The Legacy of No. 1
The history of the Maryland men?™s lacrosse program goes back to 1924 and even further if the team?™s roots as a club team are taken into consideration.
The first known record of the Terps wearing jersey numbers is in a team photo of the 1937 squad, which finished 7-0 and was the UISLA Co-Champions. Only eight numbers are clear in the photo and the roster for that season does not include numbers.
The 1951 team is the first that has a complete numerical roster (if you match it up with the team photo) and most of the numbers range from 40 to 60. The 1954 team is the next squad with numbers on the roster, but none of those are single digits. In fact, you have to go all the way to 1972 to find the first Maryland player to wear a single-digit jersey.
So what is all of the fuss about the No. ?1? jersey?
Bill Reilly, a senior goalie on that 1972 team, is the first known Terp to don No. 1. He made 104 stops to help Maryland to an 8-2 record and reach the NCAA Semifinals. Reilly earned second team USILA All-America honors.
The ?1? jersey stayed on goalies (Rich Shassian 1977-81, Jeff Brouse 1982-83, Robert Virden 1984-85) until the 1986 season, when it was given to freshman attackman Brendan Hanley, a native of Forrestville, Md. Hanley was a solid performer for the Terps, twice earning honorable mention All-America recognition and finishing his career with 140 points on 60 goals and 80 assists, which still ranks 16th on Maryland?™s all-time assists chart.
After Hanley the jersey went back to a goalie, Melvin Stevens, who was a reserve from 1989-91. The number was vacant for a year and was given to Todd Harrison, who was the first defender to wear the No. 1, but he only stayed on the team for one season.
In 1994, reserve senior attackman Al Skater, a native of Rocky Point, N.Y., on Long Island took the number for his final season, but 1995 really marks the beginning of the legacy that has become the No. 1 jersey.
Former coach Dick Edell and his Terps scored what was a major recruiting coup in 1995 when a highly regarded attackman from Rochester, N.Y., arrived in College Park. Andrew Whipple was a two-time high school All-American from Irondiquoit High School. He was expected to team with fellow freshman Matt Hahn to form the corps of the Terrapin attack unit for the next four years. It was a lot of pressure on a freshman, but Whipple, along with Hahn, managed to not just meet expectations, but exceed them.
Whipple was named the ACC Freshman of the Year (just the third Terp at the time to win the award) and was an honorable mention All-American after finishing second on the team with 44 points on 24 goals and 20 assists. In 1995, Whipple?™s 44 points was second all-time to the legendary Frank Urso on the team?™s freshman points list. Urso had 48 points on 28 goals and 20 assists in 1973 ?“ Maryland?™s first NCAA Championship team. Whipple?™s 44 points is still fifth on the school?™s freshman scoring chart.
Whipple?™s sophomore season was another solid effort and he was named to the All-ACC team and again was an honorable mention All-American. He finished second on the team in scoring with 37 points, just two behind Hahn.
As a junior in 1997, Whipple continued to be a playmaker on the Terps?™ attack unit. For the first time in his career he led the team in scoring, totaling 47 points on 24 goals and a team-best 23 assists. For the third straight season, Whipple was an honorable mention All-American after helping lead the team to the NCAA title game. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament team after totaling a team record for points in a single tournament with 17 on seven goals and 10 assists.
Whipple?™s finest performance came during his senior season. He totaled a career-best 62 points on 22 goals and a team-leading 40 assists and was named a third team USILA All-American. Snubbed for the second year in a row for All-ACC honors, Whipple made a statement in the 1998 ACC Tournament. He dominated the semifinal game against North Carolina with a career-best eight points on five goals and three assists in the 13-8 Maryland win. Virginia held him without a goal in the finals, but Whipple made his presence felt, dishing out five assists in the 14-11 win to help give the Terps their first ACC Tournament title.
Already a proven ?Big Game? performer, Whipple stepped up his game even more in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Maryland entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed. Whipple had another eight-point game in the Terps?™ 18-10 first-round victory over Butler. He had a pair of assists in Maryland?™s 11-10 overtime thriller against Johns Hopkins that sent the Terps to the Final Four. Awaiting the Terps in Piscataway, N.J., was No. 1 seed Loyola, but Whipple guided Maryland past the Greyhounds with a seven-point performance in a 19-8 Terrapin victory. He added one assist in a championship loss to Princeton for his 18th point of the tournament to break his own team single-tournament scoring mark.
Whipple finished his career with 190 points, which was eighth on the Terps?™ all-time list at the time and is currently ninth. His 97 assists is still the seventh-best in the history of the Maryland program.
For four seasons Whipple wore the No. 1 jersey and made it among the most feared in college lacrosse. Upon his graduation the Terps looked to another Empire State native to continue what Whipple began.
The No. 1 was given to another high-scoring high school prospect from the Empire State. While not from Upstate N.Y., Holbrook, N.Y., native, Mike Mollot was selected to pick up where Whipple left off. But the legacy was put on hold for a year when Mollot was forced to redshirt the 1999 season due to a broken leg and torn ligaments in his ankle.
Healthy again in 2000, Mollot showed the nation why he was such a highly touted prospect coming out of Sachem High School. He was an honorable mention All-American after leading all NCAA freshmen with 32 assists. He finished the season with a team-best 47 points, which is still third all-time on the Maryland freshman scoring list. More importantly, Mollot helped lead the Terps back to the NCAA Tournament after a one-year hiatus.
As a sophomore in 2001, Mollot continued to be a leader for the Terps, finishing third on the team with 40 points on 19 goals and 21 assists. He was once again an honorable mention All-American and was also named to the ACC All-Tournament team after totaling five points in the team?™s two games.
The 2002 season saw a major change for the Terrapin program as long-time head coach Dick Edell retired prior to the season and Dave Cottle was brought in to take over the reins. While the team took some time to find its stride, Mollot thrived under Cottle, becoming the first Terp to wear No. 1 to earn second team All-America honors. Mollot, who was also an All-ACC selection as a junior, led the team with 46 points on 23 goals and 23 assists as a midfielder.
Mollot finished his career with a solid senior season that saw him named a third team All-American. Mollot ended his career as the team?™s 14th all-time leading scorer with 172 points. He reached that total by finishing second on the team in 2003 with 39 points on 20 goals and 19 assists. Beating Mollot out for the team?™s points lead was the person who would succeed him in the No. 1 jersey ?“ Joe Walters.
Walters was not a highly recruited prospect, but he proved he was destined to be a big-time college player during his freshman year when he led the Terps with 46 points on 33 goals and 13 assists. He became the fifth Terp to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year (defender Michael Howley was the fourth in 2000) and was an honorable All-America selection. Walters, a Rochester, N.Y., native, came to College Park from Irondequoit High School, the same as Whipple, so when Mollot graduated it was a natural transition for Walters to trade in the No. 15 he wore as a freshman and continue the growing tradition the No. 1 jersey.
So what did Walters do upon taking over the No. 1 jersey after posting great numbers as a freshman? Only have one of the greatest individual seasons any Terrapin player has had. He became the first Maryland attackman since 1991 (Mark Douglas) to earn first team All-America honors after totaling 68 points (seventh all-time on single-season list) on 46 goals (eighth) and 22 assists. Walters, who was also named the ACC Player of the Year, scored at least one goal in every game in 2004 and was the MVP of the ACC Tournament after leading the Terps to their second tournament title.
Walters?™ junior year was another solid performance and he led the Terps to the Final Four for the second time in three seasons. He was named to the All-ACC squad for the second straight season after topping the Terps with 53 points on 38 goals and 15 assists. Walters helped lead Maryland to back-to-back ACC Tournament titles and was named to the all-tournament team. He also had an outstanding run in the NCAA Tournament, earning all-tournament honors with 11 points on 10 goals and an assist.
The 2006 season saw Walters continue to dominate Maryland?™s opposition as he had the school?™s career point and goal records in his sights. Entering the season, he needed 53 points and 33 goals to take over the top spot on each of those lists. He eclipsed Hahn?™s career record for goals on ?Senior Day? against Penn and topped Bob Boneillo?™s record for points in the team?™s first round NCAA Tournament game against Denver. Walters also became the only Terp since 1962 (as far back as the Terrapin record book goes) to lead the team in goals and points in each of his four seasons.
Numerical records weren?™t the only ones Walters set during his senior campaign. He became the school?™s first four-time All-American since Boniello (1977-80) and the school?™s first-ever two-time ACC Player of the Year. He also was the Terps?™ first male finalist for the Tewaaraton Trophy and was named the winner of the Jack Turnbull Memorial Award, which is presented annually to the nation?™s top attackman. Following his record-setting career for the Terrapins, Walters was taken with the No. 1 overall pick in the Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft.
What Walters?™ success did was cement the importance of the No. 1 jersey in the Maryland men?™s lacrosse program. The jersey was vacant in 2007, held back for another Upstate New Yorker who would make his way to College Park in 2008.
Grant Catalino, a massive 6-foot-5, 240-pound attackman from Webster Schroeder, N.Y., was given the task of continuing the legacy of No. 1 when he arrived in the Fall of 2007 and when the 2008 season opened it didn?™t take him long to show that he was a deserving heir. The Terps opened the season as an underdog at No. 4 Georgetown, but Catalino scored four times to lead Maryland to an 11-6 victory.
Catalino was an offensive force during the his four seasons wearing the No. 1 and finished among the career leaders in goals (7th, 119) and points (10th, 185). He secured his legacy as a wearer of the No. 1 jersey with his overtime game-winning goal vs. Syracuse at Gillette Stadium to send the Terps to the 2011 Final Four.
The jersey went to another New York native with an amazing shot in 2012, but for the first time in program history the jersey was worn by a midfielder - Mike Chanenchuk. The transfer from Princeton, where he was an All-American and the 2010 Ivy League Freshman of the Year, suffered through injuries throughout the 2012 season, but proved to be indispensable in the Terps' run to its second straight NCAA title game.
