On Saturday afternoon at 3 pm the Washington Capitals will embark on a critical game one of their second round playoff series from Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers. The Blueshirts, coached by the fiery John Tortorella, are the number one seed in the Eastern Conference after a super regular season while the Caps are coming in as underdogs for the second straight series despite upsetting the Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins in round one.

For Alexander Ovechkin, Mike Green, Brooks Laich, Nicklas Backstrom, and Alexander Semin this will be their third venture into the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. So far they are 0-2. Last season they knocked off the Rags in five games before getting swept quickly by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Given that Washington has knocked off the Rangers two of the last three post seasons one has to wonder if perhaps the Capitals have the Rangers number? Maybe, but this is a different Rangers team.

Last spring they faced the Caps without an injured Ryan Callahan and then in the offseason they added a significant piece in center Brad Richards. Washington won that series in 2011 without Dennis Wideman (who had a so-so series, at best, against Boston) so the Rangers aren’t the only ones with a different roster for this matchup. New York is improved but I still think their defense is slow and they benefit a ton from Henrik Lundqvist bailing them out. Washington needs, like they did against Boston, to use their superior speed in the Caps forward to Rangers defense matchup. Guys like Marcus Johansson and Jason Chimera will play a key role once again.

When it comes to matchups, whatever forward-defensive combination coach Dale Hunter uses must contain Marian Gaborik and Richards. If those New York skill guys get on a roll then that spells trouble for Washington. You can bet that Jay Beagle, Karl Alzner, and John Carlson will factor into Hunter’s defensive matchups. As for Ovechkin, he had a rough series against the Bruins because he was facing Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg, one of the best defensive pairs in the NHL. The Rangers will likely put Dan Girardi and Mark Staal up against the Gr8. But Ovechkin should be able to overcome Girardi better than he did the Boston duo of Chara and Seidenberg. Ovechkin needs to avoid trying too much one on one or trying to skate through the whole team. His best bet to score is to go to the net in this series. The Rangers defense doesn’t have the ability to move him down low so the Gr8 needs to drive to the cage as much as possible with the puck.

Braden Holtby comes off of a super round one performance and if he doesn’t try to do much and just plays his game, he should be fine. His puckhandling skills help prevented his defensemen from getting run regularly in round one and you can bet Tortorella will be instructing his forwards to pound the Washington defense, especially Green. To me, #52 is a major key to this series. If #52 continues to play well paired with Roman Hamrllik then that gives Hunter two really good defensive pairs to put on the ice (with 27-74) . The Rangers will try to run Green and he needs to be smart about how he plays going into the corners and on the rush. A good series from “Game Over Greenie” likely means the Caps will advance.

If Washington can find a way to win this series, then it signals that Ovechkin and company have finally turned the corner by buying into Hunter’s playoff style.

If not, then many players could be on their way out of town because it would be five straight post seasons without a trip to the Eastern Conference Finals.

My prediction: The Caps kick the door in to get to the Final Four with a series victory in six games. Road warriors, baby, road warriors.

It normally does not end this nice for the Washington Capitals and their fans. You see, the Caps are supposed to lose game sevens, in heartbreaking fashion, right?

Heading into overtime I am sure many Caps fans felt like another crushing blow was coming, right?

Not tonight!

Dale Hunter scored arguably the biggest goal in franchise history in overtime against the Philadelphia Flyers back in 1988 and on this night he was behind the bench for what is definitely the biggest goal in recent Capitals history. Joel Ward potted the rebound of a Mike Knuble shot 2:57 into overtime to propel the Caps into the second round. In the process they knock off, for the first time in franchise history, the defending Stanley Cup Champions. Washington won’t know its’ opponent until tomorrow night but if the New York Rangers defeat the Ottawa Senators then that is who they will face. Otherwise they will get either the Flyers or the Devils.

Wow, what a win! I still can’t believe it. 

Following or working for this team since 1974 naturally makes one a pessimist and I did not feel good about this matchup in the champions lair tonight. Having been at every game seven in franchise history and knowing they were 2-7 in such contests, it was tough to be optimistic (for the record, I was not in Boston for game seven, my first miss ever). But something is going on in these playoffs and being on the road seems to possess an advantage. Washington won three games in Boston and, as I said after Sunday’s game six loss, when you have a pivotal game like this sometimes it is better to be on the road because there are no distractions.

Whatever the case, this Capitals team has totally come together for the post season. They are playing the style their coach demands. At times it is downright boring, but they are so much better around their own net with this style. Braden Holtby (31 saves) played a very solid game in the cage and his defensemen cleared nearly every rebound (the exception: Tyler Seguin scored on one).

Several players who didn’t have great regular seasons amped up their respective games for the playoffs and that is why this Caps team was able to knock off a very good Boston team. Knuble and Ward fit in that category, for sure.  To me, the biggest reason the Capitals won was because of the play of the dynamic duo on defense, Karl Alzner and John Carlson. 27 and 74 were just a super defensive pair and they kept Boston’s scorers in check pretty much the whole series. There is no doubt that Carlson is playing his best hockey of the season and the play he made on a Bruins two on one in the third period was a game saver. Keep it up, John and Karl.

As for the forwards, this was not Alexander Ovechkin’s best series but I am sure he will take the victory. The Gr8 had to go against the best defensemen in the league in Zdeno Chara and with Ovechkin’s issues on defense, Hunter had to cut his minutes, in some games. That will likely change going forward and there is no doubt if this team wants to get where they want to go, they will need Captain Alex. There is a long road ahead and Ovechkin will start scoring goals in bunches, soon.

So as predicted here, the Caps have stunned the Bruins in the opening round. It wasn’t in six games like I had it mapped out, but the Caps did it. Boston is a super team, but somehow the Capitals worked some matchups to their advantage and now they go through to round two.

It was not expected by many after that crushing game six on Sunday. But the players regrouped and played a masterful game to punch their ticket for another round.

Hold on and enjoy the ride, Caps fans!

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The ninth-ranked Maryland men’s lacrosse team (7-4) travels to the northern end of Maryland to Emmitsburg to play at Mount St. Mary’s for the first time since 2008. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. start on Wednesday, Arpil 25 at Waldron Family Stadium.

• Maryland (7-4, 1-2 ACC) is coming off of a hard-fought 6-5 loss to No. 3 Duke in the semifinals of the ACC tournament last Friday in Charlottesville, Va. The incredibly close game saw the Blue Devils take a two-goal lead early in the fourth quarter, but Joe Cummings scored with just over two minutes left to trim the lead to one. Maryland got off two shots on goal in the final seconds, but neither was able to find the net.

• For the season, Cummings leads the Terps in points, goals and assists with 30, 19 and 11, respectively. Six other Terps have totaled double-digit goals so far: Blye (14), Billy Gribbin (13), Michael Shakespeare (13), Jay Carlson (11), John Haus (11) and Drew Snider (11). Defensively, Niko Amato has stopped 57.9 percent of the shots put on goal by opponents and has a 6.94 goals-against average. Junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt leads the team 22 caused turnovers and is second on the squad with 39 groundballs.

• The Mount is 4-7 on the year after snapping a three-game losing skid with a 9-8 win over Sacred Heart last Saturday at home. This season Mount St. Mary’s is led by junior attackman Andrew Scalley, who has 37 points on 18 goals and 18 assists. Senior midfielder Bryant Schmidt is the team leader in goals with 23, one more than twin brother, attackman Brett, who has 22. Sophomore Chris Klaiber has started all 11 of the Mount’s 11 games in cage and has a .464 save percentage and an 11.22 goals-against average.

The Count Down
10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 88 of the 96 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .916 winning percentage.
9 … Maryland is 106-24 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .815 winning percentage.
8 … The Terps have scored double-digit goals in all eight games vs. the Mount.
7 … The Terps are ranked seventh in the current USILA poll and ninth in the current IL media poll.
6 … Six Terps have totaled at least 15 points so far in 2012.
5 … Joe Cummings has had five games this season with at least three points.
4 … Joe Cummings needs just four points to become just the 38th Terps to reach the 100-point mark.
3 … This will be just the third time Maryland has traveled to Emmitsburg to play Mount St. Mary’s.
2 … Two members of the current Terrapin program – fifth-year senior Drew Snider and volunteer coach Brian Phipps - played in the 2008 victory over the Mount.
1 … This will be the first game vs. Mount St. Mary’s as a head coach for Maryland’s John Tillman.

Coaching Match-Up
• John Tillman is in his fifth season as a head coach, and second with the Terps, with a 40-28 career record for a 58.8 winning percentage. Tillman is 20-9 (.690) as Maryland’s head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.

• The Mount’s Tom Gravante is in his 16th season as a head coach, all at Mount St. Mary’s, and has a 120-143 (.456) record.

Series History vs. Mount St. Mary’s
• Maryland has won all eight meetings against Mount St. Mary’s dating back to the first match-up in 1988. The Terps topped the Mount 19-8 in that first game. They followed that with a 21-2 win in 1989, an 18-7 victory in 1994, a 19-3 blowout in the 2000 season opener and a 12-4 win at Emmitsburg on April 24, 2001. Maryland picked up its last shutout on Feb. 26, 2002 with an 18-0 victory. Maryland won back-to-back games in 2007 and 2008. The Terps took an 18-3 home win over the Mount on March 20, 2007 and then defeated Mount St. Mary’s, 17-7, in a downpour at Waldron Family Stadium in 2008.

• Maryland’s freshman attack trio of Travis Reed (4-1), Grant Catalino (3-1) and Ryan Young (2-1) combined to total 12 points to lead the Terps to a 17-7 victory at a rain-soaked Waldon Family Stadium in 2008. Bryn Holmes won 9-of-10 faceoffs, caused two turnovers and picked up five groundballs.

• Maryland’s 18-3 victory in 2007 featured a seven-point effort by Michael Phipps on a hat trick and four assists. In total, 13 Terps scored goals in the win.

• The series took a five-year hiatus since these two teams met in 2002. That game marks the last time Maryland has shutout an opponent. The 18-0 victory was the program’s first shutout since 1970. Five Terps scored two or more goals in the victory. Leading the way was senior captain Mike Morsell, who had a career-day with seven points on four goals and three assists.

• The 2001 game was the first between the teams at the Mount. In that game, 2001 grads Chris Malone (3 goals, 1 assist) and Andrew “Buggs” Combs (3 goals) led the offense. Dan LaMonica and Mike Mollot each had two goals.

• Maryland has outscored Mount St. Mary’s 125-27 in the seven games, never allowing the Mount more than seven goals.

• Against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, Maryland is 9-0 all-time with seven wins coming against the Mount and one win each over Providence in 1999 and VMI in 1993..

Bernhardt, Murray Earn Annual ACC Awards
• Junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and freshman defender Goran Murray were among the five student-athletes recognized as recipients of the annual ACC men’s lacrosse individual awards, the conference announced Tuesday.

• Bernhardt, a native of Longwood, Fla., shares the inaugural ACC Defensive Player of the Year award with Duke’s CJ Costabile. Bernhardt, who is also a 2012 Tewaaraton Trophy nominee, leads the Terps with 22 caused turnovers and leads the conference with 2.0 caused turnovers per game. He is also averaging 3.3 groundballs per game and is the captain of a Maryland defense that currently ranks seventh in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.45 goals per game.

• Murray, a native of Merion Station, Pa., becomes the seventh Terp to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year. He is the first since 2007 when Brian Phipps earned the honor and the first Maryland defender since Michael Howley won the honor. Murray was a long-pole midfielder coming into preseason practice, but was converted to close defense and has become Maryland’s shutdown defender. Murray has started all 11 games for the Terps and became the first freshman close defender to start a season opener since 2008. He currently ranks sixth in the conference with 1.1 caused turnovers per game.

• Virginia senior Steele Stanwick earned ACC Offensive Player of the Year honors, while Duke’s John Danowski was named the ACC Coach of the Year.

League-Best Four Terps Named To All-ACC Team
• Maryland placed a league-high four players on the 2012 All-ACC Men’s Lacrosse Team, which was announced today by the Atlantic Coast Conference. Senior attackman Joe Cummings and sophomore goalie Niko Amato made the team for the second-straight season, while junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt and junior midfielder John Haus are first-time selections.

• All four ACC men’s programs are represented on the annual All-ACC team, which was determined by a vote of the four head coaches. Maryland’s four honorees were the most by any school. Duke and Virginia each had three selections, while North Carolina had one player make the team.

Going Purple
• Once again this season, the Terps will be wearing purple “MY” stickers, to show their support for the fight against pancreatic cancer, which touched everyone in the Maryland lacrosse family last season with the passing of Maria Young on April 17.

• This past fall the Terps, Maryland alums and family and friends came together for the inaugural Forever Young Walk/Run for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness. More on Ms. Young and her amazing story can be found here: Forever Young.

• If you’re interested in more information about the Lustgarten Foundation, including how to make a donation, click here to visit the foundation’s website. You can also get more information on pancreatic cancer at CurePC.org.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about pancreatic cancer from the American Cancer Society:
· More than 43,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer present each year
· There are more than 36,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer each year
· The lifetime risk of having pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 71.
· The risk is about the same for both men and women.

Going Gray
• Maryland players will also be wearing gray stickers with the number 42 in honor of Zack Wholley’s father, John, who passed away from brain cancer on August 28, 2011.

• If you’re interested in more information, please visit the National Brain Tumor Society website.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about brain and spinal cord tumors from the American Cancer Society:
· About 22,910 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord (12,630 in males and 10,280 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would likely be much higher if benign tumors were also included.
· About 13,700 people (7,720 males and 5,980 females) will die from these tumors.
· Overall, the chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord in his or her lifetime is about one in 150 for a man and one in 185 for a woman.

Get To 10 And Win
• One axiom of lacrosse is that if you score 10 goals or more your chances of winning are pretty good. Well, a look at the results since 2002 shows that when Maryland scores 10 or more goals there’s not just a pretty good chance the Terrapins will win; it’s an almost certainty. Since 2002 Maryland has won 88 of the 97 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .916 winning percentage.

• Maryland scored 10, but fell at North Carolina, 11-10, on March 24, 2012. The Terps scored 11 vs. Johns Hopkins on April 16, 2011, but the Blue Jays won the game in overtime, 12-11. On April 3 of last season the Terps lost to No. 1 Virginia by a final of 11-10, giving Maryland its only loss when scoring 10 or more goals in 2010. In 2009 the Terps lost to Georgetown, 13-10 on Feb. 21 and lost again when scoring 10 in the ACC Semifinals in a 16-10 defeat at North Carolina. Prior to that, Maryland had not lost when scoring 10 or more goals since dropping an 11-10 decision to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C. The Terrapins got to 10 goals in the 100th game against Johns Hopkins, but the Blue Jays took the game 14-10. Virginia is the only team to beat the Terps twice when allowing 10 or more goals. The Wahoos did it first in 2002 with another 11-10 decision.

Holding Opponents To Single-Digits
• The Terps have been extremely impressive (winning 91.6 percent of its games since 2002) when it scores 10 or more goals, they have been nearly as impressive when holding opponents to less than 10 goals during that span.

• Since 2002 Maryland is 106-24 in games, for a .815 winning percentage, when it has held opponents under 10 goals. The Terps have played 171 total games since 2002. Maryland has held opponents to nine goals or less 75.6 percent of the time.

Shooting Tells The Story
• The difference between winning and losing for Maryland this season is simple – when the Terps shoot well they win. As it turns out 30% is the magic number for the Terps this season. Maryland is 7-4 on the year and has shot 30% or better in six of the seven victories. The lone win the Terps have without shooting 30% or better is the 13-6 win over Navy when Maryland took 52 shots.

Hartford: 12 goals, 40 shots = 30%
at Georgetown: 16 goals, 41 shots = 39.0%
Duke: 10 goals, 28 shots = 35.7%
at UMBC: 7 goals, 30 shots = 23.3%
Marist: 17 goals, 43 shots = 39.5%
Villanova: 11 goals, 31 shots = 35.5%
at North Carolina: 10 goals, 35 shots = 28.6%
Virginia: 8 goals, 32 shots = 25%
Navy: 13 goals, 52 shots = 25%
at Johns Hopkins: 9 goals, 28 shots = 32.1%
vs. Duke: 5 goals, 31 shots = 16.1%

• Since 2005 the Terps are a remarkable 51-3 (.944) when shooting 30% or better in a game. The first game Maryland lost during that stretch was a 13-10 decision to Georgetown in 2009 (the Terps shot 10 of 30 for 33.3% vs. the Hoyas). The second loss came in 2010 in the controversial 11-10 loss to No. 1 Virginia on April 3. The Terps shot 10 of 33 for 30.3%. The most recent came on April 16, 2011 in a 12-11 overtime loss to No. 3 Johns Hopkins.

Fast Starts
• Since 2002 only nine players (for a total of 14 times) have totaled 30 points or more in the first 11 games of a season. Only one of those is on the 2012 team.

• Joe Cummings has been a consistent threat during his tenure as a Terp, but since moving to his natural position of attack this season he has been an even more potent point producer. Through nine games Cummings has 30 points on 19 goals and 11 assists. Last year as a midfielder he had 25 points on 24 goals and one assist through 11 games.

Youth Is Served
• Maryland started two sophomores (Michael Ehrhardt and Brian Cooper) and a freshman (Goran Murray) at close defense in the 2012 season-opening win over Hartford. The last time Maryland’s defense had two sophomore and one freshman starting was 2005 when sophomores Steve Whittenberg and Ray Megill started alongside freshman Joe Cinosky. The first game that group started together was April 23, 2005 at Fairfield (a 9-6 Terrapin win).

• Goran Murray became the first Maryland freshman to start at close defense in a season opener since 2008 when Max Schmidt started in an 11-6 win at Georgetown.

Face-Off Firsts
• Junior Curtis Holmes’ 19-of-20 (.950) performance facing-off vs. Hartford in the 2012 season opener is just the fifth time since 2000 that a Maryland face-off man has won at least 90% of his draws with at least 10 attempts.

• Holmes joins Andy Claxton and Brian Haggerty as the only Terps with multiple games of 19 or more face-off wins. Claxton did it three times (27 at Towson in 1991, 21 vs. Duke in 1991 and 19 at Brown in 1991), while Haggerty did it twice (20 vs. Butler in 1998 and 19 vs. Virginia in 1998). Holmes had 20 wins vs. Georgetown last season to go along with his 19 vs. the Hawks, which makes him the only Terp to win 19 or more face-offs in different seasons.

• The last 90% performance was in 2008 when Bryn Holmes, Curtis’ older brother, won 9-of-10 face-offs at Mount St. Mary’s.

• The last time a Terp faced-off with a winning percentage above 90% was on March 21, 2006 when David Tamberrino won 12-of-13 in a 14-2 win over Dartmouth.

Best Face-Off Performances Since 2000
Curtis Holmes - 19/20 (.950) vs. Hartford 2/18/12
Brian Carroll - 12/13 (.923) at Delaware 3/17/01
Davin Tamberrino – 12/13 (.923) vs. Dartmouth 3/21/06
Jeremy Pastula - 11/12 (.917) at Towson 3/8/03
Bryn Holmes - 9/10 (.900) at Mount St. Mary’s 2/26/08
Bryn Holmes - 12/14 (.857) vs. Presbyterian 2/13/09
Brian Carroll - 11/13 (.846) vs. Mount St. Mary’s 2/26/02
Bryn Holmes - 11/13 (.846) vs. Air Force 2/14/09
Ryan Moran - 10/12 (.833) vs. Bucknell 3/11/03
Will Dalton - 18/22 (.818) vs. Vermont 2/20/07
Curtis Holmes - 17/21 (.810) vs. Detroit Mercy 2/19/11

The 700 Club
• Maryland’s 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 was the program’s 700th victory in 84 seasons of varsity men’s lacrosse. The Terps join Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy and Army as the only programs with 700 or more Division I wins.

• Two things that make Maryland’s accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Terps reached the 700-win plateau in just their 84th season. Only Syracuse reached win No. 700 in as few seasons, but it took the Orange 53 more games than Maryland. In fact, Maryland needed only 940 games to reach 700 wins and only Johns Hopkins needed fewer games (932) to hit the historic number, but the Blue Jays did so in their 105th season.

Terps’ 87th Season Of Lacrosse
• The Terps boast an all-time record of 735-251-4 (.746), 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 85 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 10-6. The program reached the 700-win milestone with a 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 at Ludwig Field.

• During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted 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. So far, Maryland is 25-9 in the 2010′s for a .735 winning percentage.

The Terps On ESPNU
• Maryland has had 42 games on ESPNU since 2006. Maryland is 23-19 (.548) all-time in games broadcast on ESPNU.

• The Terps will have at least four games (at UNC, vs. Virginia, at Johns Hopkis, at ACC tournament) Maryland will play on ESPNU in 2012.

The Stretch: Carolina, Virginia, Navy, Hopkins
• Since 1978 Maryland’s schedule has been highlighted by a four-game stretch in the middle of its season: North Carolina, Virginia, Navy and Johns Hopkins. In the 35-year span only four times has the stretch been interrupted with another game added in between one of these traditional four (1981, 1997, 2001, 2003).

• Overall, Maryland is 64-76 (.457) since 1978 vs. those four teams during that time.

• The Terps have swept the four games only once – in 1987. Only twice (1981 & 1988) has Maryland lost all four games. Six times (1978, 1979, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001) the Terps have won three of the four games. Johns Hopkins broke up the Terps’ bid for a perfect stretch four times, while Carolina and Virginia broke it up one time each.

First-Time Opponents
• Maryland has played 78 different opponents in its 87 seasons. The 2012 season added Hartford (a 12-6 win on 2/18) and will add Marist (3/10) to that list. In the Terps’ 78 first-time meetings Maryland is 74-4 (.949) in those games. Adelphi (12-13, 1982), Army (0-3, 1923), Syracuse (3-10, 1927) and Yale (3-5, 1925) are the only schools to beat the Terps the first time the schools met on a lacrosse field.

Maryland In Season Openers
• Maryland has a 83-3-1 (.960) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 19 openers and 26 of the last 27, 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.)

19 Straight in Season Openers
• After beating Hartford to open the 2012 season the Terps have an 19-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), Bellarmine (twice), Presbyterian, Detroit Mercy and Hartford. Over the 19-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 267-99 (an average score of 14.1-5.2) in those games.

• The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 18 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.

Consecutive 10-Win Seasons
• The 11-9 victory over Duke on April 24, 2011 was the 10th of the year for Maryland, giving it nine straight seasons with double-digit wins. (Special thanks to Patrick Stevens of the D1Scourse.com).

• How does that stack up against the rest of the college lacrosse programs? Take a look at programs with at least five-straight 10-win seasons:
Maryland (9): 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-4), 2009 (10-7), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6), 2006 (12-5), 2005 (11-6), 2004 (13-3), 2003 (12-4)
Virginia (8): 2012 (10-3), 2011 (13-5), 2010 (16-2), 2009 (14-2), 2008 (14-4), 2007 (12-4), 2006 (17-0), 2005 (11-4)
Cornell (7): 2011 (12-3), 2010 (12-6), 2009 (11-3), 2008 (11-4), 2007 (15-1), 2006 (11-3), 2005 (11-3)
Notre Dame (7): 2012 (10-1), 2011 (11-3), 2010 (10-7), 2009 (15-1), 2008 (14-3), 2007 (11-4), 2006 (10-5)
Duke (6): 2012 (13-3), 2011 (14-6), 2010 (16-4), 2009 (15-4), 2008 (18-2), 2007 ( 17-3)
Siena (5): 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-5), 2009 (12-6), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6)

A Family Affair
• Many school’s refer to their sports programs as families, but the Maryland men’s lacrosse program is truely a family affair. Since 2002, the Terps have had 13 sets of brothers, including three on this season’s roster, don the red and black together for at least one season.

Harry & Thomas Alford: 2004-05-06-07
Jake & Jesse Bernhardt: 2010-11-12
Justin & Owen Blye: 2009-10-11
Brian & Kevin Cooper: 2011-12
Billy & Bobby Gribbin: 2012
Brendan & Ian Healy: 2003-04-05
Bryn & Curtis Holmes: 2010
Bryn & Travis Holmes: 2007
Dan & Mike LaMonica: 2002
Chris & Willy Passavia: 2002-03
Brian & Michael Phipps: 2007
Max & Xander Ritz: 2005-06
Mark & Michael White: 2008-09-10-11

It was all there for the taking for the Washington Capitals on Sunday. They had a 3-2 series lead against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Boston Bruins and a chance to close them out in their own building.

And they blew it. Again.

Life as a Caps fan seems to be a never ending run of crushing defeats so why should 2012 be any different, right? That has to be what Capitals fans were thinking as they were filing out of the Verizon Center after the Bruins Tyler Seguin scored just over three minutes into overtime following a horrible attempted long pass up the middle of the ice by Nicklas Backstrom that was intercepted and turned around quickly on Washington. Seguin split Dennis Wideman and Roman Hamrlik, faked out goalie Braden Holtby (27 saves) one on one, then deposited the biscuit behind #70 to add yet another horrifying chapter to a book that could be distributed to many Capitals fans in this area and titled, ”My Life in Pain as a Caps Fan.”

About the only good news out of this crushing loss is there is still yet another contest to be played in Beantown on Wednesday night. But does anyone who has followed this team long term or even since the creation of the “Young Guns” feel like they will find a way to win? There probably aren’t a lot of takers given the black cloud that seems to follow this franchise around come each April and May.

So why did they fail to capitalize on a golden opportunity to win a series that has been ultra close for all six games (in fact, this is the first NHL series ever to go six games with each featuring one goal victories)?

To me, the focus has to be on the Young Guns. Let’s start with Backstrom, who made some super plays, like the setup of Jason Chimera for Washington’s second goal or the face-off win that allowed Alexander Ovechkin to tie the game with 4:52 to go in regulation. However, it was #19′s low probability feed to Marcus Johansson that utimately ended this one and the Young Swede who missed 40 regular season games due to a concussion probably doesn’t feel too good about his lack of backchecking on the Boston third goal. That tally was set up by an Alexander Semin turnover in the offensive zone after #28 tried to be too cute with the puck. Semin has been really good in this series but today he was below average. He took a bad penalty that led to the Bruins first goal and only their second power play goal of the series (now 2 for 20). He was -2 and did not register a point. Ovechkin scored the big tying tally but overall he looks out of sync. The Gr8 is trying to do too much himself and his defensive zone play still needs massive amounts of work. In addition, his performance on the point on the power play, which went 0 for 4 today, was less than stellar. About the only one of the four that had an okay game was Mike Green, who scored his first goal since October to tie the game up at one in the opening frame. But #52 only played 17 minutes, including not being put out on the first power play unit.

Instead of Green, the team is using Wideman on the right point and #6 didn’t do much good in over six minutes of power play time. In fact the first unit of Ovechkin, Semin, Backstrom, Keith Aucoin and Wideman needs to be blown up. There is not enough net presence with those five. I’d much prefer Ovechkin be moved on the half wall (of course I’ve been saying this for two years) with #19 on the other wall. Get Brooks Laich out in front or someone who will create traffic on Tim Thomas (36 saves) there. Finally, put Green back on the point and I’d even prefer John Carlson as the other blue liner instead of Wideman.

Playoff games are often won or lost via special teams and Boston was +1 in that department today. For the series, the Caps are 3 for 18 (16.7%) with the man advantage while they are 18 for 20 (90%) on the penalty kill. Game seven will likely be decided by special teams so it is paramount that Washington focus their efforts on those units in Tuesday’s practice.

Another thing Washington must do in game seven is to limit turnovers while staying out of the penalty box. Troy Brouwer’s decision to muck it up with Benoit Pouliot late in period two ended up putting the Caps in a 4 on 4 situation that quickly became a Boston 4 on 3. Somehow the Caps survived Zdeno Chara’s big shot in that instance but they may not be as lucky on Wednesday. Discipline is a big key for the Caps to have any chance.

So we move once again to a decisive game seven where the Caps overall franchise record is 2-7. They are 2-6 at home with the one away loss coming in Pittsburgh in 1995. Therefore, maybe since this one is on the road they may stand a better chance? After all, there is less pressure on the visitors and they don’t have ticket requests and distractions to deal with. They just have to show up and play hockey.

Show up and play hockey is exactly what they must do. They made too many mistakes on Sunday in a one goal loss, so if they clean up their act and the Young Guns perform at the level they are capable of, then anything can happen.

If they don’t, then we may have seen the end of the Young Guns along with some other big changes.

Notes: Defensemen Karl Alzner led the Caps in ice time with 24:21…because John Erskine only played 8 minutes and change, the Caps went mostly with five defensemen and that messes up the rotation…kind of hard to do this at this point, but perhaps Dmitry Orlov should get a sweater for game seven? He is more mobile than both Erskine and Jeff Schultz…Mike Knuble was +1 in only 5:58 of ice time but it was his work in front that allowed Green to score his goal. Seems like #22 has earned more minutes, no?

The Washington Capitals are on the verge of potentially changing their entire season in game six against the Boston Bruins on Sunday afternoon at the Verizon Center.

The much maligned in the media Caps, who were considered huge underdogs coming into this series with the Bruins, just might be able to change the perceptions of those who have been critical of them thanks to a gritty 4-3 victory on Saturday in Boston in game five of this best of seven series.

But media perceptions don’t really matter to this club, for perhaps the first time in a long while. That is primarily the case because they have taken on the identity of their head coach, Dale Hunter, and are singularly focused on results. Hunter doesn’t care what the media thinks, he just wants to win. His press conferences are proof of that. The coach pretty much says nothing, which is exactly what I would want my coach saying after each game, and especially in the playoffs. Too many words from the head coach can wear a team out and drain them emotionally, that won’t happen with Hunter (and as I predicted on twitter weeks ago, the New York Rangers are on the brink of elimination despite having the best record in the East, partially due to the fact that their coach likes to have too much conflict and discussion with the media). 

That identity I spoke of above is an almost unflappable demeanor, something this Capitals club struggled to display in the past. The minute adversity hit before, especially in the post season, they would often get caught up in it and fall apart. That doesn’t appear to be the case anymore. After the Caps gave up a 2-0 lead by allowing two goals in 28 seconds towards the end of period two today how many people were writing them off for the game and likely the series? I imagine you could get on twitter and find tweet after tweet burying this team when the Bruins turned up the heat.

However, this cast of characters, which received super goaltending from Braden Holtby (34 saves) once again, didn’t panic and came out composed for the final frame after they barely survived the last couple of minutes in period two. Mike Knuble scored a key goal on a rebound of a Joel Ward shot. But then adversity hit again when Marcus Johansson took too long to make a decision with the puck coming out of his own zone. Boston stripped the puck from MJ90 and Dennis Wideman was then whistled for a penalty. Next thing you know Boston scores their first power play goal of the series to tie it up. Caps nation, given past playoff failures, were probably saying “I’ve seen this movie before” and were waiting for the inevitable Bruins game winner to occur.

But it never happened. Hunter’s crew didn’t sulk and merely kept playing. Then they received a late power play when Nicklas Backstrom was hooked and Troy Brouwer took full advantage scoring with 1:27 to go on the rush. Washington would do a super job of preventing Boston from getting any really good chances late and as John Walton likes to say after victories it was “Good morning, Good afternoon, and Good night Boston!”

It was a huge win and puts the Caps in position to knock off the defending champs. But that win will be the hardest one they’ve ever tried to achieve. The Bruins faced the same situation in the Stanley Cup Finals, a 3-2 series deficit, and won the last two games to grab Lord Stanley’s Cup last season. You can bet that Boston will give everything they have on Sunday. Their coach is already whining again about the Capitals late power play to try and influence the referees, in a move we’ve seen from him far too often (hopefully the NHL is tired of it too). So the Caps will have to match the Bruins intensity and play smart once again. They have to stick to Hunter’s plan and not free lance defensively. If they stray from the blue print, then that means a game seven in Boston on Wednesday.

Simply put, the Caps have a chance to finally put a bad regular season behind them for good tomorrow. Will they finally be able to do that?

Puck drop is at 3pm, don’t miss it.

Notes: Alexander Ovechkin went for the big hit in the neutral zone and missed in period two and that led to the first Boston goal. Ovechkin only played 15:34 in game five and it is clear Hunter doesn’t like the matchups he is getting when the Gr8 is on the ice. Ovechkin needs to be better defensively as well…John Carlson and Karl Alzner were an outstanding duo again and they led the Caps in ice time with 25:05 and 24:37, respectively…Boston outshot the Caps 37-32 but shot attempts were even more lopsided, 70-48…the Caps went 1 for 3 on the power play and are 3 for 14 in the series. Boston went 1 for 4 and are 1 for 15 in the series.

After Thursday’s tough 1-0 overtime loss to the Bruins, something happened, in defeat, with the Washington Capitals that spoke volumes to me. The Caps, with captain Alexander Ovechkin as one of the leaders, came out and mobbed rookie goalie Braden Holtby almost as if the team had won the game instead of leaving #70 to skate off by himself while the rest of the players filed off of the bench and down the tunnel, like typically happens more often than not around the league in overtime playoff losses.

What did that tell me? That this hockey club, that has had an extremely tumultuous season, is coming together as a team, at the right time. Today, they backed that feeling up for me with a gritty, 2-1, win in Boston in double overtime to tie this best of seven series up at one game apiece.

Holtby (43 saves) was excellent in goal again and so far he appears to be the catalyst for the Caps recent bonding. The rookie goalie is making timely saves so the team has confidence in him and as a result they are giving the defending Stanley Cup Champions fits so far. After Boston carried most of game one, the Capitals came out and more than held their own in this contest. Ovechkin (1 assist) had a much stronger effort and he relied more on his power than finesse, in this tilt. In fact, his strong play on the wall led to Troy Brouwer’s goalmouth tally that gave the Caps a 1-0 lead late in period two. It was a sandpaper type of goal and one Washington needed to prove they could find a way to get a puck past Tim Thomas (37 saves), who has been playing phenomenal, as well.

Even after Benouit Pouliot scored with just under eight minutes left in regulation to tie the game up, on a play where he bowled over Holtby after tipping the puck by him, the young goalie and his club didn’t appear panicked. Washington stuck to Coach Dale Hunter’s game plan of being responsible in their own zone and it worked.

Playoff games are often won or lost on special teams or on faceoffs. With both teams still failing to score on the power play in this series, it was an offensive zone draw that proved decisive for the Caps. Patrice Bergeron actually won it, but Nicklas Backstrom managed to push the puck below the goal line where Marcus Johansson corraled it. With three Boston defenders focused on MJ90, the young swede slid the puck to a wide open #19 in the slot, who fired one past Thomas for the game winner.

The Caps bench erupted and instead of going down 2-0, Washington is more than in this series.

The Bruins are still the favorites right now. After all, they have a ton of experience from last season to fall back on. They are a deep team with an excellent goalie. They play a physical game. They are supposed to win.

But the Capitals are healthy at the right time at forward and on defense, and the young Holtby is seizing a huge opportunity in goal to provide a backbone for this team. He is making key saves and also helping his defense out with his superior stick handling skills.

The kid is playing well but the pundits are still backing the defending champs.

But with those expectations comes more pressure for Boston. The Caps have internal pressure to win, but the media has mostly written them off.

It seems the lack of belief in them, along with some timely health, and the emergence of Holtby in net has allowed this Capitals club to come together as a team at the right time.

The key will be keeping it up by sticking together, listening to their coaches, and putting the team first. That is how you win playoff games and a series.

Notes: Karl Alzner and John Carlson were outstanding on defense today and that is four really good games in a row for #74, who is peaking at the right time…Johansson was the game’s first star while Alzner got the second. #27 is super smart on the ice…the Caps won the faceoff battle 34-30 with Jay Beagle going 11-6. #83 has been dominant on draws in this series…Mike Green was +2 and he led all Capitals in ice time with 33:28. He and Roman Hamrlik are playing very well together…Dennis Wideman and Jeff Schultz were once again on the ice for the Boston goal and have been the weakest defensive pair for the Caps. Wideman’s ice time was just over 20 minutes, where it likely should be with the other two D-pairs playing so well.

Just two days before they open their playoff series in Boston against the Bruins on Thursday night (7:30 pm on Comcast Sportsnet) the Washington Capitals hit the ice at Kettler IcePlex and had a high intensity and spirited practice. The Caps went 5-2 down the stretch, and after what appeared to be a disastrous loss to Buffalo on March 27th, they shook it off and played some good hockey. In my book, this Capitals team, which missed Mike Green for most of the season and Nicklas Backstrom for 40 games, still has yet to play its’ best hockey. In years past that has not been the case, so I spoke with some of the players to get their take on that premise.

“We’ve been better in the past couple of weeks, I think we’ve been playing better hockey, but we’ve got more to offer. Our best player, [Alexander Ovechkin], he’s been playing better and he’s gonna get better and with the playoffs coming I think everybody is going to put everything on the line. It’s different for us this year as a seventh seed instead of the first seed, so I think it’s going to be different. We’re ready, we’re hungry for the playoffs, I think we’ll be ready to go,” said center Mathieu Perreault, who scored 16 goals in 2011-12.

“I think everybody knows it’s a long and season and it’s tough to ask any team to keep at that level where you play your best or have your best, I would say, and we haven’t. Lately, especially at the end of the season, I think we play solid games. I think we played pretty good against some tough teams and we’ve proven we can play against anybody. But, that’s past, that’s over. I think this is a new season that is going to start with the playoffs, it’s totally different hockey. Now we have to bring our best,” added defenseman Roman Hamrlik, who I thought played his finest game of the year in the season finale in New York.

It is one thing to admit you haven’t played your best hockey and another thing to then go out and do it. Both former coach Bruce Boudreau and new coach Dale Hunter have talked about playing simple. This Caps team is highly talented and skilled, especially at wing, but the club has a tendency to try and make the perfect play. So can these guys put those past patterns aside and simplify their game?

“Lately we try to keep it simple, our D is just up the wall to the winger, chip it in and get on the forecheck. I think we are a better team when we do that and we work down low. We are a good team cycling the puck to the net so we are going to have to do that,” added Perreault on a reason why the team has played better in the last five games.

“What do we have to do? We talked about that the whole season. Just play our system, stick with what we have to do. Make the first quick pass on the tape and get the puck quickly and out of our zone and cycle the team and play in their zone. Try to stay out of the box. They have a pretty good power play. Be mentally ready and prepared for a big challenge. They won last year and everybody knows they’re a championship team. They have a pretty good solid hard working team and we have to bring everything we’ve got,” said Hamrlik, echoing the importance of the easy pass and cycle game.

Certainly special teams is going to be a huge factor, especially the power play in this series (btw, if you haven’t read this post by Caps beat writer Mike Vogel, then make sure you check it out). The unit has been very bad at home and one of the major reasons is the overpassing of the puck. On Tuesday the team practiced it and there was an emphasis on shots from the point with traffic in front of the opposing goalie. But we’ve seen and heard that before only to see that strategy abandoned come game time. Last Saturday against the Rangers, the power play was mostly atrocious and yielded several shorthanded chances. But when John Carlson was on the ice, things were different and Washington scored. #74 stuck to the formula the coaches have been selling so it is paramount that Green, Oveckhin, Dennis Wideman, and others buy in. A playoff series can be won alone on special teams, as the Vogel story points out.

“Yes, we are trying to be cute sometimes with the skill that we have, especially on the point and the top of the power play we should use [the shot] more if we see an open lane and there is a little bit of traffic. That is how most of the goals are going in, they’re through traffic or screens or they’re banging them in around the goal line. I think that we’ve been talking about that a little bit more,” added Carlson, who certainly gets it and should see more man advantage time on the point, in my book.

Another big factor for the Caps to play their best begins in net with goalie Braden Holtby. Not only does #70 need to stop the puck, but against a physical team like Boston he has to help his defense out with his superior puck handling skills. Holtby hasn’t been up all season so the defense isn’t as used to his habits as a team would like. That puts a heavy onus on the communication between the net minder and the defenders.

“I had Carey Price in Montreal. He loves to go behind the net and he likes to play the puck and it helps you, from my experience it is like a third defensemen. He goes and he plays the puck and it makes it easy on yourself and helps us for not facing too much to the boards and getting hit. First we have to talk to him and it is all about communication. The games he played he did a pretty good job so hopefully he’s going to continue to do that,” said Hamrlik on Holtby and the importance of communication with a stick handling adept goalie.

“I think the communication is always there, I think it is still hard because obviously when the D are coming back for the puck we see one thing and he’s looking up and he sees another thing. It’s tough to communicate perfectly every time, but we do our best. He helps us out, especially on just little plays where we can go behind the net and he can get out of the net and play it to us. We still have time to maybe get the back of the net so they can’t pressure us right off of the bat. That is huge, first off we don’t get run every time and we have time to make a play, make the right play, and break out of the zone,” added Carlson providing some interesting scenarios for where #70 can make a huge difference.

So when you sum it up, for Washington to play its’ best hockey of the season they are going to have to simplify their game, win the special teams battle, and get stops plus puck movement from their goalie. As Hamrlik told me, there is a battle going on for every inch of space in the post season. Boston is a very good team and will try and be physical with Washington. That doesn’t bother guys like Perreault, who says that he doesn’t mind going into the high traffic areas. If #85 is doing that, then one would hope that Brooks Laich, Troy Brouwer, Joel Ward, and others do that as well. Even Ovechkin should make a habit of stopping in front of the net more often because the closer you are to the net, the higher the probability of the shot going in.

The formula is there for Washington to upset Boston, who are the heavy favorites based on the numerous series’ previews I’ve seen, but the execution is what matters.

Will this year be different? We’ll find out soon enough.

Notes: The Caps recalled forward Mattias Sjogren from Sweden today and he will practice with the team during the postseason. He is not eligible to play for Hershey in the AHL playoffs…both injured goalies Tomas Vokoun and Michal Neuvirth tried skating on Tuesday. #30 had the better session, but it doesn’t look like either guy will be ready to start a game any time soon…Hamrlik has a lot of playoff history against Boston and remember the Canadiens won the first two games of the opening round series last season before losing in overtime in game seven to the B’s..I will have my final series preview and prediction up on Wednesday night.

John Tortorella should be thanking his lucky stars that Alexander Ovechkin scored his 38th goal of the season just 32 seconds into the game to pave the way for a Washington 4-1 rout over his New York Rangers.

Why? Because the number one seeded Rags weren’t going to beat the Capitals in a seven game series in the opening round of the playoffs, which would have been the scenario had the Rangers knocked off the Caps today.

The Caps OWWWWNNNN the BlueShirts since New York has no match for Washington’s skilled players. Ovechkin (1 goal), Nicklas Backstrom (1 goal, 1 assist) and Alexander Semin (1 assist) light up when they see the slow Rangers defense and Henrik Lundqvist often has the task of trying to be the difference. On Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, King Henrik had no chance as the Capitals swarmed him in the opening frame en route to a 3-0 lead. Braden Holtby stopped 35 shots but most of them were from the perimeter as #70 made a strong case to be the first round starting goalie against the Boston Bruins, especially with both Michal Neuvirth and Tomas Vokoun not at 100% healthwise.

For the Rangers, they luck out and get the Ottawas Senators, which is a much easier matchup for them despite what Keith Jones of the Philadelphia Flyers, I mean NBC, thinks.

The Caps last chance to win the Southeast Division title went out the window when the Carolina Hurricanes laid down by playing goalie Brian Boucher in Florida. Give credit to the Cats though, they deserved the division title since the Caps were so inconsistent throughout the season. The Panthers take the #3 seed and will face the New Jersey Devils.

For Washington, a mostly miserable regular season is finally over. It started with a 7-0 run, included inconsistent play, a coaching change, and some key injuries (Backstrom and Mike Green) during the majority of it, while finishing with a 5-2 stretch to qualify for the post season. The Caps get the very difficult task of facing the Boston Bruins in the first round and they will be heavy underdogs.

The Bruins are good and experienced while the Capitals underachieved in the regular season. Add in the fact that Washington will be playing the goalie that is 3rd on the depth chart and on paper, this looks like a mismatch. Most of the national and local media will predict it that way, but that takes pressure off of the Capitals.

Still, they do have internal pressure to win. This team was picked to go far in the postseason back in October and owner Ted Leonsis won’t be happy with a first round exit, even if it does come against the defending Stanley Cup Champions.

For the Caps to find a way to beat Boston, they need to continue to do the things they did right on Saturday on Broadway. They need to go to the net and get traffic on the opposing goalie. They need to use solid defense to generate transition offense, like Roman Hamrlik did setting up a three on two for the Backstrom goal that made it 4-0. They also need good goaltending, like Holtby provided tonight.

What they need to improve on are some very important things. First, they still have a tendency to try to make the perfect or fancy play and that leads to too many turnovers in all zones. Coach Dale Hunter has to get the players to clean that up. The simple play is the one that works best in playoffs, not the “thread the needle” type passes that are tried too often by this hockey club.

In addition, the power play was 1 for 3 in New York but does anyone feel confident in it? The Rangers best chances to score came when the Caps were a man up because of poor decision making. Dennis Wideman had a terrible night manning the point. Green wasn’t much better and he certainly didn’t have his legs when chasing down Rangers on shorthanded semi breakaways in this one. If the Caps want to get the power play going then look no farther than how they scored against Lundqvist. John Carlson got the puck in the middle of the ice at the blue line and fired it on net. He didn’t look to pass, he simply sent the biscuit flying towards the cage where it was deflected home by a New York player. Good things happen when you shoot and the more the guys on the power play start to figure it out the more goals they’ll get and the number of shorthanded odd man breaks and goals against (the Capitals allowed 10 of them this year) will go down. It is a simple formula.

So 82 games are in the books and for the record the team went 42-32-8 for 92 points. They were 3-1 against the Bruins this year as well. But none of that means anything now, but what does matter is the Capitals need to improve in some key areas if they want to have a chance of winning against Boston and get a shot at owning the Rangers again in the post season in round two.

The Caps did Tortorella and company a favor tonight, but the fiery Rangers coach will never admit it.

You’re welcome John and hope to see you in round two.

Notes: Hamrlik had two assists in 16:38 of ice time and I am saying that was his best game of the season. He looked confident and poised throughout the contest…Carlson was good too in 20:25 of ice time. That is two super games in a row for him and he deserves more power play time with his excellent shot…Laich centered the top line and won the key faceoff that got Washington rollling…Joel Ward returned and played solid on a 4th line with Mathieu Perreault and Keith Aucoin. Ward’s grinding style seems to be a good fit for the postseason and the Caps will need big things out of him to try to stop a potent Bruins club…the full playoff schedule will be announced Sunday at 1 pm on the NHL Network.

In a season that has seen a coaching change, some key injuries, and more than its’ share of ups and downs, the Washington Capitals finally made the playoffs with one game remaining, after a 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers combined with the Philadelphia Flyers win over the Buffalo Sabres, 2-1. The Caps, believe it or not, still have a shot at the Southeast Division title and can finish either 3rd, 7th or 8th in the East, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s contests. Their first round opponent could be the New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, or New Jersey Devils.

But back to Thursday night, where the Caps faced a must win in their biggest game of the season. They got the job done, but it was not without another injury, and it was not an easy victory. Washington started sloppily in the opening frame but thanks to a Jay Beagle tally on a rebound of a Troy Brouwer shot plus some super goaltending by Michal Neuvirth, the Caps were fortunate to have a 1-0 lead. But things took a bad turn at the 5:39 mark of period two. Panther forward Marco Sturm fell into Neuvirth and #30 fell back awkwardly with his left leg trapped under him. He was in clear pain and he had to leave the contest after stopping all 13 shots he faced, many of them quality scoring chances.

At that point, the game could’ve gone either way when Braden Holtby (12 saves) entered. Knowing that #70 came on cold with no warmup, the Capitals immediately picked up their play. In addition, they received a boost from Coach Dale Hunter’s line combination changes that he made after the opening 20 minutes. Hunts moved Brooks Laich (1 goal, 1 assist) to center Alexander Ovechkin (1 goal) and Marcus Johansson (1 assist) while moving Nicklas Backstrom with Alexander Semin (1 goal) and Jason Chimera. The switch triggered the Washington offense and Ovechkin and Laich tallied two minutes apart to give the Caps a 3-0 lead.

“He wanted myself on that line just to add a little bit more defensive responsibility. That opens up Marcus and Alex to go and attack. If they know that I am going to be third guy high and then try and win my battles low and get the puck to them, they’re both great skaters that if I can get the puck to them in our zone, they can skate it out. That was the only thought process, shortly after that they both come down and they score a goal. So, it’s good strategy by the coaches,” added Laich on coach Hunter’s line juggling to start the second period.

Washington has struggled with leads lately and tonight saw another round of that start to occur. When five guys swarmed the puck after the Panthers crossed the Caps blueline, Sean Bergenheim alertly fed a streaking Mikael Samuelsson, who was all alone coming down the left wing. #26 fired a laser top shelf by Holtby and suddenly the Cats had life. Florida would pressure Washington, who had several stretches where they could not get the puck out of their own zone, for the rest of the period,  but after 40 minutes it was 3-1.

But just 43 seconds into the final period, the Caps failed to dump the puck deep and Florida took advantage getting an easy entry into the zone as the Capitals forwards changed. Then with the Caps defenders running around, Ed Jovanovski fired from the middle of the point and it went through a maze of players before getting by Holtby. At that point every Capitals fan had to think, “We’ve seen this movie before!” and for the next nine minutes it seemed like only a matter of time before the Panthers were going to tie it up. Luckily, the Caps finally found their legs when the Beagle line generated a super forecheck and from there on out Washington carried much of the play with Semin closing the deal with his 21st goal of the season with 1:02 to go.

It was another game where the Capitals looked like world beaters for stretches and then there were other periods where they seemed like the worst team in the league. When they struggled their breakouts were not crisp and they were lazy, at times, in the neutral zone, and that allowed Florida to get more offensive zone time. They did not play well away from the puck at all during those downturns and it was especiallly apparent that they were sitting back in the first 10 minutes of the third. Defensemen Karl Alzner (1 assist) commented on why they struggled early in the third period but were better down the stretch.

“I think we relaxed a little bit more and started getting a little bit of confidence back. We were talking about that on the bench, if there is a play to be made, make the play. Play with confidence, play still on the offensive with what made us get that lead. And that is what happens with all of the teams, you tighten up and you play too much defense and then we get picked apart through the neutral zone. So it was just getting a little bit of our swagger back, I think,” added King Karl on the problems the Caps have had lately when they get a lead and how they adjusted on Thursday.

At the end of the night though, the Capitals achieved their first and most important regular season goal: to make the playoffs. It is a different feel this spring as Washington is likely not going in as a favorite in their series. Because of the injuries and coaching change, they still have not played their best hockey either. They have been wildly inconsistent and their confidence needs boosting. Alzner’s point about getting their swagger back is an important one, Washington needs to find that right balance to be successful in the confidence department.

In the past, the Caps have gone into the post season having had long stretches of solid play during the latter part of the regular season. Maybe they’ve been overconfident in past years, but that won’t be the case this year. Also one could argue that the last four seasons, the Caps had already played their best hockey going into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Again, that certainly is NOT the case this year.

Will it make a difference in the post season results this year? We will find out, but one thing is for sure, there are plenty of things the team needs to work on before the first round starts. There is lots of room for upside and improvement and they’ll need to do so, especially if both Tomas Vokoun and Neuvirth aren’t healthy for the playoffs. Right now it looks like it is Holtby’s net, but #70 seems ready to handle that pressure.

In closing, there is one regular season game left at Madison Square Garden on Saturday against the Rangers (6:30 pm start). A win by the Caps and a regulation loss by the Panthers gives the Caps the Southeast Division title, home ice, and a date with the Devils. If the Cats get at least a point, the Caps win, and Ottawa loses in regulation, then Washington goes to Boston as the 7th seed. Finally, if the Caps lose or both Florida and Ottawa get at least a point, then it is the eighth seed and another series against John Tortorella and the Rangers.

Whoever they face, the Capitals have the potential to be a dangerous team, especially if they improve their play with the puck as well as away from it. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rangers would prefer facing either Florida or Ottawa instead of a team that underachieved in the first 82 games and finally has a healthy set of skaters, especially if they find their game and get their swagger back.

Notes: Semin’s ice time was increased to 19:19 after #28 only played 14 minutes on Monday. Smart move by Hunter to get the hard working winger more playing time…John Carlson logged 20:05 and had his best game in weeks, maybe even in months…Ovechkin now has 37 goals on the campaign…the Caps lost the faceoff battle 29-32, with Beagle (1 goal, 18:35 of ice time) going 10-6. #83 has been one of the most positive stories of the 2011-12 season and the coaching staff continues to use him in a key role on this team…Neuvirth is reportedly day to day with a lower body injury so expect the Caps to call up Dany Sabourin from Hershey if Vokoun isn’t ready yet…Joel Ward should be closer to returning and they will need #42 to play like he did for Nashville in the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs…the Sabres loss put the Panthers in the post season for the first time since 1999-2000.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The ninth-ranked Maryland men’s lacrosse team (5-2) wraps up its ACC regular-season slate when it welcomes No. 2 Virginia (8-1) to Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium for a noon start on Saturday, March 31.

• The game will be televised live nationally on ESPNU with Joe Beninati handling the play-by-play and Matt Ward and Ryan Boyle will provide the analysis.

• Maryland (5-2, 1-1 ACC) is coming off of an emotional 11-10 loss at No. 12 North Carolina last Saturday. Senior Joe Cummings led the Terps with four points on two goals and two assists. Junior Billy Gribbin netted his first hat trick as a Terp, while junior Owen Blye added three assists. Sophomore goalie Niko Amato made 10 saves in defeat with freshman defender Goran Murray scoring his first collegiate goal and setting career highs with three groundballs and three caused turnovers.

• For the season, Cummings leads the Terps in points and goals with 19 and 12, respectively. Freshman Jay Carlson is the only other Terp with double-digit goals with 10. Blye leads the team with eight assists. Defensively, Amato has stopped 61.5 percent of the shots put on goal by opponents and has a 6.61 goals-against average, which each leads the ACC. Junior long pole Jesse Bernhardt leads the team with 29 groundballs and 14 caused turnovers.

• The Cavaliers are 8-1 on the year after dropping their first game of the year last Saturday at home to then-No. 2 Johns Hopkins, 11-10 in overtime. Prior to that Virginia had won 13 straight games, dating back to last season’s 19-10 loss at Duke in the ACC semifinals. This season the Wahoos are led again by 2011 Tewaaraton Trophy winner Steele Stanwick, who has 39 points on 11 goals and 28 assists. Chris Bocklett leads the Cavaliers, who have a total of seven double-digit goal scorers, with 22 goals. Rob Fortunato has started all nine games in cage for Virginia and ranks second among ACC goalies with a .599 save percentage and a 7.57 goals-against average.

Honorary Captain
John Schofield, a two-time All-American at Maryland who played from 1963-65, will be the Terps’ honorary captain for the Virginia game. During his career from 1963 to 1965, Schofield received prestigious Maryland awards such as the Edwin E. Powell Trophy as the team MVP and the Deckman-Silber Memorial Award as the team’s most outstanding defensemen. In 1965 he made 190 saves and was the recipient of the C.M. Kelly Memorial Cup, which is presented annually to the nation’s most outstanding goalie. He still ranks among the top 10 on the school’s all-time saves list.

1950′s Decade Reunion
Saturday will also be the 1950′s Decade Reunion for Maryland Terrapin men’s lacrosse teams from 1950-59. The 1950′s featured three USILA National Championship teams (1955, 1956 and 1959) and five ACC title teams (1955-59) under the guidance of lengendary Hall of Fame coaches Jack Faber and Al Heagy. The 1950′s Maryland teams combined for an 84-18-1 (.820) record and featured a total of 64 All-Americans. The 1955 National Championship team featured four Terps who would go on to be inducted into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame – James Kappler, James Keating, John Simmons and Charles Wicker.

National Award Winners from the 1950′s
Turnbull Memorial Award (nation’s top attackman): C. Rennie Smith (1954), Richard Corrigan (1958)
Schmeisser Memorial Cup (nation’s top defenseman): William Hubbell (1952), John Simmons (1956)
Kelly Memorial Cup (nation’s top goalie): William Larash (1952), James Kappler (1955, 1956, 1957)
USILA Coach of the Year: John Faber

The Count Down
10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 87 of the 95 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .916 winning percentage.
9 … Maryland is 104-23 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .819 winning percentage.
8 … John Haus has eight career points vs. Virginia in four meetings.
7 … Seven Terps have double-digit points so far in 2012.
6 … Maryland is ranked sixth in the nation in scoring defense, allowing just 7.43 goals per game.
5 … Owen Blye had five points in last season’s regular season game at Virginia.
4 … Maryland (2004, 2008) and Virginia (2006, 2010) have split the last four regular season games played in College Park.
3 … Three Terps have caused at least 10 turnovers in 2012 - Jesse Bernhardt (14), Brian Cooper (11) and Michael Ehrhardt (11).
2 … This is the second-straight season that both Maryland and Virginia come into this game with each team having lost the previous week. Prior to last year, that hadn’t happened since 1993.
1 … Four of the last 10 meetings between Maryland and Virginia have been decided by one goal.

Coaching Match-Up
• John Tillman is in his fifth season as a head coach, and second with the Terps, with a 38-26 career record for a 59.4 winning percentage. Tillman is 18-7 (.720) as Maryland’s head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.

• Dom Starsia, who is in his 30th season as a head coach, has won 73.9 percent of his games at Brown and Virginia (337-119 overall record). His 337 wins are the most all-time at any four-year college or university.

• Tillman has a 1-1 career record against Virginia. In the 2011 regular season meeting Maryland won 12-7 in Virginia’s Scott Stadium. The Wahoos the won a 9-7 decision in the 2011 NCAA title game.

Series History vs. Virginia
• The Maryland-Virginia rivalry is the third-longest in Terrapin lacrosse history with Maryland holding a 45-42 (.517) advantage, dating to the first game — a Terps’ 10-1 victory on April 24, 1926. The 45 wins are the third-highest number of victories Maryland has against any team. The Terps have defeated Duke 59 times and Navy 51 times.

• Virginia and Maryland met in an all-ACC NCAA title game with the Wahoos winning the championship, 9-7. Grant Catalino and John Haus led the Terps with three points apiece. Niko Amato made eight saves in the game.

• In the 2011 regular season, the Cavaliers hosted the Terps in UVa’s Scott Stadium prior to the annual Orange/Blue Spring Football game. A crowd of 10,545 came out and saw Maryland defeate Virginia, 12-7. Ryan Young led all scorers with six points in the win on two goals and four assists, while Joe Cummings and John Haus each scored four goals for the Terps. Niko Amato proved once again that he plays his best on a big stage with a 12-save effort.

• The two teams met again in the championship game of the 2010 ACC Tournament and again it was the Cavaliers coming out on top, 10-6. Maryland couldn’t solve Virginia goalie Adam Ghitelman, who was named the Tournament MVP after making 16 saves vs. the Terps. Grant Catalino led Maryland on offense with a goal and an assist, while Max Schmidt had two groundballs and three caused turnovers to pace the defensive effort.

• The meeting in the 2010 regular season had a silimar theme to the previous two games between Maryland and Virginia – controversy. The Wahoos raced out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter and held a 10-5 lead early in the fourth. But Maryland rallied to score four unanswered goals in the fourth to cut the deficit to one. The game appeared to be tied when Ryan Young batted a loose ball into the Cavalier goal with 2:00 left in the game. But, the goal was waved off when the cross-field official whistled Young for being in the crease. The controversy came when TV replays of the play failed to show Young step in the crease conclusively. Virginia went up 11-9 on the transition following the call. Will Yeatman, who led Maryland with four goals and an assist in the game, scored with less than a minute to go to cut the lead to 11-10, but the Terps couldn’t get the tying goal before the clock expired. Brian Phipps was terrific in net for the Terps, stopping 16 Wahoo shots.

• In 2009 it took seven overtimes (the longest Division I men’s lacrosse game in history) for Virginia to eek out a 10-9 victory in Charlottesville. The win was not without controversy as an official’s inadvertant whistle wiped off a goal by Grant Catalino just nine seconds into the first overtime. Will Yeatman was a dominant force in the game, accounting for two goals and three assists. Brian Phipps was spectacular in cage, stopping 11 Wahoo shots.

• The two teams played three times in 2008. In the regular-season game the then-No. 4 Terps knocked off the newly minted No. 1 Cavaliers, 13-7, at Capital One 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.

• The two teams then hooked-up in the 2008 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.

• The Wahoos also took the rubber match, a controversial 8-7 overtime thriller in the NCAA Quarterfinals in Annapolis. Early in the fourth quarter, with the Maryland holding a 7-6 lead, Travis Reed appeared to give Maryland a two-goal cushion, but a Cavalier defender pushed Ryan Young into the crease before the goal, nullifying the score. The Cavaliers went on to tie the game in regulation before scoring the game-winner with just 34 seconds left in the first overtime period.

• 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 has won three of six 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. Virginia then took the 2008 quart erfinal game, 8-7, in overtime at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis. The Cavaliers continues its winning streak over the Terps in the NCAA tournament with a 9-7 win in the 2011 NCAA title game..

The Stretch: Carolina, Virginia, Navy, Hopkins
• Since 1978 Maryland’s schedule has been highlighted by a four-game stretch in the middle of its season: North Carolina, Virginia, Navy and Johns Hopkins. In the 35-year span only four times has the stretch been interrupted with another game added in between one of these traditional four (1981, 1997, 2001, 2003).

• Overall, Maryland is 62-75 (.453) since 1978 vs. those four teams during that time.

• The Terps have swept the four games only once – in 1987. Only twice (1981 & 1988) has Maryland lost all four games. Six times (1978, 1979, 1989, 1996, 1998, 2001) the Terps have won three of the four games. Johns Hopkins broke up the Terps’ bid for a perfect stretch four times, while Carolina and Virginia broke it up one time each.

The Terps On ESPNU
• Maryland has had 39 games on ESPNU since 2006. Maryland is 22-17 (.564) all-time in games broadcast on ESPNU.

• This will be the first of at least four games (at UNC, vs. Virginia, at Johns Hopkis, at ACC tournament) Maryland will play on ESPNU in 2012.

Cooper To Serve One-Game Suspension
• Junior midfielder Kevin Cooper will serve a one-game suspension this Saturday. Cooper was ejected from the March 24 North Carolina game and will serve the NCAA’s mandatory one-game suspension for an expulsion foul. The ACC reviewed all available video footage of the on-field altercation and determined no additional suspension was warranted.

Going Purple
· Once again this season, the Terps will be wearing purple “MY” stickers, to show their support for the fight against pancreatic cancer, which touched everyone in the Maryland lacrosse family last season with the passing of Maria Young on April 17.

· This past fall the Terps, Maryland alums and family and friends came together for the inaugural Forever Young Walk/Run for Pancreatic Cancer Awareness. More on Ms. Young and her amazing story can be found here: Forever Young.

· If you’re interested in more information about the Lustgarten Foundation, including how to make a donation, click here to visit the foundation’s website. You can also get more information on pancreatic cancer at CurePC.org.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about pancreatic cancer from the American Cancer Society:
· More than 43,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer present each year
· There are more than 36,000 deaths from pancreatic cancer each year
· The lifetime risk of having pancreatic cancer is about 1 in 71.
· The risk is about the same for both men and women.

Going Gray
· Maryland players will also be wearing gray stickers with the number 42 in honor of Zack Wholley’s father, John, who passed away from brain cancer on August 28, 2011.

· If you’re interested in more information, please visit the National Brain Tumor Society website.

In case you’re wondering here are some facts about brain and spinal cord tumors from the American Cancer Society:
· About 22,910 malignant tumors of the brain or spinal cord (12,630 in males and 10,280 in females) will be diagnosed. These numbers would likely be much higher if benign tumors were also included.
· About 13,700 people (7,720 males and 5,980 females) will die from these tumors.
· Overall, the chance that a person will develop a malignant tumor of the brain or spinal cord in his or her lifetime is about one in 150 for a man and one in 185 for a woman.

Get To 10 And Win
• One axiom of lacrosse is that if you score 10 goals or more your chances of winning are pretty good. Well, a look at the results since 2002 shows that when Maryland scores 10 or more goals there’s not just a pretty good chance the Terrapins will win; it’s an almost certainty. Since 2002 Maryland has won 87 of the 94 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .926 winning percentage.

· The Terps scored 11 vs. Johns Hopkins on April 16, 2011, but the Blue Jays won the game in overtime, 12-11. On April 3 of last season the Terps lost to No. 1 Virginia by a final of 11-10, giving Maryland its only loss when scoring 10 or more goals in 2010. In 2009 the Terps lost to Georgetown, 13-10 on Feb. 21 and lost again when scoring 10 in the ACC Semifinals in a 16-10 defeat at North Carolina. Prior to that, Maryland had not lost when scoring 10 or more goals since dropping an 11-10 decision to Virginia in the semifinals of the ACC Tournament in Durham, N.C. The Terrapins got to 10 goals in the 100th game against Johns Hopkins, but the Blue Jays took the game 14-10. Virginia is the only team to beat the Terps twice when allowing 10 or more goals. The Wahoos did it first in 2002 with another 11-10 decision.

Holding Opponents To Single-Digits
• The Terps have been extremely impressive (winning 92.6 percent of its games since 2002) when it scores 10 or more goals, they have been nearly as impressive when holding opponents to less than 10 goals during that span.

• Since 2002 Maryland is 104-23 in games, for a .819 winning percentage, when it has held opponents under 10 goals. The Terps have played 168 total games since 2002. Maryland has held opponents to nine goals or less 75.6 percent of the time.

Shooting Tells The Story
• The difference between winning and losing for Maryland this season is simple – when the Terps shoot well they win. As it turns out 30% is the magic number for the Terps this season. Maryland is 5-2 on the year and has shot 30% or better in all five victories.

Hartford: 12 goals, 40 shots = 30%
at Georgetown: 16 goals, 41 shots = 39.0%
Duke: 10 goals, 28 shots = 35.7%
at UMBC: 7 goals, 30 shots = 23.3%
Marist: 17 goals, 43 shots = 39.5%
Villanova: 11 goals, 31 shots = 35.5%
at North Carolina: 10 goals, 35 shots = 28.6%

• Since 2005 the Terps are a remarkable 50-3 (.943) when shooting 30% or better in a game. The first game Maryland lost during that stretch was a 13-10 decision to Georgetown in 2009 (the Terps shot 10 of 30 for 33.3% vs. the Hoyas). The second loss came in 2010 in the controversial 11-10 loss to No. 1 Virginia on April 3. The Terps shot 10 of 33 for 30.3%. The most recent came on April 16, 2011 in a 12-11 overtime loss to No. 3 Johns Hopkins.

Fast Starts
• Since 2002 only 13 players (for a total of 23 times) have totaled 17 points or more in the first seven games of a season. One of those 23 is on this year’s team.

• Joe Cummings has been a consistent threat during his tenure as a Terp, but since moving to his natural position of attack this season he has been an even more potent point producer. Through seven games Cummings has 19 points on 12 goals and seven assists. Last year as a midfielder he had 15 points on 14 goals and one assist.

Youth Is Served
• Maryland started two sophomores (Michael Ehrhardt and Brian Cooper) and a freshman (Goran Murray) at close defense in the 2012 season-opening win over Hartford. The last time Maryland’s defense had two sophomore and one freshman starting was 2005 when sophomores Steve Whittenberg and Ray Megill started alongside freshman Joe Cinosky. The first game that group started together was April 23, 2005 at Fairfield (a 9-6 Terrapin win).

• Goran Murray became the first Maryland freshman to start at close defense in a season opener since 2008 when Max Schmidt started in an 11-6 win at Georgetown.

Face-Off Firsts
• Junior Curtis Holmes’ 19-of-20 (.950) performance facing-off vs. Hartford in the 2012 season opener is just the fifth time since 2000 that a Maryland face-off man has won at least 90% of his draws with at least 10 attempts.

• Holmes joins Andy Claxton and Brian Haggerty as the only Terps with multiple games of 19 or more face-off wins. Claxton did it three times (27 at Towson in 1991, 21 vs. Duke in 1991 and 19 at Brown in 1991), while Haggerty did it twice (20 vs. Butler in 1998 and 19 vs. Virginia in 1998). Holmes had 20 wins vs. Georgetown last season to go along with his 19 vs. the Hawks, which makes him the only Terp to win 19 or more face-offs in different seasons.

• The last 90% performance was in 2008 when Bryn Holmes, Curtis’ older brother, won 9-of-10 face-offs at Mount St. Mary’s.

• The last time a Terp faced-off with a winning percentage above 90% was on March 21, 2006 when David Tamberrino won 12-of-13 in a 14-2 win over Dartmouth.

Best Face-Off Performances Since 2000
Curtis Holmes - 19/20 (.950) vs. Hartford 2/18/12
Brian Carroll - 12/13 (.923) at Delaware 3/17/01
Davin Tamberrino – 12/13 (.923) vs. Dartmouth 3/21/06
Jeremy Pastula - 11/12 (.917) at Towson 3/8/03
Bryn Holmes - 9/10 (.900) at Mount St. Mary’s 2/26/08
Bryn Holmes - 12/14 (.857) vs. Presbyterian 2/13/09
Brian Carroll - 11/13 (.846) vs. Mount St. Mary’s 2/26/02
Bryn Holmes - 11/13 (.846) vs. Air Force 2/14/09
Ryan Moran - 10/12 (.833) vs. Bucknell 3/11/03
Will Dalton - 18/22 (.818) vs. Vermont 2/20/07
Curtis Holmes - 17/21 (.810) vs. Detroit Mercy 2/19/11

The 700 Club
· Maryland’s 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 was the program’s 700th victory in 84 seasons of varsity men’s lacrosse. The Terps join Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy and Army as the only programs with 700 or more Division I wins.

· Two things that make Maryland’s accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Terps reached the 700-win plateau in just their 84th season. Only Syracuse reached win No. 700 in as few seasons, but it took the Orange 53 more games than Maryland. In fact, Maryland needed only 940 games to reach 700 wins and only Johns Hopkins needed fewer games (932) to hit the historic number, but the Blue Jays did so in their 105th season.

Terps’ 87th Season Of Lacrosse
· The Terps boast an all-time record of 733-249-4 (.745), 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 85 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 10-6. The program reached the 700-win milestone with a 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 at Ludwig Field.

· During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted 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. So far, Maryland is 25-9 in the 2010′s for a .735 winning percentage.

First-Time Opponents
• Maryland has played 78 different opponents in its 87 seasons. The 2012 season added Hartford (a 12-6 win on 2/18) and will add Marist (3/10) to that list. In the Terps’ 78 first-time meetings Maryland is 74-4 (.949) in those games. Adelphi (12-13, 1982), Army (0-3, 1923), Syracuse (3-10, 1927) and Yale (3-5, 1925) are the only schools to beat the Terps the first time the schools met on a lacrosse field.

Maryland In Season Openers
• Maryland has a 83-3-1 (.960) lifetime record in season openers dating back to the 1924 season. The Terps have won their last 19 openers and 26 of the last 27, 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.)

19 Straight in Season Openers
• After beating Hartford to open the 2012 season the Terps have an 19-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), Bellarmine (twice), Presbyterian, Detroit Mercy and Hartford. Over the 19-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 267-99 (an average score of 14.1-5.2) in those games.

· The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 18 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.

Consecutive 10-Win Seasons
· The 11-9 victory over Duke on April 24, 2011 was the 10th of the year for Maryland, giving it nine straight seasons with double-digit wins. (Special thanks to Patrick Stevens of the D1Scourse.com).

· How does that stack up against the rest of the college lacrosse programs? Take a look at programs with at least five-straight 10-win seasons:
Maryland (9): 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-4), 2009 (10-7), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6), 2006 (12-5), 2005 (11-6), 2004 (13-3), 2003 (12-4)
Cornell (7): 2011 (12-3), 2010 (12-6), 2009 (11-3), 2008 (11-4), 2007 (15-1), 2006 (11-3), 2005 (11-3)
Virginia (7): 2011 (13-5), 2010 (16-2), 2009 (14-2), 2008 (14-4), 2007 (12-4), 2006 (17-0), 2005 (11-4)
Notre Dame (6): 2011 (11-3), 2010 (10-7), 2009 (15-1), 2008 (14-3), 2007 (11-4), 2006 (10-5)
Duke (5): 2011 (14-6), 2010 (16-4), 2009 (15-4), 2008 (18-2), 2007 ( 17-3)
Siena (5): 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-5), 2009 (12-6), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6)

A Family Affair
· Many school’s refer to their sports programs as families, but the Maryland men’s lacrosse program is truely a family affair. Since 2002, the Terps have had 13 sets of brothers, including three on this season’s roster, don the red and black together for at least one season.

Harry & Thomas Alford: 2004-05-06-07
Jake & Jesse Bernhardt: 2010-11-12
Justin & Owen Blye: 2009-10-11
Brian & Kevin Cooper: 2011-12
Billy & Bobby Gribbin: 2012
Brendan & Ian Healy: 2003-04-05
Bryn & Curtis Holmes: 2010
Bryn & Travis Holmes: 2007
Dan & Mike LaMonica: 2002
Chris & Willy Passavia: 2002-03
Brian & Michael Phipps: 2007
Max & Xander Ritz: 2005-06
Mark & Michael White: 2008-09-10-11