Maryland Athletics Communications
Steve LaVaute scanned a Maryland Stadium suite Saturday night and found himself in the same room as old teammates he hadn't seen in a half-century.
What they had accomplished together in the spring of 1967, though, is always with him.
“I have chills thinking about it,” said LaVaute, an attackman on that championship team. “One of the things about being involved with a team where you can say you're national champs is that every time I watch a game like the Super Bowl or NBA Finals or whatever, whenever they win, I get chills just like I did when we won. I've had 50 years of enjoying this.”
The '67 Terrapins went 8-1, sharing the national title with Johns Hopkins and Navy. The NCAA wouldn't sponsor the sport for another four years, and it would be the last of Maryland's USILA champions prior to the establishment of a national postseason tournament.
When the 1975 team returned to College Park two years ago for a celebration of the 40-year anniversary of their NCAA title, several members of the '67 squad hatched an idea: Why not us?
The efforts started in earnest last summer with Hugh Mallon, Alan Pastrana, Bill Sbarra and LaVaute all pushing for a reunion.
Mallon, a man with a knack for process, was a galvanizing force as he recovered from a knee replacement surgery. He scoured Facebook and LinkedIn. He made calls, doing all he could to track down as many of his old teammates. He helped create a website and posted old pictures from the team's remarkable season.
“All the sudden everyone said 'We've always wanted to do this,'” Mallon said.
There were plenty of memories to share. The '67 Terps had a pair of first team All-America picks in attackman John Heim and midfielder Bruce Hinkle, and overall 10 players earned at least honorable mention All-America selections.
They started fast, too, winning their first four games by an average of 11.3 goals.
“We were good,” LaVaute said. “I mean, we were good. We had some of the best players in the country. Three of us played attack --- Alan Lowe, Jack Heim and I --- and the coaches left us to do whatever we wanted to do because we were good.”
But there was a hiccup. The day before the team traveled to Navy, which had won at least a share of the previous seven national titles, Pastrana injured his knee while playing in the football spring game.
Without one of their top defensemen, the Terps fell into an early seven-goal hole before dropping a 10-8 decision.
“We would've been undefeated,” Sbarra said. “I'm convinced of that. Everybody else is convinced of that.”
But three weeks later, Maryland's title hopes received a reprieve. Navy stumbled at Johns Hopkins. Conveniently enough, the Blue Jays were coming to College Park seven days later.
Maryland would make the most of its second chance.
“If the Baltimore Colts had played lacrosse, we would've beaten them,” Sbarra said. “That's how psyched up we were. We just came out on fire.”
The Terps pounced early and rolled to a 9-5 victory. With Maryland, Hopkins and Navy splitting their games against each other and rolling through the rest of their respective college-level competition, the USILA declared tri-champions.
To this day, Maryland's players believe they were the best team that season --- and even remember a detail that might have allowed them to double up their biggest rival to close out the season.
“It should've been 10-5,” Sbarra recalled. “Jack Heim, he shot the ball so hard through the net that the referees didn't catch it. When we had the banquet three days later, Hezzie [coach John Howard] slowed down the video and you could see the ball going between the crossbars and coming out with the threads [moving].”
Whether outright winners or tri-champions, there is no question the camaraderie of the roster remains intact five decades later. It was on full display last weekend as the group got together for the first time since their team banquet after upending Hopkins.
The weekend in College Park included a dinner Friday and on-field recognition at the end of the first quarter Saturday night. With wives, children and grandchildren filling a suite, they were presented their national championship rings at halftime.
“This team and the whole concept of this week is so far beyond my expectations in terms of the enthusiasm,” LaVaute said. “We had 32 on the team, four deceased. Of the 28 left, three we couldn't find and I always maintain that they're in witness protection. And the [other] 25 are here.”
The '67 Terps couldn't help but think about the current state of the program. Maryland has played on the final day of the season four times in the last six years, and the current Terps head into May as a clear national championship contender again.
They put together perhaps their best game of the season, scoring the first eight goals in a 12-5 rout of Hopkins that delighted the reunion. Along the way, senior Matt Rambo set the school's career scoring record and received some praise from veterans who know a bit about the game.
“He reminds me of us --- passion, determination, no quit,” Sbarra said. “No matter how many people are beating on him, he doesn't give up. I said to Matt 'What a pleasure to meet you because you played with the determination and desire and passion we played with and that's why we were national champions. If you can get the rest of your teammates to do what you do, you're going to be national champions.'”
As models go, the current Terps can't do better than follow the lead of their predecessors from 1967.
“Our theme was 'The keepers of the tradition,'” Mallon said. “We kept it with this group here, and hopefully we can pass it on. I really think at the end of the day, it's about finding people who are internally passionate, they love the school, they bled red. Everyone here bled red when they played.”
