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Rubber Match: Terps and Cavaliers Meet In Men's Lacrosse Quarters With Final Four Berth On The Line
May 15, 2008
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - No. 7 seed Maryland will take on No. 2 seed Virginia in the NCAA Quarterfinals this Saturday at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. Face-off is set for 12:00 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU. Dave Ryan will be on play-by-play with Quint Kessinich providing the analysis. • The Terps and Cavaliers are both making their 31st NCAA Tournament appearance, tying them for second most in NCAA history. • The winner of the Maryland/Virginia game will advance to the Final Four next weekend in Foxboro, Mass., and will face on the winner of the No. 3 Syracuse (13-2)/No. 6 Notre Dame (14-2) game on Saturday, May 24 at Gillette Stadium. The Orange and the Fighting Irish play in Ithaca, N.Y., on Sunday, May 18 at 3 p.m. at Schoellkopf Field.
Maryland's 31st Time At NCAA's • In the quarterfinals of the tournament, the Terrapins have a 19-8 (.704) record overall. The last time the Terps advanced to the quarters was 2006. Maryland defeated Princeton at Unitas Stadium in Towson, Md., by a final of 11-6. The last time Maryland reached the quarterfinals and did not advance to the Final Four was 2004 when No. 7 Princeton upset No. 3 Maryland 9-8 in overtime. • The Terps have captured two NCAA championships, 1973 and 1975, and have now reached the NCAA Semifinals 19 times, including three of the last four years. Maryland's Record In The NCAA Tournament,br> • The Terps have won the third-most Division I NCAA Tournament games, compiling a 40-28 overall record in 68 games. Only Johns Hopkins (62-27) and Syracuse (51-18) have won more Division I tournament games. • Maryland is fifth by percentage (.588) among all teams ever to play in the tournament. Only Syracuse (51-18, .739), Princeton (29-11, .725), Johns Hopkins (62-27, .697) and Virginia (38-26, .594) are ahead of the Terps. • The Terps have captured two titles. Only six other schools have ever won the NCAA Championship: Johns Hopkins (9), Syracuse (8), Princeton (6), North Carolina (4), Virginia (4) and Cornell (3). Maryland As The No. 7 Seed,br> • This marks the fourth time that Maryland has been named the No. 7 seed in the NCAA tournament. Maryland is 3-3 all-time as the No. 7 seed. • The Terps were previously a No. 7 seed in 1982, 1991 and last season. In 1982, Maryland lost a first round game to Johns Hopkins by a 14-9 margin. In 1991, Maryland advanced to the Final Four, but lost to Towson, 15-11, in the semifinals. Last year, the Terps were upset in the first round by UMBC, 13-9. Last Saturday the seventh-seeded Terps defeated Denver, 10-7, to advance to the quarters for the fifth time in the past six seasons.
Maryland vs. The No. 2 Seed • The Terps previously played the No. 2 seed in 1971, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1991, 1998 and 2003. In 1971, the first year for the NCAA tournament, the Terps topped No. 2 Navy 10-7. Maryland then won its first NCAA title in 1973 by defeating No. 2 Johns Hopkins, 9-8 in two overtimes. The Terps lost their next six meetings with the second seed before topping No. 2 Brown, 16-13, in 1991. Maryland advanced to the title game in 1991, but lost to No. 2 seed Princeton 15-5. The last time the Terps faced a No. 2 seed was 2003 - a 14-4 loss to Virginia in the semifinals in Baltimore. • Only twice in those 11 meetings with the No. 2 seed has Maryland been the seventh seed. In 1982, No. 2 Hopkins beat No. 7 Maryland, 14-9, in the quarterfinals. The only other time was in 1991 with the Terps handing Brown a 16-13 loss in the quarters.
Cottle In The NCAA Tournament
Coaching Match-Up
Series History vs. Virginia • Maryland has won three of four meetings in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps topped the Cavaliers in a pair of first round games in 1978 and 1983 and won a 1997 quarterfinal game, 10-9, played at Byrd Stadium. In that last NCAA meeting, Virginia broke its three-game post-season losing streak to the Terps with a 14-4 win in the NCAA semifinals in Baltimore en route to the 2003 national championship. • The two teams hooked-up in the ACC tournament for the fifth straight season and the Cavaliers prevailed with an 11-8 win on their home field in Charlottesville. Grant Catalino led the Terps with three points on a pair of goals and an assist. • Earlier this season the then-No. 4 Terps knocked off the newly minted No. 1 Cavaliers, 13-7, at Chevy Chase Bank Field at Byrd Stadium. Freshman Travis Reed had a breakout performance, scoring a hat trick, assisting on two other goals and grabbing three groundballs. Not to be outdone, goalie Jason Carter made a career-best 15 saves to help seal the victory for the Terrapins. • These two teams locked up in a classic in the semifinals of the 2007 ACC tournament. Maryland jumped out to a 4-1 lead, but the Cavaliers rallied to take a four-goal lead at 10-6 in the fourth quarter. That's when Maryland stormed back, but the comeback fell short and Virginia was able to hold on for an 11-10 win. Dan Groot led Maryland with five points on four goals and an assist. • In 2007's regular season meeting, the second-ranked Cavaliers defeated the No. 8 Terps 12-8 in Charlottesville. Wahoo attackman Ben Rubeor scored five goals to pace Virginia, while Max Ritz (3-0) and Michael Phipps (1-2) each had three points for the Terps. • On April 1 of last season, the No. 1 Cavaliers jumped out early, scoring just 15 seconds into the game, and never looked back, handing Maryland a 15-5 loss at Byrd Stadium. The Ritz brothers, Max and Xander, each scored two goals with Max also picking up a pair of assists. Bill McGlone scored the other goal for the Terps. • The two schools hooked up again in the ACC title game and again it was Virginia taking the game, this time by an 11-5 margin. Brendan Healy and Bill McGlone each had three points in the loss. • The 2005 regular season game was tough for the fourth-ranked Terps as they were handed a 10-2 loss at No. 3 Virginia on April 2. The Cavaliers held Maryland scoreless until the 4:51 mark of the third quarter when Joe Walters scored. It was the first time Maryland had been held without a goal in a half since a 7-2 loss at Virginia in 2001. • Things were a little different in the rematch on April 29, 2005 in the ACC Semifinals. Brendan Healy gave Maryland a 1-0 lead in the first, but the 'Hoos scored three unanswered to take a 3-1 lead. But the Terps stormed back with a 3-0 run of their own on goals from Max Ritz, Healy and Xander Ritz to take a 4-3 lead into the half. The Cavaliers took a 7-5 lead into the fourth quarter, but Andrew Schwartzman and Bill McGlone scored the final to goals in regulation to send the game into sudden death. In the overtime period, freshman Max Ritz proved to be the hero for Maryland, but putting back a rebound off of a Mcglone shot to sent the Terps into the ACC finals with an 8-7 win. • The 2004 regular season meeting between Maryland and Virginia saw the Terps enter the game as the No. 1 team in the country, the first time Maryland had earned the top ranking since 2001. Maryland lived up to its billing, pounding the Cavaliers 11-2 in College Park. Xander Ritz scored three goals and assisted on another three, while Joe Walters added a goal and three assists. The game was never really in doubt as the Terps opened the game with a 5-0 run. The Maryland defense was stellar all afternoon, holding Virginia's top seven scorers without a single point. • The Cavaliers would not go so quietly in the 2004 ACC title game. The Terps built a 12-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter, behind a career-high six goals from Joe Walters, who would be named Tournament MVP. But the Wahoos scored four goals in the fourth and shutdown the Maryland offense to close the gap to 12-11.
Maryland-Virginia Connections • Maryland junior Scott Tompkins will reunite with former Gillman teammates Brian and Kevin Carroll. • Landon will be represented by Terp juniot Mike Griswold and Rob Morrison and Cavaliers George Huguely and Peter Lamade. • Loyola is the alma mater of Virginia's Ben Rubeor, as well as Maryland sophomore Casey Creaney. • Two former teammates that could run into each other will be Severn alums Brian Phipps, a Terp goalie, and Virginia freshman midfielder Nick Elsmo. • A trio of Buckeye state natives will also reunite on the field on Saturday. Maryland's Chris Rhine and Max Schmidt and Virginia's Joe Dewey were teammates at Upper Arlington High School. • Eleven players on the Virginia roster hail from the state of Maryland, while only three Terps hail from the Old Dominion state.
Shooting Tells The Story • In Maryland's 10 victories this season the Terrapins are shooting above 30% (32.4%, 130 goals/401 shots). In their five losses the Terps' shooting percentage is cut to 20.5% (31 goals/151 shots). • Another standout statistic from Terp wins and losses is man-up conversion percentage. Maryland has converted 15-of-31 opportunities (.484) in its 10 wins, but is 5-of-14 (.357) in five defeats.
Home vs. Away • Maryland is averaging 11.6 goals per game in its home games, which is better than two goals more than the 9.4 goals the Terps average on the road. • The Maryland defense has been good whether it is playing at home or on the road, but the numbers favor the Terps when they are at home so far in 2008. Maryland is allowing opponents just 6.1 goals per game at home, but that inflates by to 9.2 gpg on the road. • A Freshman leads the Terps in overall scoring and is tops in both at home and on road scoring as well. Grant Catalino is the team's leading scorer overall with 40 points. He is also the Terps' leading scorer at home with 23 points on 15 goals and eight assist. Catalino also leads the squad in scoring on the road with 12 goals and five assists for 17 points.
Putting On The Ritz • Ritz's 14 goals puts him in some elite company in Maryland's record books. He is now tied for ninth all-time in total goals in NCAA tournament games with Andrew Whipple, Rob Wurzburger, Bert Caswell and Brian Zeller. • For his career he has totaled 110 points, tying him with his brother Xander for second-most since Coach Cottle arrived in College Park. His 66 goals is third-best since 2002. He's taken 216 shots to get those 66 goals for a shooting percentage of .306. That's the highest of all of the top five goal scorers during the Cottle Era - Joe Walters (.278), Bill McGlone (.291), Xander Ritz (.292), Brendan Healy (.200).
Defense Ready To Meet Expectations • During the last four 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. In 2005 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. The 2006 season saw the Terrapin defense do it 10 times in 17 games. In 2007 Terp "D" had 11 20+ minute scoring droughts to its credit in 16 contests. So far in 2008, Maryland has held opponents scoreless for more than 20 minutes six times. • The emphasis on team defense was evident in the Terps' 2008 opener at No. 4 Georgetown. Maryland held the lauded Hoya offense to just six goals and two of those came when Georgetown converted on man-up opportunities. The Terrapin defense held Georgetown's starting attack and first midfield, which combined for 95 goals (6.3 per game) in 2007, to just three scores. • The defense was solid in allowing just seven goals at Mount St. Mary's on a rainy, foggy afternoon. The fog was the most difficult on the defense as it made the ball very hard for the goalies to see shots clearly. Even so, the Terrapins came up with a good defensive effort, holding the Mount to just one goal over a 22-minute span covering parts of the first, second and third quarters. Junior Mike Griswold led the Terps with three caused turnovers on the afternoon. Overall, 12 Terps combined to force 19 of the Mount's 25 turnovers. • The defense turned in its first shutout quarter of the season in the 13-5 win over Providence. The Terps held the Friars scoreless in the first quarter, allowing the offense to jump out to a 5-0 lead. Overall, Providence was held off the board for the first 23:30 of the game. Maryland forced 20 of the Friars' 21 turnovers. Leading the way was sophomore long pole Brian Farrell who had three caused turnovers to go along with four groundballs. • In the Terps' 12-7 win over No. 18 Towson, Maryland's "D" proved to be a physically dominant unit. The Terrapins forced 16 of the Tigers' 23 turnovers. Even more impressive was Maryland's plus-22 advantage in groundballs (53-31). Senior defender Ryne Adolph had a career-best six pick-ups off the turf and led a contingent of nine Terps who had at least four groundballs apiece. In addition to playing great on its side of the field, the defense also contributed on the offensive side of things vs. Towson as Brian Farrell scored two of Maryland's 12 goals. • The Maryland defense had its finest showing of the season to date against Air Force, holding the Falcons to just four goals. After surrendering three scores in the first quarter, the Terrapin defense tightened down and did not allow another goal for 44:03; the longest scoreless stretch for the season by the Terp "D". Maryland's defenders also got into the scoring act against Air Force. Five Terrapin defenders combined for a pair of goals and three assists. • At fifth-ranked North Carolina, the Terps bottled up the Tar Heels offense, holding them to just eight goals. Senior All-America candidate Joe Cinosky continued his dominant play with four groundballs and a pair of caused turnovers. In total, the Maryland defense held Carolina's starting attack to two goals and one assist. The "D" held the Tar Heels without a goal for 20:13, spanning the third and fourth quarters. That allowed the Maryland offense to go on a 5-0 scoring run and put the game out of reach. • A masterful performance by the Terrapin defense helped the Terps knock off then-No. 1 Virginia, 13-7. The Cavaliers were held to their lowest scoring output of the season and were held to just three goals in the first half. Virginia had entered the game averaging more than eight goals per game in the first half alone. Redshirt junior goalie Jason Carter was brilliant in the cage, stopping a career-best 15 saves in the victory. • The Terps held Navy to just five goals - more than four lower than its season average - and shutout the Midshipmen for the final 30:44 of the game. Joe Cinosky tied his career-high with five groundballs and also caused three of Navy's 24 turnovers. The Mids turned the ball over on 14 of their 16 second-half possessions against a tenacious Maryland defense. • Goalie Brian Phipps set career-highs with 17 saves and six groundballs in Maryland 9-4 win over Penn. The sophomore from Annapolis, Md., allowed only one goal and helped hold the Quakers scoreless for a stretch of 51:12. Joe Cinosky also had a career-best six groundballs, while defensive midfielders Chris Rhine (goal) and Bryn Holmes (assist) added to the offensive effort. • The defense was solid if not spectacular in the 16-10 win over Yale on May 3, but the "D" contributed to the offensive effort vs. the Elis with two goals and two assists coming from defensive players. Bryn Holmes scored both goals for the Maryland defense, while long pole Brian Farrell and short-stick Dan Burns picked up the assists. • Trailing 5-2 in the second quarter against Denver in the first round of the NCAA tournament the defense took over and held the Pioneers scoreless for 30:06, allowing the offense to go on a 7-0 run to take control of the game en route to a 10-7 Terrapin win. But it wasn't just the offense contributing to that scoring spurt as Joe Cinosky scored an man-down goal that proved to be the game-winner.
Offensive Defenders • Sophomore long pole Brian Farrell leads the defense with six goals and three assists and is actually 10th on the squad in points and goals. The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Baltimore native, had scored at least one point in seven of the Terps' last 11 games. • Sophomore short-stick Bryn Holmes is next up for the defenders with six points on three goals and three assists, including a career-best two goals in the 16-10 win over Yale on May 3. • Junior Chris Rhine, who has played both long- and short-stick this season, has two goals and an assist for three points. In the Yale win, Rhine's perfect career shooting percentage (4-of-4 heading into the game vs. the Bulldogs) dropped to .800 when his second-quarter shot sailed over the Yale goal. • Three other short-sticks have contributed to the offensive production this season. Dan Burns has three assists, Spencer McAllister has two goals, while Dean Hart has two assists. • Senior All-America candidate Joe Cinosky has one goal and one assist, while long-pole Dan Halayko has a goal.
Where's The Beef? Check The "D" Brian Farrell: 6-5, 240
Ranking The Goalies • Phipps' 5.92 GAA would be the best in the nation, while Carter's GAA of 8.55 would rank 22nd. • Phipps would be second in save percentage with .649. Carter's save pct. of .561 would tie for 27th. Combined, Phipps and Carter have a .598 save percentage, which would be seventh on this week's NCAA chart.
Freshmen Leading The Way • Going back to 1962 only two Terrapins (Mike Mollot, who was a redshirt freshman, in 2000 and Joe Walters in 2003) led the team in points as a rookie. Only four (Walters, Matt Hahn in 1995, Rob Wurzburger in 1988 and Pete Worstell in 1977) led the team in goals and another four (Dan LaMonica in 2001, Mollot, Rob Chomo in 1991 and Tim Cox in 1989) led the squad in assists. • Travis Reed, Ryan Young and Grant Catalino are already approaching some freshmen milestones and are poised to climb the freshman class records in several categories. Catalino cracked the top 10 in points with his seven-point performance against Yale and is now ninth with 40 points. Reed is in 13th with 31, while Young is tied for 14th with Jim Wilkerson, who had 27 points in 1980. Catalino is now sixth on the goals list with 27. Reed is ninth with 20 goals. Young's 18 assists has him in eighth place on the freshman assist chart and needs just two more to tie Andrew Whipple (1995) and Frank Urso (1973) for sixth. Catalino is 10th, tied with Joe Walters with 13 assist, while Reed has 11 and is one shy of Jack Lamon, who sits at No. 12 with 12 in 1976.
Freshmen Starters 2002: None
Memorable Debut • For his performance against the Hoyas, Catalino was named both the ACC Player of the Week (along with UNC goalie Grant Zimmerman) and the University of Maryland's male athlete of the week.
Trio Of Terps Earn ACC Honors • The All-ACC teams were also announced at the annual awards banquet with senior defender Joe Cinosky and redshirt junior midfielder Jeff Reynolds earning spots on the squad for the Terrapins. • Maryland is the only team in the conference to have won at least one of the three individual awards in each of the past three seasons. (Joe Walters - 2006 Player of the Year, Brian Phipps - 2007 Freshman of the Year, Dave Cottle - 2008 Coach of the Year). 2008 All-ACC Team Coach of the Year: Dave Cottle, Maryland
Home Cooking
A Family Affair Harry & Thomas Alford: 2004-05-06-07 Fathers and Sons • Maryland's family tradition doesn't end with brothers. Fathers and sons are also part of the Terps' tradition and that's never been more evident than this season. This year's Maryland men's lacrosse roster features three players whose father's not only played at Maryland, but won a nation title together. Mike Farrell, father of Brian, Wilson Phipps, father of Brian, and Jake Reed, father of Travis, were all members of the Terps' 1975 NCAA championship squad. Terps' 83rd Season of Lacrosse • The Terps boast an all-time record of 693-230-4 (.750), 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 82 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 10-6. 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 101-41 for a .711 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.
Road Work • For just the second time in program history, the Terps opened the season with three-straight games away from College Park. In 1978 Maryland opened with a pair of games in North Carolina - a 25-11 win at NC State and a 14-7 win at Duke - before beating Dartmouth, 16-3, in a neutral site game at Garden City, Long Island. • 2008 marks the 12th time in the 83 years of Maryland lacrosse that the Terps will open a season with at least two road games. In the previous 11 seasons (1952, 1954, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, 2001, 2004 and 2006) Maryland has a combined record of 23-0 in those road games. This season the Terps were 2-1 in its three-game road trip to open the season, bringing its record to 25-1 (.962).
Maryland In Season Openers • Maryland has a 79-3-1 (.958) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 15 openers and 23 of the last 24, with the only loss coming to Duke in 1993, when they 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.)
15 Straight In Season Openers • After beating No. 4 Georgetown to open the 2008 season the Terps now have a 15-game winning streak in season openers. Five of those wins came against Villanova (1994-98) and the last nine over Denver, Mount St. Mary's, Air Force, Hobart, Duke, Georgetown (four times) and Bellarmine. Over the 15-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 204-78 (an average score of 13.6-5.2) in those games. • The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 15 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.
2008 Captains: Adolph, Cinosky, Dalton, Evans & Ritz • Five players have been named team captains for the 2008 season. The quintet, which was voted on by the team during the preseason, consists of seniors Ryne Adolph, Joe Cinosky, Will Dalton, Drew Evans and Max Ritz. Media Information • Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland men's lacrosse news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email men's lacrosse contact Patrick Fischer with "Men's Lacrosse E-Mail" as the subject and you will receive every update. • Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet. • GameTracker: Follow Terps games live in 2008 on your computer with GameTracker. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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