Johns Hopkins is sitting out this month's NCAA lacrosse tournament for the first time since 1971, its 9-5 record not enough to snag it a postseason berth. The Blue Jays are also planning to seek a conference affiliation after a storied 130-year run as an independent in one of their two Division I sports (women's lacrosse is the other). The first event didn't cause the second. Not in the slightest But there's a definite degree of correlation as Hopkins-to-whoever appears to be the latest bit of realignment intrigue in a wild three and a half years both in lacrosse and... Continue reading

Maryland's Big Ten football home opener in 2014 will be against Ohio State. The conference made the announcement Thursday, releasing its full 2014 league schedule. The Terrapins will also face Iowa, Michigan State and Rutgers at home in 2014. Its road schedule includes Indiana, Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan. Maryland's tentative 2014 schedule: Sept. 6: at South Florida Sept. 27: at Indiana Oct. 4: Ohio State Oct. 18: Iowa Oct. 25: at Wisconsin Nov. 1: at Penn State Nov. 15: Michigan State Nov. 22: at Michigan Nov. 29: Rutgers TBA: James Madison TBA: West Virginia TBA: One more nonconference game... Continue reading

With no teams left in Division I men's lacrosse with a home game remaining (Maryland would have played its quarterfinal in Byrd Stadium had it advanced Sunday), it's possible to break down the national average attendance leaders. The Terrapins ranked third nationally, one of four schools to average more than 3,000 fans. Syracuse, unsurprisingly, was near or at the top of the list. And the national leader? None other than 3-10 Navy, which edged Syracuse by an average of one fan a game. It should be noted the Orange entered the postseason in the lead, but dipped after drawing a... Continue reading

Sure, there is no mid-Atlantic presence left in the NCAA lacrosse tournament. It doesn't mean there aren't some interesting games set for next weekend. Perhaps most fascinating is that with the exception of the Notre Dame-Duke game on Sunday, none of the quarterfinals feature teams too familiar with each other (though Denver and North Carolina met in last season's tournament). Cornell and Ohio State haven't played in five years. The last Syracuse-Yale game was more than a decade ago. The series breakdowns: Saturday's games, College Park No. 3 OHIO STATE vs. CORNELL (12:30) Series: Ohio State leads 2-1 Last meeting:... Continue reading

In the most simplistic terms, Maryland's lacrosse season abruptly ended Sunday at Byrd Stadium because it ran into a feistier, more ferocious team with a resplendent star and the ability to slow down a Terrapin offense that proved pedestrian in the second half of the season. For Maryland, the less said about the 16-8 first-round flameout in the NCAA tournament, the better. The Terps probably weren't beating Rob Pannell (four goals and three assists) and this particular Big Red team when they played like this, but it certainly didn't have to be Maryland's most lopsided home loss in seven years,... Continue reading

Maryland's final ACC/Big Ten Challenge appearance as a member of the ACC will feature the Terrapins' fourth road game in the last five years. Maryland drew a Dec. 4 date at Ohio State, the first meeting between the schools since November 1985. The Buckeyes (29-8 last season) are again expected to be a top-20 team next season, if not better. Ohio State is also one of the three schools former Maryland coach Gary Williams worked for before returning to College Park in 1989. Maryland is 10-4 all-time in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge and has earned a victory in seven of... Continue reading

Will a year of perceived wackiness on the field translate into wildness in the NCAA tournament? Tough to say, especially since the home-field advantage accorded to the top eight seeds has correlated so strongly with advancing to the quarterfinals during the 10 years of the tournament's 16-team era. Home teams are 66-14 (.825) in the first round since 2003, though the winning percentage is a bit lower over the last six years. In that stretch, home teams are 37-11 (.771). More to the point is the work of the top five seeds throughout the last decade. The top five teams... Continue reading

As usual, Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala didn't gather his team to watch the NCAA tournament selection show Sunday night. Usually, there was no suspense for the Blue Jays. And really, there wasn't any Sunday, either. Only this time, Hopkins' wasn't among the teams included in the postseason field for the first time since 1971. "In the end, we have no right to be surprised," Pietramala said. "I told our team that we'll hold out hope and we'll keep hoping until someone tells us no. But we need to understand what happened and that we had plenty of opportunities to... Continue reading

Taking a look at the series history of the first round matchups in the NCAA lacrosse tournament: No. 1 SYRACUSE vs. BRYANT Series: First meeting No. 2 NOTRE DAME vs. DETROIT Series: First meeting No. 3 OHIO STATE vs. TOWSON Series: Ohio State leads 3-2 Last meeting: Towson won 10-8 on March 20, 2007 NCAA series: First meeting No. 4 DENVER vs. ALBANY Series: Denver leads 2-0 Last meeting: Denver won 17-13 on Feb. 27, 2010 NCAA series: First meeting No. 5 NORTH CAROLINA vs. LEHIGH Series: North Carolina leads 6-2-1 Last meeting: Lehigh won 9-8 on March 3, 2012... Continue reading

For those looking for the final lacrosse bracket projection of the year, you can find the full breakdown over at Lacrosse Magazine. That link offers insight into every team in contention for a bid. But the bottom line is this projected field: College Park (1) BIG EAST/Syracuse vs. NORTHEAST/Bryant (8) Cornell vs. Loyola Indianapolis (4) ECAC/Ohio State vs. PATRIOT/Lehigh (5) Denver vs. Duke College Park (3) North Carolina vs. COLONIAL/Towson (6) Maryland vs. AMERICA EAST/Albany Indianapolis (2) Notre Dame vs. METRO ATLANTIC/Detroit (7) Penn State vs. IVY/Yale Check back for more after the 9 p.m. selection show. --- Patrick Stevens Continue reading

The time for truth arrived this week in College Park, the time to face the growing sense Maryland's lacrosse season was headed to a bad place after three listless offensive performances in a row. Assistant coach Ryan Moran opened the floor to his experienced offense, nearly all of whom were struggling in some form. The Terrapins had 18 goals over three games against Johns Hopkins, Yale and Virginia. They matched that total in an 18-6 rout of Colgate at Byrd Stadium that likely locked up a home game in this month's NCAA tournament. "We weren't afraid to hold anything back,"... Continue reading

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- Virginia lacrosse coach Dom Starsia found himself in an unusual but not unprecedented place Sunday afternoon at Kenan Stadium. It's a spot neither he nor the Cavaliers intend to repeat anytime soon. Next year usually doesn't arrive for Virginia until mid-May at the earliest. Most seasons, it doesn't come until Memorial Day weekend. Yet a 16-13 loss to North Carolina in Sunday's ACC tournament final sent the Cavaliers into the offseason far earlier than they are accustomed after an undeniably odd year. The setback clinched a losing season for Virginia (7-8), its first since last missing... Continue reading

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- Virginia's 2003 national championship team convened in Charlottesville for its 10-year reunion earlier this month, coming to town as the Cavaliers were ensconced in what would become a six-game losing streak for one of college lacrosse's proudest programs. A 10-7 loss to North Carolina that weekend didn't stop Virginia's current edition from looking around and wondering just what was happening --- especially since the Cavaliers' accomplished predecessors were doing exactly that themselves. "You could just see them being like 'What is going on here? Let's get a win here, boys,'" junior midfielder Bobby Hill said. It... Continue reading

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- You watch enough games and you're bound to see something different. Take the odd scenario that unfolded in the third quarter of the Maryland-Virginia ACC semifinal at Kenan Stadium on Friday. With the Cavaliers up 6-3, Virginia defenseman Scott McWilliams committed a slash as Maryland attempted to set up a goal. Just seconds later, the Terps' John Haus and the Cavaliers' Pat Harbeson barked at each other and were called for unsportsmanlike conduct. That set up a 5-on-4 for Maryland, which cashed in seven seconds later. Yet McWilliams remained on the bench, and the Terps added... Continue reading

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- John Tillman was here last year. And the year before. Now, his Maryland lacrosse team is struggling to figure out what's wrong as the regular season winds to a close. Again. "Having a reference point helps, but it's kind of frustrating to put ourselves in that position again," Tillman said in a tunnel at Kenan Stadium Friday after Virginia hammered the Terrapins 13-6 in the ACC semifinals. "It's something we're trying to avoid, yet we keep put ourselves in that spot." This isn't a matter of whether Maryland (9-3) will make the NCAA tournament or not.... Continue reading

ANNAPOLIS --- A deeper look at Navy's forgettable 2013 lacrosse season --- what with its school record for losses (10) and consecutive losses (seven) still more than fresh --- went up within the last hour. But there are plenty other odds and ends worth passing along about the 3-10 Midshipmen as they head into the offseason, both in terms of reviewing what happens and trying to figure out what is to come. 1. Navy graduates exactly 40 percent of its starts from this season. Goalie Nolan Hickey, defensemen Jay Christopher and Austin Miller and midfielder Bryce Dabbs were all seniors... Continue reading

ANNAPOLIS --- There is no sugar-coating it, no escaping it, no hiding from it. It was a historically bad spring for Navy's lacrosse program. The Midshipmen flirted with scoring less than 100 goals for the first time since 1968 (they wound up with 103). They endured the first seven-game losing streak in school history. They lost 10 games for the first time. The net result? Navy's season was over after Saturday's 15-4 loss at Johns Hopkins, and it will be nine-plus months before the Mids play again. Coach Rick Sowell pondered that sobering reality Wednesday as he reflected on his... Continue reading

Maryland defensive end Justin Anderson is leaving the program at the end of the semester, a team spokesman said. Anderson had six tackles (one for loss) in six games last season for the Terrapins. He missed the entire 2011 season with an injury suffered early in preseason camp. Anderson's most productive season came in 2010, when he started all 13 games at Anchor (strong-side defensive end) and made 22 tackles (5.5 for loss) and recorded his only two career sacks. In the final week of spring practice, defensive line coach Greg Gattuso suggested Anderson was in line to be the... Continue reading

Remember all those folks wondering if they'd witnessed the final Duke-Maryland game in College Park for a good long while? They had. And everyone wondering if they'd see North Carolina anytime soon after last season? They won't. And even if teams like Clemson and N.C. State would be back after playing their lone games against Maryland at Comcast Center last season? Those will be road trips for Maryland this year. In fact, Maryland's home schedule could be passed off as a circa 2001 Big East slate, and a lot of folks wouldn't really be able to tell the difference. Take... Continue reading

Maryland is headed to the Big Ten next year. It is also headed to Florida on a regular basis in the next few years. The Terrapins tacked on another Sunshine State game to their future nonconference schedule, signing a home-and-home with South Florida. Maryland will visit Tampa in 2014, while the Bulls will make a return trip to College Park in 2015. It will be the first two meetings between the programs. So that means Maryland will visit four different Florida schools over the next five seasons --- Florida State (2013), South Florida (2014), Florida International (2016) and Central Florida... Continue reading

From his formal entrance to Maryland’s basketball program to his announcement Monday he would enter the NBA Draft, Alex Len spent 595 days with the Terrapins. The arrival --- a lanky Ukrainian opting to play college basketball in the United States, and dealing with the NCAA’s byzantine eligibility clearinghouse --- was always going to be a more surprising development than the departure. And so Len’s press conference Tuesday in College Park felt far less like an event or a celebration than an inevitable occurrence, an exit just about no one believed would loom for four years. “I think I’m ready... Continue reading

As promised last week, here's a link to where I'll be freelancing some lacrosse bracket projections for the next few weeks. It's over at Lacrosse Magazine, where this week's version was posted yesterday morning. (Also over there is a look at Saturday's Hopkins-Maryland game, in case you're interested). One of the things that wasn't delved into there --- but is worth mentioning --- is the perception of how this is a wild, unpredictable year in college lacrosse. And frankly, that's overstating things a bit. There is something different this year, and that's the complete absence of a dominant team. Everybody... Continue reading

Running through a few items of note leftover from Maryland's spring game Friday night ... * The 13-13 tie rang a bit hollow for players, who had a dinner of steak and lobster on the line. Coach Randy Edsall decided everyone would receive the quality dinner after time expired. "I really didn’t want to go any more plays than that," Edsall said. "The kids, they wanted it to go into overtime. I thought the guys played hard and that we didn’t need to go into overtime." * Wide receiver Nigel King suffered a hyperextended knee, but Edsall said the sophomore... Continue reading

Maryland tailback Albert Reid opened his freshman season with a starting nod. He finished it with less than 100 yards while appearing in all but one game. “It was kind of difficult, but hey --- it’s a business,” Reid said. “I learned a lot.” He appears set to put his knowledge to use. Reid rushed for 135 yards on 23 carries in the Terrapins’ spring game on Friday, an eye-catching performance while playing with Maryland’s second team offense. The game ended in a 13-13 tie when sophomore Avery Thompson blocked Brendan Magistro’s 22-yard field goal as time expired. While Stefon... Continue reading

BALTIMORE --- G.G. Smith was summoned to visit Loyola’s president Friday morning, and there was little doubt the longtime Greyhounds assistant was going to receive career-shifting news. For 10 days, Smith waited to hear who would succeed Jimmy Patsos as Loyola’s basketball coach. During the walk across the street, the anxiety grew. “You have butterflies in your stomach,” Smith said. “You’re hoping it is you. … You’re thinking ‘Are they going to tell me that I wasn’t in contention?’ or are they going to say I got the job.” Athletic director Jim Paquette greeted him as “Head Coach Smith,” quickly... Continue reading