Maryland Lacrosse Roundup

It is officially lacrosse season and the state of Maryland is ready to rock with lacrosse fever. This is one of the few states that has a good mix of teams, from the national contenders in Johns Hopkins and Maryland, and the tournament contenders in UMBC, Towson, Loyola, and Navy. Every year, the NCAA Tournament has at least three teams from Maryland plus they place one of the quarterfinal sites here.

It is really the one state where lacrosse rules; every other state has a more popular sport, but not the Old Line State. So without further ado, how did the teams Around the Harbor do over the weekend?

(Note: All ranking courtesy of Inside Lacrosse)

--Maryland Wins Two in the Sunshine State
Playing for "Face-Off For A Cause," #3 Maryland took down Presbyterian 18-3 then Air Force 15-4 the next day. Maryland now sits at 2-0 to start the season.

The Terps welcomed in attack Will Yeatman, transfer from Notre Dame, who scored 10 points over the weekend to combine with Grant Catalino's eight. Maryland's starting attack core still is not clear, as Ryan Young and Travis Reed, both starters last year, started one of the games, but did not play the other. Joe Cummings is also seeing time, getting a goal in each contest.

Maryland is continuing the two-goalie system of senior Jason Carter and Brian Phipps, and it worked very well this weekend. Both had a win; Phipps allowed three goals with ten saves in 60 minutes, Carter allowed four goals with nine saves in 60 minutes. This system did well last season, and it seems as if it will continue into this year.

Maryland will take on their cross-town rival Georgetown on Saturday in College Park.

Navy Defeats the Buckeyes
The #9 Midshipmen defeated #19 Ohio State in the fashion Navy's likes it, a drawn-out defensive battle 8-6. With this win Navy improves to 2-0 on the season.

The Buckeyes scored twice in the final two minutes of the third quarter to pull within one 7-6, but the Navy defense held their opponents to no goals in the final 15 minutes. Matt Coughlin stood strong in goals saving six shots and longpole Andy Tormey caused four turnovers in the victory. The first quarter was also a shutout 15 minutes for Navy.

Though Ohio State shot more, 33-26, Navy's shots were more accurate, 20 shots on goals to Ohio State's 12. Brendan Connors and Bruce Nechanicky scored twice each and Andy Warner notched three assists.

Navy will have their toughest matchup of the season thus far when they take on North Carolina on Friday night.

UMBC Roasts the Blue Hens
Thanks to powerful midfield play and a destructive 6-0 first quarter, #T-10 UMBC defeated Delaware 14-9 on the road, winning their first game of the season.

Kyle Wimer led the way with five goals as the first midfield of Wimer, Alex Hopmann, and Ohio State transfer Peet Poillon combined for nine goals. Attack Matt Latham also added three goals in an overall strong offensive performance.

Jeremy Blevins once again stood strong for the Retrievers. He had 14 saves in the contest and did enough to hold off any chance of Delaware coming back in this game. Only one Delaware player got multiple goals, that being Curtis Dickson with five.

UMBC will host Rutgers on Saturday in Baltimore.

Loyola Falls to Notre Dame in Georgia
The #17 Greyhounds fought hard, but in the end fell to the #T-10 Fighting Irish 10-9 in Atlanta. The Greyhounds fall to 0-1 to start the season.

At one point, Loyola was up 5-3 after a four-goal run and had the game tied at nine, but Dulaney High School grad Ryan Hoff scored the game winner in the middle of the fourth quarter to win it. Jake Hagelin had defended well between the pipes all game with 15 saves, but it was too much in the end.

Collin Finnerty ended with four goals, his highest ever in a college game, while also adding an assist. Jimmy Daly added a pair of scores.

The Greyhounds will return to Baltimore and play Towson next week.

The Around the Harbor lacrosse standings:
--Maryland (2-0), ranked #3
--Navy (2-0), ranked #9
--UMBC (1-0), ranked #11
--Johns Hopkins (0-0), ranked #4
--Towson (0-0)
--Mt. St. Mary's (0-0)
--Loyola (0-1), ranked #16