The USILA just realeased its 2010 Division 1 All-American teams. No player from the University of Maryland made the first team, although there were 5 players from the same conference made the cut. One odd sight is that Max Quinzanni, the favorite to win the Tewaaraton Award for Player of the Year, was left off the 1st team.
John Galloway, the keeper from Syracuse, who put up some staggering numbers, was the top goalie this year. Brian Farrell and Joel White, the top two long pole hybrid defenders-middies, had to be split up. Farrell was the only Terp to make the 2nd team, also a significant honor. Maryland will be happy to see their junior captain return for his senior season, after missing all of 2009 with a lung injury. His return to health was a key part of the Terrapin's success this year.
Grant Catalino, who led the Terps in scoring, earned 3rd team honors as part of the Attack unit. Defender Brett Schmidt joins Catalino as the only other Terps to make an All-American team.
The Honorable Mention list was quite lengthy but there are a few notable players from College Park. Ryan Young was part of the Attack group. Maxwell Schmidt was the defender from Maryland's backline. Brian Phipps, the anchor for Cottle's defense was one of 6 goalies to garner Honorable Mention honors.
Congratulations to all the players, especially the Terps, who made the All-American list. Go Terps!
The Final Four should be a great weekend. If you are in the area, make sure you catch the games on Saturday and Monday at M&T Bank Stadium. Cornell vs. Notre Dame at 4pm Saturday and Duke vs. Virginia at 6:30pm. The ACC will have a shot at another national championship.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Phipps Stars in Classroom
Congratulations to Senior Goalie, Brian Phipps. The USILA just released its 2010 Scholar All-American list which consists of 70 players from all 3 levels of NCAA competition.
40 D-1 athletes were on the list, as well as 2 from D-2 and 23 from D3. Phipps is the only representative from the University of Maryland on the list. Just another reason why it will be very difficult to replace such a complete player and person in the net next year. Go Terps!
40 D-1 athletes were on the list, as well as 2 from D-2 and 23 from D3. Phipps is the only representative from the University of Maryland on the list. Just another reason why it will be very difficult to replace such a complete player and person in the net next year. Go Terps!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
End of an Era
Dave Cottle will no longer be the head coach at the University of Maryland. The Men's Lacrosse program will have to find a new coach for the 2011 season.
After 9 seasons and a 99-45 (.688) record, Cottle will not resume his coaching duties, after his contract ended this year...in disappointing fashion, losing in the NCAA Quarterfinals to Notre Dame, 7-5 as the #3 seed. He led the Terrapins to a 12-4 record this year, including an 1-2 mark in ACC play with an appearance in the conference championship game (where they lost to UVA for the 2nd time this year).
Taken from umterps.com:
"I have decided to step down as head coach at the University of Maryland," said Cottle. "I would like to thank Dr. Mote and Dr. Yow for the opportunity to coach at Maryland and in the Atlantic Coast Conference. I have enjoyed my nine years at Maryland. This season, I enjoyed coaching this team as much as any team I have ever been around. I have developed tremendous relationships with many Terp alumni, former coaches and have had some of the finest parents any lacrosse program has had."
Coming into the season, there was a ton of pressure on Cottle. It was widely assumed that if he didn't make it back to the Final Four, he would not have his contract renewed. The road to Baltimore looked really good after an 11-8 win over Hofstra in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but Maryland couldn't find the offense to get past the Fighting Irish. Just another example for the critics of how Cottle couldn't win the big one.
Ironically, Notre Dame's head coach, Kevin Corrigan, is on the long list of potential replacements. The other top candidates according to reporting done by the Washington Post include:
Mike Pressler - U.S. national team head coach; coached at Duke as well, but was forced to resign after the 2006 rape allegations of 3 players...which was proven false.
Gary Gait - finalist for the job after Dick Edell left (when Cottel was hired in 2001); primarily coached women's lacrosse including a stint with the Maryland's Women Program in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I think Cottle has done a great job during the 2 years that I have covered the Men's Lacroose team. He really cares about his players and I think they care about him as well. It was definitely a positive relationship and his team always played with the most heart. Effort as never an issue.
However, with the kind of talent that Maryland gets through recruiting in the middle of the hotbed for lacrosse, it is quite shocking that the 2010 seniors are just the 2nd class in Maryland history to not make at least 1 Final Four in their time in College Park.
I wish him the best of luck in the future. I hope the new coach is ready for the kind of pressure that will be over his head constantly at UMD. And if all the pieces fall into place, the new coach will be able to take a talented group, and lead them back to the promised land. Go Terps!
After 9 seasons and a 99-45 (.688) record, Cottle will not resume his coaching duties, after his contract ended this year...in disappointing fashion, losing in the NCAA Quarterfinals to Notre Dame, 7-5 as the #3 seed. He led the Terrapins to a 12-4 record this year, including an 1-2 mark in ACC play with an appearance in the conference championship game (where they lost to UVA for the 2nd time this year).
Taken from umterps.com:
"I have decided to step down as head coach at the University of Maryland," said Cottle. "I would like to thank Dr. Mote and Dr. Yow for the opportunity to coach at Maryland and in the Atlantic Coast Conference. I have enjoyed my nine years at Maryland. This season, I enjoyed coaching this team as much as any team I have ever been around. I have developed tremendous relationships with many Terp alumni, former coaches and have had some of the finest parents any lacrosse program has had."
Coming into the season, there was a ton of pressure on Cottle. It was widely assumed that if he didn't make it back to the Final Four, he would not have his contract renewed. The road to Baltimore looked really good after an 11-8 win over Hofstra in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, but Maryland couldn't find the offense to get past the Fighting Irish. Just another example for the critics of how Cottle couldn't win the big one.
Ironically, Notre Dame's head coach, Kevin Corrigan, is on the long list of potential replacements. The other top candidates according to reporting done by the Washington Post include:
Mike Pressler - U.S. national team head coach; coached at Duke as well, but was forced to resign after the 2006 rape allegations of 3 players...which was proven false.
Gary Gait - finalist for the job after Dick Edell left (when Cottel was hired in 2001); primarily coached women's lacrosse including a stint with the Maryland's Women Program in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
I think Cottle has done a great job during the 2 years that I have covered the Men's Lacroose team. He really cares about his players and I think they care about him as well. It was definitely a positive relationship and his team always played with the most heart. Effort as never an issue.
However, with the kind of talent that Maryland gets through recruiting in the middle of the hotbed for lacrosse, it is quite shocking that the 2010 seniors are just the 2nd class in Maryland history to not make at least 1 Final Four in their time in College Park.
I wish him the best of luck in the future. I hope the new coach is ready for the kind of pressure that will be over his head constantly at UMD. And if all the pieces fall into place, the new coach will be able to take a talented group, and lead them back to the promised land. Go Terps!
Monday, May 24, 2010
No Luck As Maryland Falls to Fighting Irish in Quarterfinals
The Maryland Terrapins will not play at M&T Bank Stadium for the 3rd time in 2010. They will not play in the Final Four in 2010. The #3 Terps (12-4) lost to Notre Dame (9-6) 7-5 in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Princeton, New Jersey on Saturday.
For just the 2nd time since the NCAA Tournament began in 1971, a group of Maryland seniors will not have the chance to play in the final weekend for just the second time. Brian Phipps made 13 saves for the Terps as they held the Irish to just 7 goals in a rematch of last year's first round game, but it was not enough to overcome a terrible day offensively against a team that barely made it in to the tournament.
Travis Reed scored 1 goal on the day...the only goal that came from a member of the Terrapin's vaunted attack unit. No goals from Grant Catalino who put up 34 goals prior to this game. No goals from Will Yeatman who was playing against his alma matter. No goals for Ryan Young, who led the offense the entire season from behind the net with much bravado.
Notre Dame's stifling defense never allowed Maryland to get into a rhythm on offense and goalie Scott Rodgers made some sensational saves from point blank range to take down another seeded opponent. The Irish came off an 8-5 win over #6 Princeton in the first round and were the unanimous underdog coming into this game as well.
The defense sagged in and forced the Terps to shoot from the outside for the most part. However, even when Maryland was able to find gaps, they could not connect on passes or simply dropped balls right in front of the crease. Coach Dave Cottle said that his team needed to get to 10 goals to beat Notre Dame, and they only managed to score half that total, well below their season average of 11.7.
The difference maker in the game for Notre Dame was Trever Sipperly who dominated the faceoff battle, winning 10 of the 15 50/50 balls in the middle of the field. Andrew Irving, a long stick middie for Notre Dame was exceptional and coach Kevin Corrigan praised his unhearalded midfielder for his effort as he won 7 ground balls.
The Terps needed to come out strong against a team that relies on defense...at the very least, they could not fall behind early. But Sean Rogers (3G) scored the first goal of the game. Scott LaRue answered for Maryland to tie the game at 1-1, but Notre Dame scored the next 3 goals to take a commanding lead after the 1st quarter.
Sophomore Jake Bernhardt seemed to ignite the Terps with an athletic play in the 2nd, after the Terps fell behind 5-1. Running to his left, after dodging an opponent, he ripped a shot into the low right corner. He showed the sense of urgency that the rest of the team appeared to lack. That snapped a scoreless stretch of 16:24, by far one of the longest droughts the Terrapins underwent all year long. Freshman John Haus scored a few minutes later on a beautiful 1v1 move, getting his shot past the shoulder of the 2010 All-Big East 2nd Team keeper.
However, Notre Dame would extend its lead to 7-3 after halftime and Maryland could not muster enough offense towards the end of the game. As the clock continued to dwindle, the pressure began to mount and UMD just couldn't find a way to score.
It was their first loss to Notre Dame ever and overall, the team falls to 19-11 in quarterfinal games with a 13-7 record as the #3 seed.
Maryland was outhustled on the day. They lost the ground ball battle 31-24 and couldn't even convert on the one man-up opportunity they got. The teams strength all year long had been their EMO unit, #2 in the nation, and their gritty play. But at the end of the day, they didn't find the right combination of players to score enough and you can't win an NCAA Quarterfinal game scoring 5 goals.
Notre Dame will advance to the Final Four where it will play Cornell, who thrashed Army 14-5, after Army upset #2 Syracuse in the first round. #5 Duke rolled past #4 UNC 17-9 and #1 Virginia scraped out a win over #8 Stony Brook, 10-9 to advance to the Final Four on the other side of the bracket. Coach Corrigan said his team was pulling for Duke...it was in the first game of the season for Notre Dame against then #2 Duke, an 11-7 win, that got them into the tournament in the first place.
Unfortunately for the Terps, their season comes to an end much earlier than anticipated. As sad as the team is to not make it the final weekend, they had a tremendous season. For the first time since 2001, 3 players (Catalino, Young, and Reed) scored at least 37 points and ALL of them return next season.
The key losses as the team looks to 2011 will be:
#17 Bryn Holmes, who is the toughest player that Coach Cottle has ever coached in his career. You will not find a player who puts his body on the line more often than Holmes did for UMD, winning 61 ground balls, causing 18 turnovers. But he is most known for taking faceoffs. He won 145 faceoffs on the year for a .553%.
#23 Will Yeatman, who battled injuries all year long but still managed to 22 points (15G, 7A) as he switched from attack to midfield.
#30 Brian Phipps was the anchor for this defense and played incredible lacrosse down the stretch. He made 158 saves in 2010 and had a 7.75 goals against average.
Adam Sear, who was the star of Maryland's #2 EMO attack group. He scored 8 goals after Maryland drew a penalty with his 100+ mph shot. You will not find a goalie who wanted to see #12 rip a shot.
#7 Dan Halayko, who played in all 16 games this year as the 4th long pole on defense. He played admirably with the Terps man-down unit and picked up 20 ground balls.
#16 Dean Hart played with more heart than anyone. He scored just 3 goals and added 2 assists as a defensive minded middie who did all the little things for the team.
#35 Fran Gormley came back after two years away from the team, walking on in 2010. He earned all the playing time he got and scored 2 goals and had an assist as well.
If you were keeping track, every senior of the 2010 class will be missed next year. Thanks for a great season. I had a blast covering the team and they have a bright future. Can't say the same for Cottle as he might have stood on the Maryland sideline for the last time.
For the rest of the 2010 Men's Lacrosse crew please keep supporting us at wmucsports.com. We look forward to next season and I will keep posting big news about the team throughout the off-season. Congratulations to the team once again for a great season. Go Terps!
For just the 2nd time since the NCAA Tournament began in 1971, a group of Maryland seniors will not have the chance to play in the final weekend for just the second time. Brian Phipps made 13 saves for the Terps as they held the Irish to just 7 goals in a rematch of last year's first round game, but it was not enough to overcome a terrible day offensively against a team that barely made it in to the tournament.
Travis Reed scored 1 goal on the day...the only goal that came from a member of the Terrapin's vaunted attack unit. No goals from Grant Catalino who put up 34 goals prior to this game. No goals from Will Yeatman who was playing against his alma matter. No goals for Ryan Young, who led the offense the entire season from behind the net with much bravado.
Notre Dame's stifling defense never allowed Maryland to get into a rhythm on offense and goalie Scott Rodgers made some sensational saves from point blank range to take down another seeded opponent. The Irish came off an 8-5 win over #6 Princeton in the first round and were the unanimous underdog coming into this game as well.
The defense sagged in and forced the Terps to shoot from the outside for the most part. However, even when Maryland was able to find gaps, they could not connect on passes or simply dropped balls right in front of the crease. Coach Dave Cottle said that his team needed to get to 10 goals to beat Notre Dame, and they only managed to score half that total, well below their season average of 11.7.
The difference maker in the game for Notre Dame was Trever Sipperly who dominated the faceoff battle, winning 10 of the 15 50/50 balls in the middle of the field. Andrew Irving, a long stick middie for Notre Dame was exceptional and coach Kevin Corrigan praised his unhearalded midfielder for his effort as he won 7 ground balls.
The Terps needed to come out strong against a team that relies on defense...at the very least, they could not fall behind early. But Sean Rogers (3G) scored the first goal of the game. Scott LaRue answered for Maryland to tie the game at 1-1, but Notre Dame scored the next 3 goals to take a commanding lead after the 1st quarter.
Sophomore Jake Bernhardt seemed to ignite the Terps with an athletic play in the 2nd, after the Terps fell behind 5-1. Running to his left, after dodging an opponent, he ripped a shot into the low right corner. He showed the sense of urgency that the rest of the team appeared to lack. That snapped a scoreless stretch of 16:24, by far one of the longest droughts the Terrapins underwent all year long. Freshman John Haus scored a few minutes later on a beautiful 1v1 move, getting his shot past the shoulder of the 2010 All-Big East 2nd Team keeper.
However, Notre Dame would extend its lead to 7-3 after halftime and Maryland could not muster enough offense towards the end of the game. As the clock continued to dwindle, the pressure began to mount and UMD just couldn't find a way to score.
It was their first loss to Notre Dame ever and overall, the team falls to 19-11 in quarterfinal games with a 13-7 record as the #3 seed.
Maryland was outhustled on the day. They lost the ground ball battle 31-24 and couldn't even convert on the one man-up opportunity they got. The teams strength all year long had been their EMO unit, #2 in the nation, and their gritty play. But at the end of the day, they didn't find the right combination of players to score enough and you can't win an NCAA Quarterfinal game scoring 5 goals.
Notre Dame will advance to the Final Four where it will play Cornell, who thrashed Army 14-5, after Army upset #2 Syracuse in the first round. #5 Duke rolled past #4 UNC 17-9 and #1 Virginia scraped out a win over #8 Stony Brook, 10-9 to advance to the Final Four on the other side of the bracket. Coach Corrigan said his team was pulling for Duke...it was in the first game of the season for Notre Dame against then #2 Duke, an 11-7 win, that got them into the tournament in the first place.
Unfortunately for the Terps, their season comes to an end much earlier than anticipated. As sad as the team is to not make it the final weekend, they had a tremendous season. For the first time since 2001, 3 players (Catalino, Young, and Reed) scored at least 37 points and ALL of them return next season.
The key losses as the team looks to 2011 will be:
#17 Bryn Holmes, who is the toughest player that Coach Cottle has ever coached in his career. You will not find a player who puts his body on the line more often than Holmes did for UMD, winning 61 ground balls, causing 18 turnovers. But he is most known for taking faceoffs. He won 145 faceoffs on the year for a .553%.
#23 Will Yeatman, who battled injuries all year long but still managed to 22 points (15G, 7A) as he switched from attack to midfield.
#30 Brian Phipps was the anchor for this defense and played incredible lacrosse down the stretch. He made 158 saves in 2010 and had a 7.75 goals against average.
Adam Sear, who was the star of Maryland's #2 EMO attack group. He scored 8 goals after Maryland drew a penalty with his 100+ mph shot. You will not find a goalie who wanted to see #12 rip a shot.
#7 Dan Halayko, who played in all 16 games this year as the 4th long pole on defense. He played admirably with the Terps man-down unit and picked up 20 ground balls.
#16 Dean Hart played with more heart than anyone. He scored just 3 goals and added 2 assists as a defensive minded middie who did all the little things for the team.
#35 Fran Gormley came back after two years away from the team, walking on in 2010. He earned all the playing time he got and scored 2 goals and had an assist as well.
If you were keeping track, every senior of the 2010 class will be missed next year. Thanks for a great season. I had a blast covering the team and they have a bright future. Can't say the same for Cottle as he might have stood on the Maryland sideline for the last time.
For the rest of the 2010 Men's Lacrosse crew please keep supporting us at wmucsports.com. We look forward to next season and I will keep posting big news about the team throughout the off-season. Congratulations to the team once again for a great season. Go Terps!
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
NCAA Quarterfinals - Notre Dame Preview
The Maryland Terrapins (12-3) will wrap up their scholastic year on Wednesday and head up to Princeton, New Jersey on Thursday after practice according to Patrick Fischer's blog. They will play Notre Dame (8-6) in the NCAA Quarterfinals in a rematch of last year's only first round upset. The Terps won 7-3 over the Irish who were undefeated coming into the game and earned the #7 seed in the 16-team field in 2009.
The strength of this year's Notre Dame team is in the cage. Senior goal Keeper, Scott Rodgers (a pre-season All-American pick), has a 7.99GAA on the year and was HUGE in their victory over #6 Princeton. His 58.4 save percentage will make it very difficult for the Terps to put points on the board...but they have faced top goalies all year. In fact, they get to play Brian Phipps in practice everyday. Phipps has an 8.27GAA and a 54.9 save percentage. Over the last seven games, Phipps has stepped up his game even more with a 7.45GAA.
Scoring wise, Notre Dame gets most of their production in the midfield. #33 David Early scored 5 goals against the Tigers, as many goals as Princeton had as a team. #12 Grant Krebs (22G, 4 A) also has more than 20 goals this year, and their points leader is #28 Zach Brenneman, who has scored 35 points this year (23G, 12 A). Their fourth best scorer is #11 Neal Hicks (19G, 13A), second on the team in points.
#7 Trever Sipperly is a true FOGO. He has won 153 of his 274 face-offs (and only missed out on 14 total face-offs). His win percentage is 55.8 while Bryn Holmes is on a tear, winning 64.1% of his face-offs in the last 7 games.
The Irish have actually been out-ground-balled on the year, 397-379. Maryland dominated Hofstra in that category, 41-21, in the first round.
The other thing that is always a factor are the penalties. Maryland sports the 2nd best EMO unit in the country while Notre Dame is phenomenal on defense when playing with a man-down. Because they only commit 2.2 penalties per game, they give up goals 25.8% of the time in those situations.
Marlyand's well-balanced attack is a strength in this game. 40% of the Terps that played against the Pride scored (10 out of 25). This way, the defense can't focus on just Grant Catalino who leads the team in goals, or Travis Reed, or even Ryan Young. One last note for the game, this should be an emotional one for Will Yeatman who transferred from Notre Dame last year.
Listen to wmucsports.com for all the action! Go Terps!
The strength of this year's Notre Dame team is in the cage. Senior goal Keeper, Scott Rodgers (a pre-season All-American pick), has a 7.99GAA on the year and was HUGE in their victory over #6 Princeton. His 58.4 save percentage will make it very difficult for the Terps to put points on the board...but they have faced top goalies all year. In fact, they get to play Brian Phipps in practice everyday. Phipps has an 8.27GAA and a 54.9 save percentage. Over the last seven games, Phipps has stepped up his game even more with a 7.45GAA.
Scoring wise, Notre Dame gets most of their production in the midfield. #33 David Early scored 5 goals against the Tigers, as many goals as Princeton had as a team. #12 Grant Krebs (22G, 4 A) also has more than 20 goals this year, and their points leader is #28 Zach Brenneman, who has scored 35 points this year (23G, 12 A). Their fourth best scorer is #11 Neal Hicks (19G, 13A), second on the team in points.
#7 Trever Sipperly is a true FOGO. He has won 153 of his 274 face-offs (and only missed out on 14 total face-offs). His win percentage is 55.8 while Bryn Holmes is on a tear, winning 64.1% of his face-offs in the last 7 games.
The Irish have actually been out-ground-balled on the year, 397-379. Maryland dominated Hofstra in that category, 41-21, in the first round.
The other thing that is always a factor are the penalties. Maryland sports the 2nd best EMO unit in the country while Notre Dame is phenomenal on defense when playing with a man-down. Because they only commit 2.2 penalties per game, they give up goals 25.8% of the time in those situations.
Marlyand's well-balanced attack is a strength in this game. 40% of the Terps that played against the Pride scored (10 out of 25). This way, the defense can't focus on just Grant Catalino who leads the team in goals, or Travis Reed, or even Ryan Young. One last note for the game, this should be an emotional one for Will Yeatman who transferred from Notre Dame last year.
Listen to wmucsports.com for all the action! Go Terps!
Sunday, May 16, 2010
1st Weekend Wrap-Up
So after the first weekend in the 2010 NCAA Tournament, the University of Maryland's road to the Final Four in Baltimore just got a bit easier....on paper. Notre Dame traveled to Princeton, New Jersey and beat the Ivy League Champs 8-5 in a defensive battle.
Senior goalie Scott Rodgers made 14 saves for the Irish, Will Yeatman's former school, while the long poles in front of him held the #6 Tigers to just 1 second-half goal. They earned their 6th win in the NCAA Tournament and will now face your Maryland Terrapins on Saturday @ 12PM in Princeton.
In the bottom portion of the Terp's bracket, Army pulled off a monumental upset over 2-time defending champ, Syracuse. The Black Nights won in double overtime by a final score of 9-8 as the final seconds of the 2nd OT ticked away.
They will play Cornell who held off Loyola after blowing a 8-2 lead. The Big Red avoided another heartbreaking overtime loss...lasting 3OTs in their first post season game since losing to the Orange in last year's title game. The winner of that game will play the winner of UMD-ND in the national semi-final.
UNC took down the University of Delaware 14-13 after a rain/lightning delay. Billy Bitter (2010 ACC Player of the Year) and Curtis Dickson (2010 Tewaaraton Finalist) were shut down in the contest; the focal points of the opposition for sure. They will play fellow ACC power house Duke who put up 18 goals in a dominating 1st round win. That game should take a bit out of both schools before the winner of that quarterfinal will play the survivor of UVA-Stony Brook.
With Army taking down Syracuse and Notre Dame pulling the other 1st round upset, Maryland's road appears easier. With their upcoming potential games, they could be the favorite to make it out of their bracket and get to the Championship game.
Later in the week, I will take a look at Notre Dame's season. From their game today, I saw a suffocating defense and a big, physical team; one that won't back down to Maryland's imposing size on both sides of the ball.
Senior goalie Scott Rodgers made 14 saves for the Irish, Will Yeatman's former school, while the long poles in front of him held the #6 Tigers to just 1 second-half goal. They earned their 6th win in the NCAA Tournament and will now face your Maryland Terrapins on Saturday @ 12PM in Princeton.
In the bottom portion of the Terp's bracket, Army pulled off a monumental upset over 2-time defending champ, Syracuse. The Black Nights won in double overtime by a final score of 9-8 as the final seconds of the 2nd OT ticked away.
They will play Cornell who held off Loyola after blowing a 8-2 lead. The Big Red avoided another heartbreaking overtime loss...lasting 3OTs in their first post season game since losing to the Orange in last year's title game. The winner of that game will play the winner of UMD-ND in the national semi-final.
UNC took down the University of Delaware 14-13 after a rain/lightning delay. Billy Bitter (2010 ACC Player of the Year) and Curtis Dickson (2010 Tewaaraton Finalist) were shut down in the contest; the focal points of the opposition for sure. They will play fellow ACC power house Duke who put up 18 goals in a dominating 1st round win. That game should take a bit out of both schools before the winner of that quarterfinal will play the survivor of UVA-Stony Brook.
With Army taking down Syracuse and Notre Dame pulling the other 1st round upset, Maryland's road appears easier. With their upcoming potential games, they could be the favorite to make it out of their bracket and get to the Championship game.
Later in the week, I will take a look at Notre Dame's season. From their game today, I saw a suffocating defense and a big, physical team; one that won't back down to Maryland's imposing size on both sides of the ball.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
1st Round NCAA Tournament
It was an upset-special on paper. Hofstra came into the game scoring more than 13 goals per game, with an offense that was held to single digit goals just once this season (they scored 9 in that contest). Maryland has been ridiculed for not performing to its ability in the NCAA Tournament. In the second half, Hofstra scored the first two goals to take a 5-4 advantage. Then the Terps woke up.
All season long the motto has been to finish strong. Coach Dave Cottle was proud of the way his team fought back in the game, "We fight for sixty minutes, and we know that there are going to be peaks and valleys. We're in the process of climbing a mountain."
The other thing that epitomizes the team is that they don't rely on any one player for offense. Although Grant Catalino came into the game with 33 goals, definitely the team leader in that category, 10 Terrapins scored in the 11-8 victory over Hofstra.
The game started off pretty slow on the scoreboard, although both teams sport high-octane offenses. Each goalie made 3 saves in the opening minutes to help stifle both attack units. Brian Farrell got the scoring going as he scored his 6th goal of the season. All year long teams try to game-plan for the long pole as if he was on the midfield or attack. Jay Card responded next with the first of his 4 goals on the day. He along with fellow Canadian, Jamie Lincoln (53 points before the game), were the focal point of Maryland's defensive plan. Lincoln didn't record a point thanks to #34 Ryder Bohlander. Bohlander gets overshadowed by 2009 All-American Max Schmidt and Brett Schmidt who made Laxpower.com's first team All-American list this year, but because of his stellar play, there is truly no weakness in front of Brian Phipps.
Freshman John Haus scored his first post-season goal to give the Terps a 3-1 lead with a beautiful low-high shot. It seemed like the Terps finally figured out Andrew Gvozden, brother of Hopkin's keeper, the 2009 All-CAA Freshman goalie.
But both goalies played exceptionally in the first half, stone-walling both teams. Phipps had 7 saves by halftime and Gvozden already made 10 saves as Maryland went into halftime with a 4-3 lead. Ground balls were key for Cottle's team as they had a 19-8 advantage in the first half and 41-21 difference by the end of the contest.
After Tim Holman scored his first goal of the year for the Pride, Maryland was in a familiar position...trailing. Coming back from a 4-1 deficit to Johns Hopkins, and a 6-0 hole to UVA earlier this year, Maryland kept playing well and never got discouraged. Joe Cummings, who started in place of Will Yeatman, scored with 7:36 left in the 3rd to tie things up on a fancy switch.
Jesse Bernhardt ignited the transition game yet again and found his brother, sophomore Jake Bernhardt who raced past midfield, lost the ball, but Dan Burns was there to pick it up, flip it back to Jake who almost lost his jersey on the follow through of his low line drive. Senior Dean Hart's curled around the back of the goal to give Maryland a 7-5 lead. All the momentum was in Maryland's favor and it stemmed from Bryn Holmes solid play. He dominated the face-off battle and he laid out one of the Hofstra players in front of the Maryland crowd. He proceeded to stand over the fallen player intimidatingly...kind of like Pippen's look after he dunked on Patrick Ewing in the playoffs almost 20 years back.
Later Hofstra stopped the momentum with a big defensive play, not allowing the Terps to score on their first man-up opportunity of the game. Hofstra face-off man John Antoniades got into a scuffle with Ryan Young. Antoniades hit Young up-front, jarring Young's stick loose. Young didn't back down, had a few choice words for his nemesis. A very aggressive team, Maryland did not let their emotions get the better of them after Antoniades got two-minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct. Young received 1-minute in the penalty zone for the altercation which seemed to energize the Terps.
Maryland then went on a 4-0 run. Adam Sear connected on his 8th EMG of the year, which leads the team. Ryan Young scored 2 relatively easy bounce shots as quick ball-movement by the Terps got Hofstra out of position. Yeatman's empty-netter with about 3 minutes left iced the game and made the score 11-6. Hofstra scored two late goals, but the result was not in doubt at that point.
Owen Blye, also scored in the game for the Terps. Tim Holman scored 2 goals and had 2 assists to tie Jay Card for the points lead for Hofstra in this 1st round game.
Player of the game has to be Bryn Holmes. He won a majority of the 23 face-offs, 15 of them for Maryland. The defense also needs to get a ton of credit. They basically held one of the best offenses in the nation to 6 goals during the competitive portion of the game. Phipps made one HUGE mistake, Cottle called it an assist in the postgame press conference, as his errant pass led to a goal for Hofstra, but for the most part, his 14 saves were spectacular. Maryland's defense played at a championship level and if Catalino or another player can get hot offensively, watch out. Travis Reed didn't even score a goal. Will Yeatman picked up 2 assists in the game.
Maryland will play the winner of the Notre Dame/Princeton game which will be played tomorrow. The Quarterfinal game is in Princeton on Saturday the 22nd. Wmucsports will be there for the call. It should be a great game as Maryland tries to get to their 4th Final Four under Dave Cottle, and first since 2006. Go Terps!
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