doc" Dougherty, one the all-time great goalies in the history of lacrosse. Dougherty, a two-time recipient of the Kelly Memorial Cup as the nation's top goalie during his Maryland career, ranked second among all MLL goalies with a .573 save percentage and was fourth with a 14.00 goals-allowed average. Dougherty is no stranger to the MLL Championship, having won the title on three previous occasions.
The Western Conference semifinal finds the Denver Outlaws taking on the LA Riptide.
The Outlaws have a pair of former Terps, one on the sidelines and one on the field. Brian Reese is in his first full season as Denver's head coach and has guided the team back to the playoffs after missing the postseason last year. One of the main reasons for the return to championship weekend is the play of Lee Zink, who was the 2004 recipient of the Schmeisser Memorial Cup as the nation's best defensive player as a senior at Maryland. Zink was named a Western Conference All-Star this season and finished fifth on the team with 25 groundballs.
One of the unsung heroes for the Riptide has to be short-stick defensive midfielder Jimmy Borell. One of the strongest players on the team, according to the Riptide's postseason media guide, Borell scored five goals on just 10 shots. He appeared in 10 of the team's 12 games and was second on the squad with seven penalty minutes.
On another note, look for a release on the incoming 2009 freshman class next week on umterps.com. The Inside Lacrosse recruiting issue is out and the Terps' 2009 class is ranked No. 3. More info on this to come next week.
June 5
The blog took a bit of a break near the end of the 2008 season (sorry, but there was a lot going on), but it's back and when there is something of note during the summer and the off-season this is your home for all of the news.
First, while the season ended on a down note for the Terps, the 2008 team showed that the program is heading in the right direction. The younger players really grew during the season and showed promise for the coming years.
While many will look at the youngsters as the reason for the success of 2008 the contributions of the seniors should not be overlooked or undervalued. Watching this group over four years it struck me how much they've grown since coming to College Park as freshmen.
It's summer and that means one thing in the world of lacrosse - the MLL season is underway. Scanning majorleaguelacrosse.com quickly turned up 20 former Terps listed on the 10 MLL team's rosters. Take a look:
Eastern Conference
Boston Cannons: Chris Feifs, Ray Megill and Chris Passavia
New Jersey Pride: Joe Cinosky
Philadelphia Barrage: Brian Dougherty
Rochester Rattlers: Joe Walters
Washington Bayhawks: Buggs Combs, Casey Connor, Brendan Healy, Ian Healy and Bill McGlone
Western Conference
Chicago Machine: Steve Whittenberg
Denver Outlaws: Harry Alford, Max Ritz, Nate Watkins and Lee Zink
Los Angeles Riptide: Jimmy Borell and Xander Ritz
San Francisco Dragons: Michael Howley and Drew Virk
The MLL season is just three games old, but a familiar name is near the top of the league's scoring leaders. Joe Walters, heading into this weekend's games, is third in the league with 14 points and is fourth with 10 goals.
April 25
Just a quick update from the ACC Tournament, which is being held in historic Charlottesville, Va.:
First, congratulations to head coach Dave Cottle for earning his second ACC Coach of the Year award. For those with short memories, the Terps were picked to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason rankings. All Coach Cottle did was take a team filled with youth and inexperience and go 2-1 in the ACC and earn a No. 2 seed in the conference tournament.
Congratulations are also in order for senior defender Joe Cinosky and redshirt junior midfielder Jeff Reynolds for being named to the All-ACC team. These two truly show that hard work will pay off in the end. Cinosky was the subject of a couple of recent articles by Christian Swezey of the Washington Post and Patrick Stevens of the Washington Times. Reynolds' story has been told numerous times this season, including here by Patrick Stevens.
One of the events each year at the ACC lacrosse tournament is the annual awards banquet, which was held last night. In what might be a new record for banquets, this year's edition lasted less than an hour. Of course, the near-sweltering heat inside Memorial Gym could have had the festivities running at full speed.
On another subject - this is the time of year when speculation on the NCAA Tournament goes into overdrive. A word of caution - do not believe everything you read. There are a lot of factors that go into whether or not a team earns one of the nine at-large bids, including, but not limited to, RPI, strength of schedule (based on a team's best 10 opponents according to their RPI) and quality wins. Polls are fun for debating during the season, but they really aren't given any consideration when the committee determines selections and seedings. Some teams that fans think are "locks" might not be. Of course a lot will be determined as the conference tournaments wrap-up and automatic bids are handed out. Remember, there are only nine at-large bids, so some very good lacrosse teams will be left out of the tournament.
Some good news for fans of men's lacrosse came out this week. Jacksonville University announced that it will be adding men's and women's lacrosse as varsity sports beginning in the spring of the 2009-10 academic year. This will make JU the southern-most school with a DI program and the only school in the state of Florida to sponsor a men's lacrosse team. With the rapid growth of lacrosse at the youth and high school levels this is a tremendous step forward for the sport. Hopefully more schools will follow Jacksonville's lead and look into adding men's and women's lacrosse. The University of Florida will begin a women's program soon. Could a men's program be far behind? Think about what kind of ramifications that could have.
April 11
One day before the 104th meeting between Maryland and Johns Hopkins - College Lacrosse's Biggest Rivalry.
Some have debated whether that statement is true or not. Is Maryland-Hopkins the biggest rivalry in college lacrosse? Without a doubt. Sure, Army-Navy is special, but it's special in every sport. For the Terps and the Blue Jays the only sport that they are rivals in is men's lacrosse and it's been that way for 80 years or so.
A few weeks ago the halftime feature during the Maryland-Virginia game on ESPN2 was on current Terps Brian Farrell, Brian Phipps and Travis Reed and their fathers, who were all teammates on the 1975 Maryland national championship team. While the piece was terrific, the discussion that took place off camera between Mike Farrell, Wilson Phipps and Jake Reed was even better. One of the things that came up was the Hopkins rivalry, specifically the 1976 game between the Terps and the Blue Jays. If you don't know what happened look it up, but the passion that those three former Terrapins still showed when talking about the rivalry shows how special it truly is.
For a bit more insight check out Inside Lacrosse's article "Rivalry Day: Johns Hopkins and Maryland is the granddaddy of them all in lacrosse ." The quote right below the headline says it all.
IL also has its game preview up which you can check out here.
One other media shout-out goes to Paul Carcaterra at cstv.com. He does a great job with his weekly column and recently named the school's with the top all-time units and his nod for best defensive team went to the University of Maryland. You can check it out at the bottom of the page here.
Hopefully every Maryland fan can get to Homewood Field tomorrow for the big game to cheer on the Terps and help drown out the Blue Jay band a bit (of course it's little things like the Hopknis band and Terp fans' dislike of it that makes this rivalry so good - even into the stands). Don't forget to dress for the weather - a 50 percent chance of rain with temps in the low 70's, so be prepared.
If you can't make it to Homewood, you can still check out the game locally in Baltimore and surrounding areas on WMAR ABC2. Or, if you're not in the area, you can watch it live on ESPNU at 2 p.m. (if you don't get ESPNU, first, call your cable company and request it - that's the only way they're going to add it - and second, get to somewhere with a satellite package and ask them to put the game on).
April 2
In honor of the Terps' 13-7 win last Saturday over then-No. 1 Virginia here is a special "Wednesday's Top Six" featuring the six games that Maryland has upset a No. 1 ranked team.
| Wednesday's Top Six No. 1 Upsets |
2008 |
 #4 Maryland 13, #1 Virginia 7 |
Midfielder Jeff Reynolds scored three times to help the Terps topple previously unbeaten Virginia. |
2006 |
 #2 Maryland 8, #1 Duke 7 (OT) |
Xander Ritz scored the game-winner in overtime with a diving shot across the crease. |
1998 |
 #5 Maryland 19, No. 1 Loyola 8 |
Matt Hahn scored five goals vs. the Greyhounds, sending the Terps to the 1998 NCAA championship game. |
1996 |
 Maryland 13, #1 Virginia 11 |
Andrew Whipple scored a career-best six goals to help the Terrapins upend Virginia and ascend to the No. 1 ranking. |
1995 |
 #4 Maryland 16, #1 Johns Hopkins 8 |
Brian Dougherty tied his career high with 23 saves vs. the Blue Jays in the NCAA tournament semifinals. |
1987 |
 #2 Maryland 16, #1 North Carolina 6 |
"Eighteen seconds and we're No. 1!" goalie Jim Beardmore yelled as the seconds ticked down in Maryland's win over UNC. |
April 1
It's been a crazy couple of weeks for the Terps, but that's to be expected in the annual stretch of Carolina-Virginia-Navy-Hopkins. Here's just some random thoughts and observations from the last week or so and looking a bit ahead.
• Maryland's trip down to UNC kicked off this all-important four-week stretch. The Terps faced a veteran team with a hot goalie, but the midfield was more than up to the challenge. But that's the way it's been against the Tar Heels for the last several years. Since 2005 the Terps have played UNC five times. In those five games midfielders have scored 32 of Maryland's 55 goals against the Tar Heels.
• For those that were wondering, the NCAA men's basketball tournament was what was on the tube on the way down to Chapel Hill and on the way back. The team took two buses down, so I can only speak for the bus that I was on.
• Things couldn't have unfolded better for the Terps against Virginia. The first game of the season in Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium and being on ESPN2 certainly gave the game a big time feeling and Maryland came out and played a big time game. This time it was the freshmen attackmen that came through. The trio of Travis Reed, Grant Catalino and Ryan Young combined for seven of Maryland's 13 goals. But the star of the game was Jason Carter. The redshirt junior had a career-best 15 saves and helped hold the Wahoos to their lowest scoring total of the season.
• Coach Cottle is on record saying that the goalie rotation will continue. This isn't something new. Coach Cottle has said that if either Carter or sophomore Brian Phipps had a hot hand and is "pitching a shutout" then they're going to stay in the game. That's what Carter was doing and he stayed. Friday night against Navy is Phipps' turn and we'll see if he does the same thing. The bottom line is that the Terps have two tremendous goalies.
• Hopefully fans got a chance to check out the Fan Guide before coming to Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium. Fans that that are coming Friday night to see Maryland play Navy should definitely give it a look. It's probably a good idea to take a few minutes and buy your tickets on-line for this one too. Anyone that's been to a Navy-Maryland game knows the ticket lines can be a bit long.
• Maryland is up to No. 3 in the latest media and coaches' polls. It just goes to show what a wild season it has been so far. There's been so many upsets and close games that on any given day any one of the top 15 or so can beat any other team in the top 15.
Tomorrow the blog will be back (insert believe it when I see it joke here) with a special Wednesday Top 6 as we look back at Maryland's six victories over a No. 1 ranked team.
March 20
It's been a busy time for the Maryland men's lacrosse team. While the rest of the campus is on spring break, the Terps have been hard at work.
The team bounced back from a rocky 9-8 triple-OT loss at UMBC last Friday night with a solid 16-4 win over Air Force at Ludwig Field on Sunday afternoon.
First thing first - in a game like the one at UMBC there will always be some things that people can point to and say this is the reason that the team lost - weather, officiating or anything else - but a loss is a loss. The Retrievers are a good team. They are well coached, have quality players and a good goalie. While no loss is a good loss, there are things that the Terps will take from that game and they will be a better team because of those things.
The start to the Air Force game was a bit sluggish for the Terps, but once everyone got going the game went as expected.
Since it is spring break, the team has been able to really focus on this weekend's game at North Carolina. Maryland's offense has struggled a bit in 6-on-6 situations, so that's been a big point of emphasis. The man-down unit has also been busy this week preparing for the Tar Heels, who are converting nearly 44 percent of their extra-man opportunities.
One thing that was mentioned over the last day or two is that the seniors on the North Carolina team have never won an ACC game during their careers. UNC is 0-13 during the past four seasons in ACC games (including the ACC tournament). Lets hope that doesn't come to an end on Saturday.
In a slight bit of irony or coincidence, the NCAA basketball tournament begins today and the general feeling around the Terrapin locker room is that the Tar Heels basketball team is the one to beat for the title.
If you haven't seen it yet (just look to the left if you haven't) the Terps (or at least sophomores
Bryn Holmes,
Brian Farrell and
Brian Phipps) are featured on the cover of the April issue of
Inside Lacrosse. It's the first time a Maryland player has appeared on the cover since
Joe Walters was on the Feb. 2005 cover with Georgetown's Brodie Merill and Navy's Matt Russell. The issue focuses on the great rivalries in college lacrosse. Of course there's not really an argument as to what's the biggest rivalry - just ask any Terp or Blue Jay fan, they'll set you straight pretty quick.
Looking ahead a little bit, next week is a big week for college lacrosse and the Maryland program. The Virginia game on March 29 is set to be televised on ESPN2, making it the first-ever regular season men's lacrosse game on ESPN2, which is available in more than 90 million households. The network is making treating this like a big deal and every lacrosse fan should tune in to let ESPN know that there is an audience for the sport and it should try to get more games on ESPN2 and even the original ESPN network.
March 12
The middle of March always seems like a bit of a milestone in the Maryland men's lacrosse season and it should since Sunday's game against Air Force will be the Terps' seventh of the season, which is halfway through the schedule (counting the semifinals of the ACC tournament there's 14 games on the regular season schedule).
Since 2002 the only seasons that the Terps have finished the first half of the season with more than one loss was 2005 (Duke & Dartmouth) and last season (Georgetown & Duke). On the flip side, only the 2004 team went 7-0 to start the season since Coach Cottle took over as head coach.
Some will look to Friday's game at 19th-ranked UMBC as a "revenge" game since the Retrievers ended the Terps' season last year in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. But those people would be making a mistake. These are two very different teams with a lot of new players playing key roles for both squads.
Among those key newcomers for the Terps are the freshman attack trio of Ryan Young, Travis Reed and Grant Catalino. Those three have accounted for nearly 50 percent of Maryland's goals this season. Attackmen should be able to have more goals, assists and points than midfielders simply because they are on the field for more minutes. But Young, Reed and Catalino are averaging nearly six goals per game for the Terps.
Speaking of freshmen, Inside Lacrosse's Terry Foy is ranking the top 25 freshmen weekly on his blog and for the second week in a row Reed checks in as the nation's top frosh. Young is in the top 10 at number five, while defender Max Schmidt is eighth. Catalino is just outside the top 10 at No. 11 and midfielder Tony Mendes is among those also mentioned.
And for those looking into their crystal balls, there is more offensive firepower coming to the College Park campus next year. Jake Bernhardt, a midfielder out of Lake Brantley High School in Florida, has been outstanding so far for the Patriots. He's helped LB to an 8-2 record and has 32 goals and 12 assists (from what can be found at lblax.com). We'll try to keep you informed when we get word on how some of the future Terps that have signed NLI's for next year are doing.
Sorry to those of you who were looking for "Tuesday's Top 5" yesterday. We hope to have it back next week.
March 7
It's game number five for the Terps and we finally get a Saturday home game in College Park - and it should be a good one. The Towson Tigers bring their No. 18 national ranking to Ludwig Field in the 30th meeting between the two schools.
If you want to check out the game notes for this one you can do so here. Or here if you would rather see what's in the Tigers' pre-game notes.
One point of emphasis for the Terps this week has been face-offs. Not just for the guys taking the draws, but the wing play as well. Last season, the Tigers entered the game winning less than 40% of their face-offs, but won 14-of-18 vs. Terps. The good news for Terrapin fans is that Matt Eckerl, who took all 18 face-offs for the Tigers, was a senior in 2007 and won't be taking any draws tomorrow.
A lot has been made, and will continue to be made, about the size of the Maryland defense. It's true that the average for the top seven or so close defenders and long poles is 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds. But the Towson starting defense is not necessarily small. The group of Joe Wascavage, Fred Lee and Matt Richter averages 6-foot-1, 207 pounds.
In a fact that's interesting, but ultimately meaningless, the Terps are 2-0 all-time in games played on March 8, including a 12-8 win at Towson in 2003.
For those that are planning to come out to Ludwig Field to see the Terps and Tigers make sure to check the weather. Winter is not officially over, so be prepared for whatever Mother Nature has to offer.
With that in mind we hope to see you out at Ludwig Field tomorrow.
March 5
The blog is back. After going through four games in 10 days, normalcy (or what passes for it) returns.
By now Terps fans know all about the team's loss at Duke last Saturday. A lot of Maryland fans were among the 4,000+ that were on hand at Koskinen Stadium and the support they showed the team was phenomenal.
Here's a little behind-the-scenes info on the trip to Durham:
• The team bus left a little after 9 a.m. from the Varsity Team House. The time in the morning can be a little early for college students, but the guys were mostly alive and in good spirits.
• Shortly after getting on the way the first movie hit the screens - The Kingdon starring Jamie Foxx. Not a bad movie, but it was hard to follow at times because it was hard to hear all of the dialogue. (One note: the Maryland coaches were busy going over game film on their laptops. Even on a bus there is game-prep to do.)
• The second movie was the Denzel Washington-Russell Crowe team-up American Gangster. Another good movie choice by the players, but between the two movies there may have been 1,000,000 bullets fired and a whole lot of people killed on screen.
• Somewhere in North Carolina, the bus stopped so lunch could be had - boxed lunches from Three Brothers Italian Restaurant in Greenbelt, Md. The bus pulled over near a Burger King, so some of the guys decided to enhance their midday meal with a little BK. They are growing boys after all.
• After arriving in Durham in what seemed to be record time (the traffic going out of D.C. and around Richmond was almost nonexistent), the team checked in to the hotel and had a little time to relax before heading over to Duke for a short walk-through.
• The walk-through was relatively uneventful unless you count members of the support staff shooting on a goal at one end of the practice field. The marksmanship by student athletic trainer Billy Langenstein and student equipment assistant Justin Turcotte was worth noting.
• After the walk-through the team got ready for dinner, which was held at Pizza Villa in Chapel Hill. The players, coaches and staff were treated exceptionally well and no one went away hungry (Alfredo's Gourmet White Pizza was tremendous).
• With the game being at 5:30 on Saturday, there was a lot of time to kill before going to Koskinen. Outside of breakfast and lunch (both of which were in the hotel), most of the time was used for pre-game meetings by the offensive and defensive coaches. There was some time left to watch the Virginia-Syracuse game. Of course, the hotel didn't get ESPNU, but the Maryland buses come with Direct TV and the sports channel package, which allowed us to watch the game on the bus.
• After the game the team was treated by the parents to a Carolina-style tailgate of pulled-pork BBQ, fried chicken, cole slaw and corn on the cob. Cookies, brownies and white chocolate-dipped pretzels were for dessert (no banana pudding? I must have missed it). The tailgate is always something for the team to look forward to - win or lose - and the parents are to be commended for making these post-game happenings feel like an event to themselves for the student-athletes.
• The ride home was quiet, as you could imagine after a loss, but the mood wasn't a somber one. A lot of the guys tried to get some sleep. For a while the Kansas State-Kansas basketball game was on, but eventually We Own The Night was put in the DVD player (not a lot of positive feedback about this one).
The Terps had a quick turnaround with the game against Providence on Monday, but that was probably a good thing. It gave everyone a chance to get back to thinking positively.
Those that were there for the win over the Friars probably noticed the new press box looking over Ludwig Field. It might not seem like much from the outside, but it is a tremendous upgrade from the open-air tent that was there before. Hopefully this is just the beginning for Ludwig Field, which has the potential to be a really good facility.
Check back tomorrow when the game notes for Towson will be posted and there will be another blog update posted before the Tigers come to town.
February 27
Sometimes we get so wrapped up in what's going on day-to-day that some important things get overlooked.
One of those things is the support that the Terps receive from family, friends, alumni and fans. Yesterday's game at Mount St. Mary's was played in less than ideal conditions - if that's what you call temperatures in the mid-30s with steady rain and occasional downpours. The support that the Maryland fans showed for this team was well appreciated (of course the home-made goodies didn't hurt either, according to some of the players in the parking lot after the game).
Now about the game - it was played in dreadful conditions, but the Terps went out took care of business. The starters looked sharp in building a quick 6-0 lead and it was great to see some of the younger guys get some playing time. They work just as hard, if not harder, than the front-line guys in practice (who do you think has to go against the starters every day) and it was a good way for them to get a taste of some Division I lacrosse.
Now all eyes have shifted south to Durham, N.C., where the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils await the Terps on Saturday. The game notes will be posted on Thursday, but here is a little note to tide you over until then:
• So far Duke and Maryland have each played two games. The starting attack for Duke has a combined 18 goals, while the Terps' starting attack has totaled 17 goals. But that's where the comparison ends. The Blue Devils' three starting attackmen - Matt Danowski, Zack Greer and Max Quinzani - have a collective 509 career points on 312 goals and 197 assists. Maryland's starting trio has a total of 21 points on 17 goals and four assists.
For those that were looking for it, and you know who you are, with the game in Emmetsburg, Md., yesterday there was not "Tuesday Top 5." It will return on Tuesday, March 18.
February 24
It's Sunday - the day after a fantastic 11-6 win for the Terps over No. 4 Georgetown. In case you missed it here are some links to some articles on the game:
Washington Post -- Terps' New Faces Have Nose for the Goal in Opener by Christian Swezey
Washington Times -- Youth served in Terrapins' opening win by Stephen Whyno
Baltimore Sun -- Freshmen score nine goals in Terps' win Staff Reports
And for those of you that would like to have a look at what was going through Inside Lacrosse's Jon Brand's mind during the game, here is:
Inside Lacrosse -- In Game Blog by Jon Brand
(A quick note to Jon - Great minds must think alike. I didn't even have a chance to see the blog until Sunday afternoon and the coincidence with the lead sentence is scary.)
Now that the season has officially started some of the questions have been put to rest (Who's going to start at attack? Where is Max Ritz going to play? Will Coach Cottle really start three freshmen on attack (which really seems like a silly question after Saturday's performance, but hindsight is 20/20)? Who is going to start in goal?).
Well not really all of them. Some are still going to wonder about what's going on with the goalie situation. Well, the bottom line is that the Terps have two great goalies that could start for just about any program in the country. So until something changes - and it doesn't look like it in the near future - Jason Carter and Brian Phipps will probably be splitting time in the cage. One of them is going to start and the other should be in at the start of the third quarter and only Coach Cottle really knows which will be which on any given gameday.
One thing that will be interesting is to see where the Terps will shake out in this week's rankings. It's fair to say they dominated a very talented Georgetown team. How that rates with the pollsters will be revealed on Monday.
One other thing that is fair to say is that the ACC is unquestionably the toughest conference in the country. Sure there may only be four teams, but it's possible that those four teams will all be ranked in the top five this week.
February 22
It's hard to believe that the season is here. Tomorrow kicks off the 2008 campaign (no, not that campaign, this isn't a political blog even if the Terrapins are traveling to Washington, D.C.) for the Terps. The speculation ends about who will start on attack and which goalie will get the opening nod. The long journey, which hopefully culminates with a spot in Gillette Stadium on Memorial Day weekend, begins as the No. 7 Terps face No. 4 Georgetown.
To get you ready for all of the action here is some reading material about Maryland's showdown with the Hoyas.
Inside Lacrosse's Game Preview by Jonathan Terry
The Baltimore Sun -- Four freshmen give Terps instant offense by Mike Preston
The Diamondback -- Opening match will answer questions by Eric Detweiller
TheHoya.com -- Veteran Georgetown Set to Tackle Young Terps by Ryan Travers
And, of course, this week's Maryland Game Notes.
There should be some more news coverage tomorrow, so if you have time before heading out to D.C., check out the Washington Post, Washington Times, Baltimore Sun, and Annapolis Capital to see if anything else is written on the game.
Some other news bits for you before the season kicks off:
• The men's selection committee for the Tewaaraton Trophy has announced its "watch list" for the 2008 season. Only two Terps - seniors Joe Cinosky and Max Ritz - are on the list, but that doesn't mean too much. In 2006 Xander Ritz was nowhere to be found on the "watch list" but was added midway through the season and ended up being one of the 23 official nominees that season.
• If you're a lacrosse fan then chances are that you're also a big fan of The Weather Channel and weather.com at this time of year. Today might not be the best weather possible, but looking at tomorrow's forecast for Washington, D.C. the weather shouldn't be a factor.
• Hopefully by now Maryland - and Towson - fans know that the Terps-Tigers game on March 8 has been moved from Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium to Ludwig Field, which is adjacent to Lot 1 on the College Park campus.
• Some other games of interest to Terps fans tomorrow include:
UMBC at Rutgers (noon)
Albany at Johns Hopkins (noon)
Fairfield at Providence (1 p.m.)
Navy at Cornell (1 p.m.)
Vermont at Duke (1 p.m.)
Stony Brook at Virginia (1 p.m.)
Loyola at Towson (1 p.m.)
Holy Cross at Yale (1 p.m.)
North Carolina at Denver (3:30 p.m.)
That's it for the TMLB this week. Enjoy the game tomorrow, but remember this is a long season and a win doesn't guarantee a spot in Gillette Stadium and a loss doesn't signify the end of humanity. Don't forget to get to Multi-Sport Field early and cheer on the Terps.
February 19
It's Tuesday and that means it's time for another edition of "Tuesday's Top Five." This week senior co-captain Will Dalton gives us his top five favorite athletes.
| Tuesday's Top Five with Will Dalton |
1 |
 Scott Stevens |
Will says: "The tough hard-hitting D-man who owned the blue line." |
2 |
 Alex Ovechkin |
Will says: "Go Capitals! The Russian that can't be stopped." |
3 |
 Cal Ripken |
Will says: "You can't beat the Iron Man." |
4 |
 Sean Taylor |
Will says: "Go Skins! Not only did he play for my favorite NFL team, but he dominated the field with devastating hits." |
5 |
 Brandon Jacobs |
Will says: "The 6-foot-4, 270-pound running back is one of my favorites because he crushes opposing teams." |
February 18
The 2008 season opener is here - finally! Well almost. Saturday is just a few days away.
Fans, family and alumni look forward to this all year long, but no one looks forward to the start of the season more than the student-athletes and coaches. This is what each and every one of them works for every day.
The scrimmages are over and for what its worth the Terps "won" all six, but the intensity gets turned up a notch this week - especially with Georgetown being the season opener. This is the fourth time in the last five seasons that the Terps and Hoyas will kick off the season against each other and the first time that Georgetown enters the season with a better ranking than Maryland (the Hoyas were ranked higher than the Terps last year too, but that was not the Terps' season opener).
That leads to this week's Inside Lacrosse Media Poll. The Terps check in at No. 7, while the Hoyas are ranked fourth.
One thing to keep in mind for this week's game is the ticket situation. The Maryland game at Georgetown in 2006 was packed, so plan accordingly. The last thing a fan wants is to not be able to get into the venue for the opening face-off. Terps fans are encouraged to get to the Multi-Sport Field early and be in your seat ready to cheer on the Terrapins at noon on Saturday.
A look ahead to what you can expect on the blog this week:
• Tomorrow will feature "Tuesday's Top 5" with senior co-captain Will Dalton.
• Look for game notes for the Georgetown game on Thursday on umterps.com. One thing that will not be in the game notes is Maryland's projected starters. Some positions are still being contested, so there won't be a sneak peek in the game notes.
• Friday we'll bring you anything newsworthy as the Terps prepare for their showdown with the Hoyas.
February 15
As most know, the final tune-ups (otherwise known as scrimmages) for the Terps before kicking off the 2008 season next weekend at fourth-ranked Georgetown take place tonight.
Maryland will play Harvard at 6 p.m. at the J. Logan and Louise Schutz Football Practice Complex. The Terps will then play Binghamton with a scheduled start time of 8 p.m.
It's been said here before, but it's worth repeating - fans should realize that these are just scrimmages and that starters and midfield lines are not necessarily what you'll see next weekend vs. the Hoyas. Coaches are still trying to find the right combinations - not just here at Maryland, but at every program throughout the country.
The Terps have shuffled their midfield lines several times during the last two weeks. Some of those changes have to do with injuries, while some can be chalked-up to trial and error. These things are fluid, not written in stone.
That being said (again), let's switch to another topic we've covered here before on the blog and that's Inside Lacrosse's preseason coverage, which has been tremendous.
In "The Art of War" Sun Tzu wrote: "It is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles; if you do not know your enemies but do know yourself, you will win one and lose one; if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every single battle."
With that in mind, you can check out all of IL's preseason coverage, including team previews on the Terps and 2008 opponents Georgetown, Duke, Towson, UMBC, North Carolina, Virginia, Navy and Johns Hopkins, here.
All three of Maryland's main units earned a mention with the attack rating sixth, the midfield coming in at seventh and the defense placing ninth.
The most interesting ranking is for the attack, which speaks volumes about the respect of the Terps' 2008 freshman class of attackmen.
One final thing today - For those that haven't heard, the Maryland-Georgetown game will be televised on tape-delay on MASN (Mid-Atlantic Sports Network). The game will air beginning at 4 p.m. and will feature the broadcast team of Leif Elsmo and Kyle Sweeney. You can check to see if MASN is carried in your area here.
February 13
Periodically throughout the season the Terrapin Men's Lacrosse Blog will feature a series of "Quick Hitter" questions with some of the Terps. Here's the first edition:
| Quick Hitters |
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I couldn't live without ... |
My sunglasses and the beach |
My friends |
Chipotle |
My family and friends |
On Valentine's Day I'll be ... |
Dissecting film of Georgetown ... love can wait |
Looking for a date, hopefully I won't have to look too hard though. |
Going to dinner with my girlfriend |
Scheduled - I hope |
My guilty pleasure is ... |
A Chipotle burrito ... so I feel guilty at least four times a week |
Homemade cookies |
Cookout milkshake (Carmel Cheesecake) |
Tough groundballs |
If I could go back in time I would ... |
Go back to 2002 and make sure that I didn't turn around and run the other way when Bill McGlone threw a fake behind the back pass against me in high school |
Correct my mistakes and not take things for granted. |
Have played football and basketball in high school |
Go to the last Philly sports championship -- way back in time, unfortunately |
The next thing I want to get is ... |
A bottle of sunscreen and some zinc for my nose, because that means I'll be sitting on the beach in Wildwood Crest, N.J. |
A car |
A new car, I totaled mine before coming to school |
A job |
If I could meet anyone it would be ... |
David Hasselhoff, but only as him playing Mitch Buchanan. But if not him, then fitness celebrity John Basedow |
Myself 10 years from now to see what I'm like and see what I have done so then I can change if I need to |
Michael Jordan - the greatest basketball player of all-time |
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February 12
It's Tuesday and that means it's time for another edition of "Tuesday's Top Five." This week All-America midfielder Dan Groot gives us his top five movies.
| Tuesday's Top Five with Dan Groot |
1 |
 Into The Blue |
Dan says: "Jessica Alba - that's all I have to say." |
2 |
 Dumb and Dumber |
Dan says: "It still makes you laugh no matter how many times you've seen it." |
3 |
 Bulletproof |
Dan says: "Adam Sandler and Damon Wayans together, you cant beat that." |
4 |
 Braveheart |
Dan says: "One of the best action movies ever made. Whenever its on TV, I have to watch it no matter what I'm doing." |
5 |
 Remember The Titans |
Dan says: "My favorite sports movie of all time, and it not just another football movie." |
February 7
The preseason seems like its been going on forever, but in reality the team has been practicing for less than three weeks.
Progress is being made and the general feeling around the Terps right now is that they're progressing well, but there is still a lot of work to be done before taking the field against Georgetown on Feb. 23. Of course that same sentiment is probably shared by every team across the country right now.
Inside Lacrosse's preseason coverage continues and make sure to check in on Saturday, Feb. 9, when the Maryland preview hits the IL website. Three of Maryland's 2008 opponents that have already been previewed: UMBC, Towson and Navy. The Terps play all five of IL's top five from the Face-Off Yearbook and those teams will be previewed next week.
Speaking of IL's coverage, its player and unit rankings continue and junior Dan Groot was ranked the seventh best midfielder in the nation. The Terps' man-up unit was also judged to be the country's fifth-best.
Senior Max Ritz and junior Jeremy Sieverts was among the "just missed" mentioned for the Top 20 attackmen and midfielders, respectively.
The case could be made that Ritz is the most overlooked and under-appreciated attackman in all of college lacrosse. He's scored at least 20 goals in each of the past two seasons and has averaged 30 groundballs per year during that time. Entering this season he has a 20-game point scoring streak and a 17-game streak of at least two points in a game.
Ritz has consistently been a big-game performer throughout his career. It would be hard for Terp fans to forget his game-winner against Virginia in the semifinals of the 2005 ACC Tournament.
He has seven hat tricks during his career with six of those coming against ranked opponents. The one hat trick that wasn't against a ranked foe was last year at Penn when the Terps needed every one of his four scores to topple a quality Quaker team. Of Ritz's 49 points last season, 30 came in Maryland's 10 games against ranked foes. That's better than 60 percent of his point production against some of the best teams in the nation.
In 2007 Ritz totaled his 49 points on 24 goals and a team-leading 25 assists. Only three players ranked 6-20 in IL's top 20 attackmen had more points - #7 Ari Sussman (33-17=50) of Dartmouth, #15 Brandon Corp (32-18=50) of Colgate and #17 Joel Delgarno (29-21=50) of Ohio State.
Just some food for thought.
Keep an eye out for the Baltimore Sun on Friday. Its 2008 NCAA men's lacrosse preview is slated to run. It'll be interesting to see what the Sun has to say about the Terps for this season.
February 5
It's Tuesday and that means it's the first edition of "Tuesday's Top Five." Basically, each week we'll visit with one of the members of the Maryland men's lacrosse team and have them pick their top five in a given category. This week senior captain Drew Evans gives us his top five TV shows.
| Tuesday's Top Five with Drew Evans |
1 |
 South Park |
Drew says: "The writers are geniuses." |
2 |
 Lost |
Drew says: "I hate it but I can't stop watching it." |
3 |
 The Office |
Drew says: "It's the funniest show on TV. Dwight is my hero." |
4 |
 Heroes |
Drew says: "I want to be Peter Petrelli." |
5 |
 Curb Your Enthusiasm |
Drew says: "Larry David is a genius and Cheryl Hines is my future wife." |
February 4
Two scrimmages down, four to go before the real 2008 season gets underway.
The Terps looked good in their first action of the season in a pair of scrimmages last Saturday. Of course for those of us that were there nothing was better than the weather. Last year when Maryland played its first scrimmages the wind chill was minus-seven. On Saturday temps ranged from the upper 40s to near 60 when the sun poked out. All-in-all it was a beautiful day for lacrosse.
You're not going to find scores or a breakdown of starters or midfield lines here. But here's a quick look at some good things from this past Saturday.
• Maryland came out and played with its trademark toughness. Every groundball was contested and there were more than a few big hits dished out.
• Having Joe Cinosky, who did not play in the fall scrimmages, back made everyone on the defense better. But that shouldn't be surprising. If you take a potential All-American off of any team's defense and it would be a completely different unit.
• The Terps continued to receive outstanding goalie play. Sophomore Brian Phipps was tremendous and redshirt junior Jason Carter was strong after allowing two early broken field goals vs. Delaware. Even freshman Mark White played well in his time in the cage.
• The freshmen played like freshmen, but the spring is totally different from the fall and it was their first real taste of college lacrosse. A few that stood out include attackmen Brett Weiss and Travis Reed, defender Max Schmidt and redshirt freshman defensive middie Dan Burns.
• Some Terps were held out of the scrimmages as a precaution. Don't read too much into it - the idea is to have guys ready to go when the games start to count on Feb. 23.
• As was said on Friday, don't read too much into who was playing on what midfield line with who. The team has only been practicing since Jan. 21 and the coaches are still trying to get the right players into the right spots.
Look for the first edition of "Tuesday's Top Five" tomorrow. First up will be senior captain Drew Evans with his top five television shows.
February 1
It's Friday and tomorrow officially (or unofficially depending on how you look at it) is the start of the 2008 men's lacrosse season for the Terps.
Maryland will scrimmage twice on Saturday. First up will be the the Loyola Greyhounds in a rematch of a scrimmage from this past fall. That contest saw the two teams battle to a tie and tomorrow's meeting promises to be a closely fought contest.
The second game finds the Terps taking on the Delaware Blue Hens, which advanced to the Final Four last season. While All-America face-off man Alex Smith is gone, returning for Coach Bob Shillinglaw will be redshirt senior Cam Howard. The preseason All-America attackman missed all of last season due to injury.
The scrimmages get underway at 11 a.m. at the rec turf field adjacent to Robert E. Taylor Stadium and the Comcast Center. The fourth team coming to College Park will be the Ohio State Buckeyes. The Greyhounds and Blue Hens will tangle at 11 a.m. at the Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex.
A lot of eyes will be focused on Maryland's highly touted freshman class and a lot of those freshmen will be playing quite a bit tomorrow.
On attack fans can expect to get a good look at Grant Catalino, Travis Reed, Brett Weiss and Ryan Young. Junior transfer David O'Quinn is another newcomer that could get a run or two at attack, but he could also be used in the midfield. O'Quinn's versatility has been an asset over the past two weeks.
In the midfield, the coaches are looking to find some chemistry in their lines. Fans should keep that in mind when they see who is running on what line with whom on Saturday.
The defense has some spots up for grabs and it will be interesting to see if any of the contenders step-up and separate themselves. Seniors Ryne Adolph, Jacob Baxter and Zach Hinton are in the mix along with freshman Max Schmidt. Another player to keep an eye on is junior Mike Griswold.
Through the first two weeks of practice two of the best players on the field have been goalies Jason Carter and Brian Phipps. That's another battle to watch, but both have been outstanding so far.
One other thing people have been wondering about is the roster for this season. Well, wait no longer. The 2008 roster is up.
January 28, 2008
The preseason is in full swing and so is the media coverage led by Inside Lacrosse, which has done a tremendous job prepping fans for the 2008 season.
The Terps are receiving their fair share of recognition during IL's vast coverage for the upcoming season.
Top Impact Freshmen
#5 - Ryan Young
#8 - Max Schmidt
#14 - Tony Mendes
Top Longstick Middies
#5 - Brian Farrell
Top D-Middies
#8 - Jeff Reynolds
Top Goalies
#8 - Brian Phipps
Top Defensemen
#14 - Joe Cinosky
Strength of Schedule
#2 (behind only Johns Hopkins)
Young and Schmidt were also mentioned in the IL Staff Debate piece. When asked which freshman has the best chance of being a 1st, 2nd or 3rd team All-American Geoff Shannon tabbed Young, while Terry Foy said Schmidt.
For all of IL's preseason coverage, check out their website here.
Lacrosse Magazine has also released its preseason Top 20. The Terps check in at No. 8. Duke, Virginia, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Notre Dame, Princeton and Cornell are ranked 1-7, respectively.
January 25, 2008
Welcome to the first edition of the Terrapin Men's Lacrosse Blog. You can expect to find some interesting tidbits about the team and the Maryland student-athletes, some news and notes and a heads-up about things in the future that will interest Terps' lacrosse fans.
First up, if you take a look at the 2008 schedule you'll notice that each of the Terps' home games designates what field it will be played on. Four games will be held at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium, while the remaining three games are slated for Ludwig Field. Of course, there's always a chance that the games could be moved to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex if weather dictates. If there is inclement weather in the forecast and you're not sure where the game is going to be played, log on to umterps.com and all of the latest news will be there.
Second, for the first time ever season tickets are available for Maryland lacrosse. Adults can get season tickets for both men's and women's lacrosse for just $39.00. Juniors and seniors season tickets are just $21.00. That's a great deal for a total of 14 games.
Third, practice is underway and the season is just around the corner. So far this year's Terrapins have had a productive first week of practice. There are a lot of newcomers that are still getting their feet wet, but you can see the talent that this team has. You're not going to get a lot of insider information here, but here's what we can tell you:
• There is a lot more depth on this year's squad than on the 2007 team, especially on the offensive end of the field - and it's not just the freshman class that has been widely heralded.
• The midfield, which was the team's biggest question mark last year, should be a real strength this season.
Jeremy Sieverts (pictured left) looks real comfortable now that he's been in the system for a full year.
• That freshman class is still learning what college lacrosse is really about, but it's easy to see the talent. For starters, Grant Catalino has a cannon for a shot and Travis Reed is a sneaky scorer who can get off a good shot in a split second.
• The defense, which is a hallmark of Maryland lacrosse, is a work in progress, but the Terps should have a solid "D" again this year. The return of d-middie Jeff Reynolds, who is often overlooked when the names of the top defensive midfielders get rattled off, is more than welcomed. Reynolds is a super athlete that can match-up with an opposing attackman straight up.
Finally for today, fans will want to keep an eye on umterps.com as we get closer to the Towson game on March 8. With the suite project going on at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium there will be several changes regarding the stadium that fans will want to be aware of. That information will be posted soon, so be sure to check it out. That way when you come to College Park to see the Terps take on the Tigers you'll know what's going on and where you should be going.
