On Saturday, Maryland became the latest lacrosse team to drink the bitter brew of the upset…one part tears, one part overconfidence, one part lackadaisacality, one part psychological entanglements (for texture), and just to make sure your gag reflex receives full engagement, one part Captain Morgan’s Lime.

We were out of town and thus didn’t see the game, but by all accounts the third-ranked Terps’ loss to unseeded Notre Dame was not easy on the eyes.  The team’s top scorers — Grant Catlino, Ryan Young, and Will Yeatman — combined to shoot 0-13.  That’s not how you win games. The loss was so disappointing, in fact, that it led to head coach Dave Cottle’s resignation last night, after Debbie Yow informed him she wouldn’t renew his contract. According to D1scourse, Cottle has reached the postseason in 22 of his 23 coaching seasons (spread across Maryland and Loyola) but has never won a championship. That’s a record.

D1scourse goes on to state that success in college lacrosse is somewhat unfairly measured by one thing and one thing only, and that’s titles. Fair point. But on the other hand, it’s pretty safe to say that the Terps have become a perennial underacheiver — it’s been 35 years now since Maryland got a banner. That’s a pretty epic dry spell. I’m no lacrosse maniac, but isn’t a change warranted under those circumstances? That’s not a reflection of our quick-fix, drive-through, what-have-you-done-for-me-lately society. It’s been THIRTY-FIVE YEARS. Cottle is literally THE record holder when it comes to underperformance in the playoffs, the outcomes of which, like it or not, are simply weighted more heavily than those of the regular season. That’s true for every sport, and, I would argue, rightly so, given the higher stakes and all.

It’s all the more frustrating because, with all the other upsets that went down this May Madness, Maryland had the Final Four more or less laid out for them on a platter….all they had to do was pull up to the table and tuck in. They couldn’t do it. Again. It cost the coach his job. So be it.

In other news, while the men were foundering in the sludge of mediocrity, the top-ranked women’s team again showed how consistently excellent their program really is by reaching yet another Final Four. The Final Four bracket is filled with lacrosse blue bloods…Maryland takes on Syracuse this Friday, while North Carolina faces defending champion Northwestern in the other semifinal. Good luck, ladies.

(Photo credit: Inside Lacrosse)

Q: "Grant Catalino, please describe your performance against Fairfield in one word." A: "Asskicking."

“Rout”, “onslaught”, “deluge”, and “thumping” were four of the words used to describe Maryland’s 17-4 drubbing of Fairfield on Saturday.  Despite being down four starters, Fairfield still brought a legit squad to Byrd Stadium, led by standout goalie Joseph Marra.  As the Capitals found out in the first round of the NHL playoffs, a defensive minded underdog with a hot goalie can present a trap game to a top team like the Terps.

The Terps came out focused and did not letdown.  Maryland jumped out to a 6-0 lead by the end of the first period and never looked back.  The Terps got hat tricks from sophomore Joe Cummings and junior Grant Catalino, who had four goals and an assist on the day.  The also seniors got into the act on Senior Day as Fran Gormley and Adam Sear both tacked on a goal apiece.

Maryland has one regular season test left at Colgate before preparing for the postseason.  The Terps are currently ranked #3 in the country and sport a #2 spot in RPI.  Assuming they hold serve against Colgate, the Terps be as high as the #2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which starts on Saturday, 5/15.  Maryland is all but guaranteed a Byrd Stadium home game in the first round, which is a key advantage.  The semifinals and finals will be played at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore this year, which also can’t hurt.

Having almost finished its eighth consecutive ten win regular season, Maryland needs to protect against letdown again this weekend.  The Terps have been burning hot for a long time.  They need to keep the momentum going for four more weeks in order to achieve the ultimate goal of bringing Maryland its first NCAA Championship since 1975.

I was out of town on a non-Terps-related matter this weekend, so apologies for the lateness of this post. But I did want to put this on the Shell Games record: the Maryland women’s lacrosse team upset no. 1 North Carolina to win the ACC tournament yesterday. On Saturday, the men’s team got several goals early, but were overwhelmed by top-ranked Virginia’s oppressive defense and lost 10-6.

On the men’s side, Cavs goalie and tournament MVP Adam Ghitleman is getting a ton of love for his 16 saves, but Matt Lovejoy also played well in holding Terp star Grant Catalino to 1-9 shooting. Oddly enough, that doesn’t end the Terps’ regular season…they still have to field a team against Fairfield and Colgate before Selection Sunday on May 9.

The lady Terps were paced, as usual, by Caitlyn McFadden, who got three goals and two assists en route to her second consectutive ACC tourney MVP award. Maryland is now the top-ranked team in the land and barring a catastrophe will still be that way when the women’s tournament begins May 15. Huge congrats to both teams…this should be an interesting postseaon.

(Photo credit: Inside Lacrosse)

Did we call it, or did we call it? Only one goal off on the prediction…I’ll take my Pulitzer any time now. I was out of town and didn’t see the game, but it looks like another great chapter was written in the Terps-Blue Jays lacrosse rivalry on Saturday. And this year, for the first time in four freakin games, the Terps came out on top, staving off early scoring woes and a late Hopkins comeback to net a 10-9 victory in a physical grudge match.

Will Yeatman was able to play, and combined with fellow usual suspects Grant Catalino, Ryan Young, and Travis Reed for six goals and five assists in the effort. Hopkins attacker Steven Boyle and middies John Greely and Michael Kimmel scored all but two of the Hopkins goals. Blue Jays freshman goalie Pierce Bassett was apparently overmatched in there, as he gave up 10 goals to eight saves. This summary pointed to hustle stats as the key difference — 13 face off wins and 23 ground balls for the Terps, versus 9 and 21 in those categories for Hopkins.

Maryland maintains fourth place in this week’s poll, heading into this weekend’s ACC tournament. With ACC teams occupying four of the top five poll spots, it’ll be an interesting tournament for sure. Go Terps!

(Photo credit: UMTerps.com)

“…gave proooof through the niiiight, that our flaaag waaas stillll theerre…
OOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Yes! That was awlsome. Never gets old, buddee! I don’t even knoe the rest of the anthem, man. I’m just waitin, and I’m waitin, and then I goe “OH!” when it says “Oe say does the banner wave.” Awlsome, man.

I’m always excited this time of year. See, I’m a Murland guy. Balmercounny, born and raised. I got my undergrad degree down there in College Park near Warshington, then med school at Hopkins. That’s right, buddee. I’m a new-roe-surjen. That surprise you? Welcome to Balmer.

But since I went to boethe schools, I’m conflicted during lacrosse season, you knoe? That’s why I wear my Terps shurt and my Hopkins hat when I go to the Day of Rivals at Ravens Stadium! It’s like Christmas Day for Murlanders, except instead of Jesus Chroyst, we got the best rivalry in lacrosse. This is their hundred-and-sixth meeting.

Plus it’s a real good party! Everyone’s real friendly and normal, once you get past the accents. Here, meet my kids. This is Brian, and this is Ryan, and this is Bryan, and this is Brynn, and this is Cal, and this is Ryanne, and this is Caitlin, and this is little Cal-bryn. With a hyphen. Want a Natty Boe? Here you goe, buddee! After the game we’re gonna walk down to the wooder. Wanna goe? I love the harbor wooder this time of year. The sludge bubbles up and makes this irridescent crust on the surface. You gotta see it, man, it’s awlsome. Swear to God.

This year, Hopkins is a little down by its standards, ranked 16th in the poll, while Murland is up at number four. Then again, the Bloe Jays have a 67-37-1 all-time series advantage, and more importantly have won three straight and 12 of the last 15 against the Terps. Throe out the record books on this one, hun. Throw em ourt!

But wait, there’s more reason for optimism if you’re a Bloe Jay fan. Turps second-leading scorer Will Yeatman is a game-time decision with a broeken left thumb.

Hopkins plays a smart game (just like it’s students, heh!), and that better continue, cuz Murland is second in D-1 on “extra-man” opportunities. Why doen’t they just cawl it a power play? I doen’t knoe.  Murland is always great on offense, thoe. They’re scoring 11 goe-wulls a game this season, thanks in large part to Grant Catali-noe, who busted out of a mini-slump with three goe-wulls against Navy. And don’t forget about Ryan Young…eighth in the country in assists! GOE ROYAN!

Here’s the bottom line, thoe: Murland has an awlsome offense and a good defense. Hopkins is good at everything (ranked 22nd in scoring defense and 23rd in scoring offense, how’s that for balance!), but they’re not really awlsome at anything. And they got a lot of youngsters on the team, including Pierce Bassett as their goe-wull-ee. He’s been awlright, but he did give up eleven goe-wulls against North Curlina.

I think Young, Catali-noe, and the rest of the Terps are gonna take it to the youngsters, especially if Hopkins get sloppy. But Bloe Jays lacrosse, man, they always make it tough. This time, thoe, for the first time in a long time, it goes to the Terps!!

Prediction: Maryland 10, Hopkins 8

The real story here is that, despite today’s loss, Maryland has had a very strong start to their 2010 campaign.  The Terps started off the year with nail biting wins against #9 Duke and #13 Georgetown, and they also have a win against UMBC, a team that has been in and out of the Top 25.  They finish their regular season with games against Navy and #12 Johns Hopkins.

Maryland has shown a strong attack, and through six games the Terps had seven players averaging better than one goal per game.  Grant Catalino has picked up where he left of last year.  He leads the Terps with 29 PTS, including 14 GLS, on the year.  According to UMTerps, the junior now has 120 career points and is in a position to move into 25th on the all-time Maryland scoring list pretty soon.

This team has shown flashes of greatness all year.  The loss against UNC should not hurt them in the rankings too much.  Maryland should go into the ACC Tournament in April as one of the finals, and they will likely be a Top 10 team in the nation going into the NCAA’s.  A high seed in the national tournament should benefit Maryland greatly, as Byrd Stadium is said to give them a strong home field advantage against most clubs.

A picture from this year's Red-White lacrosse scrimmage at Byrd Stadium. Red won.

I’ve been sitting here scratching my head since May of last year.  I know, that’s a long time to scratch my head, and it’s really starting to burn.  After an up down season, the Terps ended up with more losses than any other year in the eighty-five year history of the program, but they also pulled a miraculous first round upset in the NCAA tournament of #7 Notre Dame before falling to Syracuse in the second round.  Like you, Maryland’s men’s 2009 lacrosse team left me baffled.  Baffeled!

In fact, the entire sport of lacrosse is baffling to me.  It looks kind of like hockey, if hockey was played on grass instead of ice, with baskets on broomsticks and a ball instead of hockey sticks and a puck, and if the scoring object, in this case a ball not a puck, was tossed around instead of sliding it to each other.  You can see the analogy.  I know that the object of the game is to get the ball into the opponent’s net.  You got to put the proverbial bisket in the proverbial basket.  Maybe that’s all you really need to know to blog a preview.  That and literacy.  To the facts.

• Fact: The Terps have two National Championships (1973 and 1975), but they haven’t been to the finals since 1998. 
• Fact: Maryland started the year #7 in the vaunted Lacrosse Magazine poll.  After Duke was upset by Notre Dame, the Terps leapfrogged to #6.  Fuck Duke.
• Fact: The season already started, and the Terps won their 17th straight home opener by defeating Bellarmine 12-7.  No, Bellarmine is not a club team from Ireland.  They’re a catholic school from Louisville, KY.  Yes, I had to look that up.  1-0 baby, woo hoo!  Next up crosstown rival Georgetown, and then Duke.  Fuck Duke.
• Fact: Of Maryland’s 16 “Top Players” (which is, apparently, how you look at it in lacrosse rather than just looking at the starters), only five are seniors.  The seniors are in key positions – attacker Will Yeatman brings balance to the offense, defender Bryn Holmes doubles as a master face-off taker, and Brian Phillips holds down the goal.  After losing 12 seniors from last year’s squad, by and large this team is young.  Then again, last year’s squad didn’t live up to expectations, so maybe it’s a wash.
• Fact: There are ten players on the field for each team in lacrosse: 3 defenders, 3 midfielders, 3 attackers, and a goalie.
• Fact: Junior Grant Catalino leads the offense in scoring, and he started the year with four assists and two goals against Bellarmine.  That’s like the lacrosse version of a double-double.
• Fact: The Terps played their home games at Ludwig Field last year during the Tyser Tower renovation but they return to Byrd Stadium in 2010, which should help bolster their homefield advantage.  According to head coach Dave Cottle, “It’s a big-time environment. If you look across the country, it’s one of the best, most impressive places to play lacrosse.”  Fear the Tower.
• Fact: Coach Cottle has 27 years of experience, and his overall record is 269-111, ranking fifth among active head coaches.  Like many of the other Maryland athletic programs, success on the Lacrosse team starts with solid coaching.
• Fact: This year’s men’s lacrosse team features a blog of its own, the MLax Blog, written by Patrick Fischer.  Yes, THAT Patrick Fischer, I know.  Where did you think I lifted that nugget about the home opening winning streak from?

Bold prediction: A young Terps squad shocks the nation and ends-up in the finals this year.  I’m really risking my reputation in the lacrosse world with that prediction, but I’m willing to put it on the line for what I truly believe in.  Go Terps!

Now, I may not know much about lacrosse, but I know how to read and write.  I hope you learned something about the 2010 Maryland men’s lacrosse team.  I’m still baffled.

We're going to end today's practice with twenty moose laps.

We interrupt the public flogging of Gary Williams for a brief announcement.

Maryland’s lacrosse season starts in 9hrs 38mins and 15sec.  I know this because I have kept a clock on my desk that is counting down to the second the lacrosse season starts.  I have had no assistance from outside sources.

The men’s lacrosse team is coming off a 10-6 season in 2008 that ended in a tight overtime loss against UVA in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.  The season was generally viewed as a success, with the Terps pulling-off upsets against highly ranked teams including Georgetown in the beginning of the year (#4 at the time) and a #1 ranked UVA team in the second regular season lacrosse game ever to be nationally televised.  After that game the Terps were ranked #3, hit a bit of a mid-season slide, but ended the year with a strong showing in the tournament.

The 2009 edition of the Terps men’s lacrosse team is big on offense and in the goal.  The Terps heisted 2007 All-American attacker Will Yeatman from Notre Dame.  Will looks like a prep school kid that should be on Notre Dame’s recruiting poster, so I don’t know what we did to woo this guy to Maryland, but he’s 6′6″ 220lbs so we’ll take him.  Adding him to last year’s leading scorer Grant Catalino will boost the attack and make Maryland one of the most dangerous scoring teams in the country.  Grant’s older brother plays for the Duke lacrosse team.  I’m just throwing that fact out there for comment.

Maryland has two All-Americans, Dan Groot and Jeff Reynolds, at midfield.  Goalie Jason Carter is Team Captain, and he shares time with 2009 Pre-season All-American Brian Phipps.  The Terps also have talent in close defense, although they do have to replace three starters from last season so that could be a weak spot for the team.  Coach Dave Cottle led the Terps to six straight tournament appearances including three Final Fours, and has the most ironic last name in lacrosse to boot.    Needless to say, this team is very talented.

The team travels down to Jacksonville, FL to pummel the boys from Presbyterian at Ponte Vedra High School.  I guess the high school is D-I?  That confuses me.  But lacrosse confuses me, so nothing new there.  Maryland enters the season ranked #3 by the Inside Lacrosse Magazine poll.  Inside Lacrosse Magazine is much more powerful than I would have ever imagined.  After a couple tune-up games, Maryland gets #8 Georgetown on 2/21 and #7 Duke on 2/28.  Something tells me Coach Cottle will have the team ready for those matches.

Expectations are high for this team.  Will they be able to finally break through and get their first National Championship since 1975?  From what I can tell all the pieces are there.  Maryland sports are experiencing a banner year with championships in Field Hockey and Soccer, and the stars seem to be aligned for this team.  I’m going to make a bold prediction and say that Maryland is going to win the National Championship in lacrosse this year.  I will stake my credibility in the world of lacrosse punditry on that statement, and I dare anyone to refute it.  Go Terps!