For those lacrosse fans that missed the incredible UMBC vs. Albany contest on April 21, the two teams renew their rivalry with much higher stakes at UMBC Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Retrievers and Great Danes meet for the sixth time in nine years at the America East Conference Tournament when No. 2 seeded-UMBC and No. 3 Albany face off at 7:30 p.m. The Retrievers rallied from five goals down with less than six minutes to play for a dramatic 17-16 overtime victory just 11 days ago. Coverage of the contest is available  on www.umbcretrievers.tv.

SCOUTING THE RETRIEVERS

-JR A Scott Jones and SO face-off specialist Phil Poe were named to the America East Conference First Team by the league’s head coaches. SR D Aaron Verardi earned Second Team honors, along with JR M Scott Hopmann. FR A/M Derek Bertolini was tabbed to the All-Rookie Team, while JR D Ethan Murphy earned a spot on the All Academic Team.

- Jones added three goals on Saturday at Binghamton and his 34 scores is tied for the 17th-most in school history . He has hat tricks or better in five of his last six games and seven on the season.

- SO A Matt Gregoire scored three goals in the game and has 12 goals in five America East games. He has scored those 12 goals on 18 shots.

- The final member of the attack unit, junior Joe Lustgarten contributed three assists and became the 21st player in school history to post 25 assists in a season. He has multiple assists in eight consecutive games.

- UMBC is 11-of-16 in man-up opportunities against America East Conference foes in 2012.

SCOUTING THE GREAT DANES

- SR A Joe Resetarits was named America East Conference Player of the Year in a vote by the league’s head coaches. Resetarits led America East with 41 goals and 59 total points. In a win over Siena (14-13) and a loss to Stony Brook (12-11), Resetarits extended his nation-leading goal-scoring streak to 47 games and recorded his 24th and 25th hat tricks.

- SR D Travis Lyons also earned First Team honors, while SO A Miles Thompson, SO D Cody Futia and SR face-off specialist Keith Olson earned Second Team honors. Albany had three players on the All-Rookie Team- D Mike Miller, A Will Stenburg and M Lyle Thompson.

- FR goalkeeper Max Huber continued his strong play in the net, making 18 saves in the two games last week, while facing 81 total shots.

- Olson was key in both games, as he went 27-of-49 in the face off circle, including a 17-of-24 performance against Stony Brook, picking up a team-high 14 ground balls.

- Albany is 3-3 in games decided by one or two goals this season and its last three games have been decided by a single score.

UMBC VS. ALBANY
UMBC leads, 10-4
2004    H W 10-9
H# L 8-9 (OT)
2005    A W 9-8
2006    H W 10-9
H# W 19-10
2007    A L 9-13
A# L 14-15
2008    H W 14-10
H# W 14-13
2009    A W 15-7
2010    H W 12-7
H# L 7-11
2011    A W 13-9
2012    H W 17-16 (OT)
# America East Tournament

Notes: UMBC has won two straight and six of seven in the series, but the Great Danes have won three of five tournament games vs. UMBC, including both semifinal encounters at UMBC Stadium (2004, 2010)… On both of those occasions, UMBC had won the regular season meeting in Baltimore, but Albany rebounded to win in tournament action.

Seven of the 14 meetnigs between UMBC and Albany have been decided by a single goal- UMBC is 5-2 in those contests.

RETRIEVER SCORING VS. UA
Grimm           6gp     5-8-13
Jones           4gp     9-0-9
Brown           3gp     2-6-8
Hopmann 2gp     3-0-3
Lustgarten      3gp     0-5-5

Game Data

Loyola University Maryland makes its second trip to the Rocky Mountains this week as it travels to Denver for the ECAC Lacrosse League Championships.

The Greyhounds, who earned the top seed in the tournament with a 6-0 record in the league during the regular season, will face host Denver University, the No. 4 seed, in a semifinal game on Wednesday, May 2, at 5 p.m. (Mountain).

The winner of the Loyola-Denver game will face the winner of No. 2 Ohio State University and No. 3 Fairfield University in the ECAC Championship Game at 4 p.m. (Mountain) on Friday, May 3, in a game that will air on ESPNU.

Free Webstream Available

The ECAC semifinals will be webstreamed live, free of charge, on DenverPioneers.com.

Series History

Denver and Loyola will meet for the fourth time in series history on Wednesday with the Pioneers holding a 2-1 advantage in the first three games. Denver won regular-season games against the Greyhounds in 2010 and 2011, but the Greyhounds prevailed, 12-9, less than three weeks ago, on April 14, at Peter Barton Stadium.

Mike Sawyer scored three times, and Eric Lusby added a pair of goals, as nine Loyola players scored in that victory. Denver took its only lead of the game, 8-7, with 8:24 to play in the third quarter on an Eric Adamson goal, but Nikko Pontrello scored for Loyola less than three minutes later, sparking a 4-0 run that the Greyhounds would extend to 5-1 to close the game.

ECAC Championships History

Loyola was the No. 2 seed in the first ECAC Championships, which were also held at Denver last year. The Greyhounds lost, 11-9, to third-seeded Fairfield in the semifinal. The host Pioneers took home the title and earned the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament last season.

In The Polls

Loyola’s first loss of the season last Saturday, to then-No. 10 Johns Hopkins, dropped the Greyhounds from the top spot nationally where they resided for two weeks.

The Greyhounds are now No. 3 in both the USILA coaches and Inside Lacrosse/Nike poll.

Denver is ranked 12th in the coaches poll, 11th in the media.

Record-Tying Win Streak

Loyola’s 12-straight to start the season tied the school record for consecutive victories, matching the number put up by the 1998 (March 14-May 17) and 1999 (March 6-May 8).

It also matched the best start to a season, equaling the 1999 team that finished the regular-season unblemished at 12-0.

Ratliff Named ECAC Defender Of The Year

Junior long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff was named the ECAC Defensive Player of the Year on Monday, marking the second time in four years a Greyhounds’ long pole has received the award. P.T. Ricci earned the honor in 2009, as well.

Ratliff leads the ECAC with 30 caused turnovers (2.31 per game) and is seventh nationally in that category, and he is tops on the Greyhounds with 52 ground balls (4.0 per contest).

The native of Marietta, Ga., also has scored six goals and has six assists this year, keying the Greyhounds’ transition game on many occasions. He earned ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week twice during the year and was the Defensive Player of the Week early in the season.

Ratliff is one of two Greyhounds, along with Mike Sawyer on attack, who is a semifinalist for the Tewaaraton Award as the nation’s top player.

Toomey Tabbed ECAC Coach Of The Year

Loyola Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year for the third time in his seven-year career. This season, Toomey guided the Greyhounds to a 12-1 mark during the regular-season and the ECAC regular-season crown with a 6-0 mark in conference play.

The Greyhounds became the second team in USILA Coaches Poll history to start a season unranked and ascend to the No. 1 spot in the rankings. The only other team was Duke in 2007 – a year after the Blue Devils had their season suspended in March – which accomplished the feat after being unranked in the first poll, moving to second in the next version and first in the third. Duke was knocked from its perch as No. 1 that season when it lost to the Greyhounds at the First Four in San Diego.

Earlier this season, Toomey won the 50th game of his coaching career, becoming the fourth coach in Loyola history to win 50 or more – Dave Cottle (181-70, 1983-2001), Charles Wenzel (62-104, 1954-1970), Jay Connor (61-46, 1975-1982).  Toomey’s .611 winning percentage trails only Cottle’s .721 at Loyola.

All-ECAC Honors

Five Loyola players earned All-ECAC Lacrosse League honors form the conference’s coaches on Monday. Long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff earned a spot as a defender on the First Team, where he was joined by Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield.

Sawyer led the ECAC during the regular-season, and was third nationally, in goals (41) and goals per game (3.15). Butts scored 15 goals and assisted on 11 from the Greyhounds first midfield line while also playing a role on the wings during face-offs with 33 ground balls.

Attack Eric Lusby and defender Joe Fletcher were tabbed to the All-ECAC Second Team. Lusby is second on the team and in the top-20 nationally with 34 goals, and he also has 10 assists this season. Fletcher came on as one of the top lock-down defenders around, earning Midseason All-American honors from Inside Lacrosse last month. He has 25 ground balls and 14 caused turnovers entering the post season.

Comeback Falls Short

The Greyhounds trailed Johns Hopkins 9-5 when Rob Guida scored with 14:13 to play in regulation, but Loyola held the Blue Jays scoreless for the remainder of the fourth quarter and scored four-straight goals to send the game to overtime.

With less than 10 seconds to play, Justin Ward dodged around the crease, and he whipped a shot past Blue Jays goalkeeper Pierce Bassett with 5.4 ticks left to tie the game at 9-9.

The Greyhounds won the face-off to start overtime and were able to get off two shots. Chris Layne had an attempt go wide left, and Eric Lusby’s shot hit the left post, after which Johns Hopkins picked up the ground ball.

Johns Hopkins’ first shot went wide left, and then with less than 10 seconds in overtime, Loyola’s Josh Hawkins trail-checked a John Ranagan shot from the right side, but the ball floated right to the stick of Zach Palmer, just below goal-line-extended on the right side. Palmer flicked a pass to Guida on the crease, and he one-timed a shot into the net with 2.3 seconds left in the period for the win.

Packed House

Loyola recorded its second sellout crowd in the three-year history of Ridley Athletic Complex last Saturday when it hosted Johns Hopkins. Six-thousand people filled the stands on the school’s first official Homecoming event.

Close Calls Against Championships Competition

Loyola defeated the numbers, two, three and four seeds by one (8-7, Ohio State), two (8-6, Fairfield) and three (12-9, Denver) goals this season.

Overall this year, Loyola has outscored opponents by an average of 4.84 goals per game, the third-best scoring margin mark in the nation.

Business Trip

Before taking on Johns Hopkins on April 28, the Greyhounds last played at Ridley Athletic Complex on March 31 before embarking on a three-game ECAC Lacrosse League road trip that took Loyola over 2,200 miles for games against Fairfield, Denver and Hobart.

Loyola defeated the trio of teams to clinch the ECAC regular-season title.

Regular-Season Sweep

Loyola finished its ECAC Lacrosse League regular-season schedule with a 6-0 record to win its first outright conference title since 2008.

The Greyhounds’ undefeated league record is the second in the history of the program – Loyola was an independent at the NCAA Division I level from 1982-2001 and again from 2003-2005. The Greyhounds won the 2002 Colonial Athletic Conference crown with a 5-0 mark.

Ratliff, Sawyer Named Tewaaraton Semifinalists

Juniors Scott Ratliff and Mike Sawyer were named to the Tewaaraton Award semifinal list as the game’s top players, making Loyola one of five schools – joining Johns Hopkins, Princeton, Massachusetts and Virginia – to have two players make the 25-man list.

Loyola is also one of six schools to have at least one male and one female semifinalist, as sophomore Marlee Paton made the women’s list from Loyola. The winners of both awards will be selected on May 31, 2012, in Washington, D.C.

40-Goal Mark

Mike Sawyer scored four goals on April 21 at Hobart and added another versus Johns Hopkins, raising his season total to 41 through 13 games. Against Hobart, he became the first Loyola player to reach 40 goals in a season since Tim Goettelmann and Gavin Prout scored 50 and 41, respectively, in 2000.

In addition to being just the third Loyola player to score 40-plus this century, Sawyer is the seventh Greyhound to reach the mark since Loyola moved to NCAA Division I status in 1982.

Defense Standing Tall

The Greyhounds’ defense is ranked seventh in NCAA Division I, and tops in the ECAC, with a 7.31 goals allowed per game mark. It took 13 games for an opponent to reach double-figures in goals against Loyola when Johns Hopkins reached 10 with an overtime goal. The Greyhounds had been one of just two teams in the nation (Notre Dame) to limit opponents to nine or fewer.

Big Runs

Loyola used runs of three-plus goals at important junctures of its first 13 games, helping the Greyhounds to wins each time. In all, Loyola has scored three or more in a row on 25 occasions this season.

Loyola used four three-goal runs against Duke, including one three-goal streak that put Loyola up 4-1 at the beginning of the second quarter. The Greyhounds never trailed after that initial three-goal run and extended their lead to 13-5 after its fourth three-goal spurt of the game.

The Greyhounds had their longest run in almost two years against Air Force, scoring 10 in a row to open the second half. The last time Loyola scored 10 or more in a row was on March 20, 2010, when it had 14 straight against Air Force.

At Fairfield, Loyola scored the final four goals of the game to rally from a 6-4 deficit to win 8-6. The Greyhounds then scored four in a row during the third and fourth quarters at Denver that brought them from down 8-7 to a 12-9 victory.

Versus Johns Hopkins, the Greyhounds scored four in a row, holding the Blue Jays scoreless for the last 14:13 of regulation, to tie the game at 9-9, sending it to overtime.

On The Flip Side

Conversely, the Greyhounds have allowed a run of three or more goals just eight times this year, with the most recent coming when Denver scored three on two occasions. Only Johns Hopkins (five), Fairfield (five), Air Force (four) have scored more than three in a row this year.

Following six of the eight opponent runs of three or more, Loyola has answered in kind with a run of 4-0 or better.

Sawyer, Lusby Form Rare Tandem

Graduate student Eric Lusby and junior Mike Sawyer have formed the top attack tandem in the ECAC Lacrosse League this year and one of the most balanced in the nation. The duo has combined for 75 goals in 13 games this season, an average of 5.8 per game.

Sawyer has scored 41 goals, and his 3.15 goals per game average is third-best in Division I. Lusby, meanwhile is right behind with 34 goals and a 2.62 goals per game mark, a number that is tied for 14th in the country. Loyola is one of two schools to have two players in the top 14 of goals per game nationally.

The Greyhounds have not had two players score 32 or more goals in the same season since 2000 when Tim Goettelmann set the school single-season record with 50, and Gavin Prout tallied 41. As a side note, the Goettelmann-Prout duo has gone on to highly successful professional careers. Goettelman recently retired from Major League Lacrosse as the league’s all-time leading scorer with 268 goals in 11 seasons. Prout has been an MLL Champion and has scored 314 National Lacrosse League goals to go with 625 assists as a multiple-time all-star.

Runkel Moving Up Stats Charts

Entering the final game of the 2012 regular-season, sophomore goalkeeper Jack Runkel has risen to eighth in the nation with a 7.52 goals against average. In 11 games, nine starts, Runkel has made saves on 55.9-percent of shots on goal he’s faced, the No. 17 mark in the country.

While Runkel has picked up three weekly conference awards this year, much of the credit can also go to the defensive unit as a whole. Opponents have taken 330 total shots while Runkel has been in goal this year, but just 179 have been on goal.

Runkel made a career-high 14 saves against Johns Hopkins.

On The EMO

This season, the Greyhounds are ranked second in the nation in man-up offense, scoring 51.4-percent of the time. Only Lehigh (.553) has a better mark this year.

The last time Loyola finished above .500 in man-up offense was in 1997 when it converted 39-of-77 (.506).

Second-Half Success

The Greyhounds have now outscored opponents 47-19 in the third quarters of games and 88-44 overall this year in the second half (including overtime).

The second-half scoring continues a trend from the last two seasons. Last year, Loyola outscored opponents, 69-52, after halftime (including two overtime goals), and 77-56 two years ago.

Record At Ridley

After going 4-1 at Ridley Athletic Complex last season, the Greyhounds have gone 6-1 at home this year. Loyola is now 14-4 all-time at Ridley.

BALTIMORE - Loyola University Maryland graduate student Eric Lusby and senior Ana Heneberry were the 2012 recipients of the John R. Mohler and Ernest Lagna Awards, respectively, as the top male and female senior student-athletes who excel in athletics, scholarship and character.

These awards, and many others, were presented on Monday evening at the 2012 Loyola Athletic Awards Banquet held in McGuire Hall on the Evergreen Campus.

Heneberry, a four-year lacrosse letterwinner, will graduate from Loyola as one of the most decorated and accomplished student-athletes in Greyhound women’s lacrosse history. The Preseason BIG EAST Defensive Player of the Year, Heneberry helped the team to its first BIG EAST conference title in 2011 and has led this year’s version to a No. 2 seed in the upcoming conference tournament. An All-BIG EAST selection as a sophomore and a junior, she also earned third-team All-America honors following last season.

Lusby returned from an injury that cost him his senior season, but came back to captain the Greyhounds as a graduate student. He has led the Greyhounds to their most successful season in more than 10 years, scoring 34 goals and notching 10 assists thus far. He was a Tewaaraton Award nominee for the nation’s top player, and his leadership, hard work and dedication helped Loyola win the ECAC regular-season title and reach as high as No. 1 in the nation.

Several other awards were handed out to Loyola senior student-athletes, beginning with the Unsung Hero Awards.

The Men’s Unsung Hero Award went to men’s basketball senior Shane Walker. Head coach Jimmy Patsos often describes Walker as a coach among student-athletes, and his skill, willingness to accept his role and desire to win were critical for his team. Walker was the fifth-leading scorer, averaging 9.0 points and 6.3 rebounds, while helping the team to its most successful season in Division I history. Walker led the Greyhounds to a 24-9 overall record, a MAAC tournament title and the team’s first NCAA appearance since 1994.

Women’s lacrosse senior Kerry Stoothoff earned the award on the women’s side after being one of the most steady and consistent performers during her four years at Loyola. Stoothoff brought a team-first attitude that has permeated her peers and helped lead the Greyhounds to the NCAA Tournament in 2011. She will leave Loyola as one of the top goalies in program history, having earned All-BIG EAST honors on multiple occasions and was named MVP of the BIG EAST Championship in 2011.

Men’s Leadership Award winner J.P. Dalton of the men’s lacrosse team was elected a team captain by his peers, and he took that responsibility and has helped mold the team in his image as hard-working and dedicated to winning. Dalton is a vocal leader on the field, but also inspires with his actions. He stepped into a major role as the main faceoff midfielder this season, winning 55.2-percent of faceoffs for the Greyhounds. Head coach Charley Toomey said that his work ethic is a model for all current and future Greyhounds.

Rachel Janasek of the women’s tennis team won the Women’s Leadership Award, instilling her passion for winning into the team. Janasek set several records at Loyola, including becoming the winningest No. 1 singles player in Greyhound history. She pursued excellence, and achieved it, in her sport as well as in the classroom.

The Men’s Medal of Merit went to lacrosse’s Dylan Grimm, who has been a multiple-year starter and also has been an All-Academic honoree for two seasons from the ECAC. He has helped the Greyhounds to a historic season and has displayed toughness and skill at his position.

Kellye Gallagher of the women’s lacrosse team earned the Women’s Medal of Merit, becoming the second-straight women’s lacrosse player to earn the distinction. Owning a GPA of just over 3.5, she helped the Greyhounds to the 2011 BIG EAST title and an appearance in the NCAA quarterfinal round. She was an all-conference first team selection in 2011 and also was named the team’s MVP this season.

Kevin Farrell was the recipient of the student service award. He was a key contributor to the men’s basketball program over his four years at Loyola as the team’s student-manager. He will graduate with a degree in business management, but as men’s basketball head coach Jimmy Patsos said, he “minored in basketball.” His efforts and organizational skills helped the Loyola men’s basketball team to its best season in school Division I history.

Women’s track & field athlete Brittany Gruber was presented with the Diane Geppi-Aikens Inspiration Award. Gruber recovered from a tragic accident in high school and has been an inspiration to the women’s track and field team in her time at Loyola. Her spirits are always up, motivating others to improve themselves and looking at all challenges in life as an opportunity.

The men’s rowing team and Head Coach Al Ramirez was tabbed for having the highest cumulative grade point average among the Greyhounds’ 18 teams.

In addition to the departmental awards, the following student athletes received awards from their respective teams:

Ratliff Earns Top ECAC Defensive Honor; Toomey Coach of the Year

CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Loyola University Maryland long-stick midfielder Scott Ratliff was named the ECAC Lacrosse League Defensive Player of the Year, and he was joined by four of his teammates on the All-ECAC teams, the league office announced Monday.

Greyhounds Head Coach Charley Toomey was named the ECAC Coach of the Year after leading Loyola to a perfect 6-0 record in the conference regular-season, a 12-1 overall record and a national No. 1 ranking for two weeks. It is the third time in seven years Toomey has been tabbed the league’s top coach.

Ratliff was one of three Greyhounds named to the All-ECAC First Team, joining Mike Sawyer on attack and Davis Butts in the midfield. Ratliff was named to the team as a defender. Eric Lusby and Joe Fletcher were named to the All-ECAC Second Team on attack and defense, respectively.

Ratliff led the ECAC and is seventh in the nation in caused turnovers per game, finishing the regular-season with 30 total, an average of 2.31 per game. He also tops the Greyhounds with 52 ground balls, 4.0 per game, and has been a key part of the Loyola defense that is seventh in the nation in scoring defense per game. Ratliff was twice named the ECAC Co-Specialist of the Week, and he also earned an ECAC Defensive Player of the Week nod.

Butts led the Greyhounds’ first midfield in scoring, checking in with 15 goals, third-best on the team, and 11 assists, second-most for Loyola. He was also a frequent contributor on the wing for faceoffs and as a defensive midfielder, logging 33 ground balls. Butts contributed eight multi-point games and set career-highs with four goals at Bellarmine and four assists versus Air Force.

Sawyer led the ECAC in total goals (41) and goals per game (3.15) during the regular-season. Through 13 games, he is ranked third in the nation in goals per game, and along with Ratliff, he was named a semifinalist for the Tewaaraton Award, given yearly to the nation’s top player. He logged hat tricks in nine of the Greyhounds’ 13 games and had multi-goal efforts 11 times. Sawyer’s 41 goals are the most by a Loyola player since the 2001 season

Fletcher, in his first year as a starter, has been noted as one of the top lock-down defenders in the nation, earning Midseason All-America Second Team honors from Inside Lacrosse. He has caused 14 turnovers and picked up 25 ground balls on the team that is ranked seventh in the nation in scoring defense.

The Greyhounds earned the top seed in this week’s ECAC Championships that will be played at Peter Barton Stadium on the campus of Denver University. Loyola will play the fourth-seeded, and host, Pioneers, at 5 p.m. (Mountain) on Wednesday, May 2. The winner of the game will play the winner of No. 2 Ohio State University and No. 3 Fairfield University in the Championship Game on Friday at 4 p.m. (Mountain).

Bilal Dixon Will Transfer to Towson
Forward/Center Played in 94 Games & Started 68 for Providence from 2009-12

TOWSON, Md. – The Towson University men’s basketball program has added a big man to help the Tigers for the 2012-13 season, as Bilal Dixon, a 6-foot-9, 245-pound forward/center, will attend Towson. Dixon will have one year of eligibility remaining after transferring from Providence College, where he played in 94 games and started 68 for the Friars from 2009-12.

“We’re excited to add a player with Bilal’s talent and experience to our roster,” said Towson head coach Pat Skerry. “I coached him for two years in the BIG EAST conference, at a prestigious school like Providence that has a rich basketball tradition. I know what he’s capable of and I am thrilled to have him as a member of our basketball family. We are looking forward to adding a student-athlete that’s had success at the highest level of collegiate basketball.”

Dixon, a native of Jersey City, N.J., was named to The Sporting News BIG EAST All-Freshman Team in 2010 after averaging 8.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game while starting 30 of 31 games for Providence. As a freshman, Dixon recorded his first double-double in conference play against No. 19 Connecticut as he registered 12 points and 11 rebounds and guided the Friars past the Huskies, 81-66. Dixon also hauled in 16 rebounds while matching up against future NBA draft pick Greg Monroe and seventh-ranked Georgetown and he set his career-high with 19 boards vs. Seton Hall.

As a sophomore, Dixon had nine double-digit rebounding games, including double-doubles against Colonial Athletic Association foe Northeastern and BIG EAST rival Seton Hall.

This past season, Dixon saw action in 31 of 32 games for the Friars and averaged 4.3 points per game. He was fourth on the team in rebounding (4.1 rpg), second in blocked shots (37) and second in field goal percentage (55.8 percent). Dixon scored a career-high 18 points and hauled in 10 rebounds to lead Providence past Rutgers on February 1, 2012. He also had a career-high seven blocked shots against South Carolina on December 1, 2011. Dixon averaged a rebound every 3.87 minutes he was on the floor, which ranked eighth in the BIG EAST Conference.

Dixon attended Queen of Peace High School (N.J.) from 2006-08 where he was a second-team All-State selection and the Conference Player of the Year as a senior after averaging 19 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks. Dixon led Queen of Peace to an 18-0 mark in conference action in 2008. Dixon played at St. Anthony’s High School (N.J.) during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

Dixon will be one of three transfer students from BIG EAST programs who will be eligible to play for Towson. He joins Jerrelle Benimon (Georgetown) and Mike Burwell (South Florida), who each have two years of eligibility remaining starting with the 2012-13 season.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - The No. 9 Maryland men’s lacrosse team closes out its regular season home slate by hosting Bellarmine on Saturday, April 28, at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium. Faceoff is scheduled for noon.

• The game will mark the final regular season game for seven Terrapin seniors: Joe Cummings, MJ Leonard, David Miller, Pat Morrison, Tim Shaeffer, Michael Shakespeare and Drew Snider. The 2012 senior class has compiled a 43-20 (.683) record during its time in College Park, helped bring the Terps the 2011 ACC Championship and were key to Maryland’s run to the 2011 NCAA championship game. They have also helped Maryland to three NCAA tournament bids with a fourth a near certainty when the 2012 field is announced on May 6.

• Maryland (8-4, 1-2 ACC) is coming off of a 12-8 victory at Mount St. Mary’s on Wednesday, April 25. Senior Joe Cummings became just the 38th player in the 87-year history of the Maryland men’s lacrosse program to reach 100 career points with four points on three goals and an assist vs. the Mount. Owen Blye led the Terps with five points on two goals and three assists.

• The Knights are 4-7 on the year and are coming off of a 9-8 victory over Detroit Mercy on April 21. Bellarmine opened the season winning three of its first five games, but then went on a five-game losing skid before beating the Titans. This season the Knights are led by senior midfielder Colton Clark, who has 30 points on 18 goals and 12 assists. Junior attackman Michael Ward is the team leader in goals with 22. Junior Dylan Ward has started all 11 of Bellarmine’s 11 games in cage and has a .515 save percentage and a 10.25 goals-against average.

The Count Down
10 … Since 2002 Maryland has won 89 of the 97 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .918 winning percentage.
9 … Maryland is 107-24 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .817 winning percentage.
8 … Owen Blye needs eight points to reach 75 for his career.
7 … Seven Terps will be playing in their final regular season game at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.
6 … Joe Cummings has had six games this season with at least three points.
5 … Niko Amato is fifth in the lastest NCAA rankings with a 6.94 goals-against average.
4 … This will be the Terps’ fourth meeting all-time with Bellarmine.
3 … Three Terps have totaled 20 or more points so far this season.
2 … Goran Murray is just the second close defender to be named the ACC Freshman of the Year in the last 12 years.
1 … Head coach John Tillman is 1-0 all-time vs. Bellarmine.

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.

• Bellarmine’s Kevin Burns is in his first season as a head coach and has a 4-7 (.364) record at Bellarmine.

• This will be Tillman’s second game vs. the Knights as a head coach. He is 1-0 vs. Bellarmine, winning 12-8 in College Park in his first season as Maryland’s head coach.

Series History vs. Bellarmine
• There’s not much of a series history, but Maryland holds an 3-0 advantage in it.

• Last season the Terps hosted Bellarmine in a Monday matinee and Maryland, behind hat tricks by seniors Travis Reed and Ryan Young, raced out to an 11-3 lead through three quarters and won the game 12-8. Niko Amato played the first three quarters and made eight saves, while allowing just three goals.

• Maryland played its 2010 season opener at Bellarmine as the Knights dedicated the plaza area of its stadium to Jack McGetrick, the former head coach who founded the Knights’ lacrosse program. McGetrick passed away from prostate cancer in October of 2010. The Terps went on to win their 17th straight season opener, 11-6, behind four different Maryland players each scoring a pair of goals. Grant Catalino led the way with six points on two goals and four assists. Brian Phipps made 12 saves to lead the Terrapin defense.

• The first meeting between the two clubs came in the 2007 season opener with the Terps taking an 11-6 victory at Maryland’s Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex. The game was the Terrapin debut for some highly touted freshmen and they did not disappoint. Long pole Brian Farrell scored twice in his college debut to go along with four groundballs. Goalie Brian Phipps was pressed into duty from the start due to injuries to Harry Alford and Jason Carter, but he responded with nine saves and three groundballs to pick up his first career victory. Overall, 11 different Terps registered points in the game, led by attackmen Michael Phipps and Max Ritz, who had three apiece.

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.

Cambridge, Mass. - For the fourth straight season, fans of America East lacrosse can voice their opinion on who the best player in the conference is. Voting for the 2012 America East Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse Fans’ Choice Player of the Year awards is now open with voting taking place on the league’s Facebook page for the first time.

UMBC’s nominees are junior attackman Scott Jones on the men’s side and junior midfielder Lindsay Cox for the women. Jones is tenth in the nation in with 2.82 goals per game and has scored 17 times in his last five contests. He has excelled in America East play, scoring four goals vs. Hartford, five time vs. Stony Brook and four more, including the overtime game-winning goal vs. Albany. Cox just reached the 40-goal plateau in UMBC’s 7-6 win over No. 19 Johns Hopkins. She has scored four or five goals in a game on five occasions in 2012.

Men’s Poll: https://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/poll?pid=AB_MiTNZHmI

Women’s Poll: https://apps.facebook.com/opinionpolls/poll?pid=AB_Mg_zRHIg&ref=nf

Voting for the 2012 America East Men’s and Women’s Lacrosse  Fans’ Choice Players of the Year will go until 12 p.m. (noon) on Monday, April 30. The winners will be announced that afternoon via release at AmericaEast.com.

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

COLLEGE PARK, MD. - 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.

Maryland, which is 7-4 on the season and ranked ninth in the latest Inside Lacrosse media poll, continues its season on Wednesday, April 25, at Mount St. Mary’s. The Terps and the Mount are scheduled for a 7 p.m. start at Waldon Family Stadium in Emmitsburg, Md.

GREENSBORO, N.C. - 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.

Cummings makes his second All-ACC team as the team-leader in points, goals and assists with 28, 17 and 11, respectively. He currently ranks fifth in the conference with 2.80 points per game. In three ACC games this season Cummings led the team with eight points. Cummings, who made the All-ACC team last season as a midfielder, is the first Maryland player to make the team at two different positions in consecutive seasons since Mark Douglas made it as a midfielder and attackman in 1990 and 1991, respectively.

Amato earned his second All-ACC after leading the conference with a 7.04 goals-against average, which is a more than a full goal less than the second-place goalie. He is second in the conference in both save percentage and saves per game. Amato’s standout performance of the season came in the Terps’ 10-7 win over Duke, when he made nine of his 14 saves in the fourth quarter.

Bernhardt makes his first All-ACC squad as a dominant long pole. He leads the team with 37 groundballs and 18 caused turnovers. He ranks second among non-faceoff men in groundballs per game in the conference and leads all ACC players in caused turnovers per game. The lone team captain on the defensive end of the field, Bernhardt has been responsible for leading a young Terrapin defense, which ranks seventh in the NCAA in scoring defense, allowing just 7.6 goals per game.

Haus is also a first-time All-ACC selection and is among the league’s finest all-around midfielders. He ranks third on the team with 18 points on 10 goals and eight assists. He currently leads all Maryland offensive regulars with a shots-on-goal percentage of .676. In addition to his offensive contributions, Haus has also been a steady defensive performer.

The conference’s individual awards – Player of the Year, Freshman of the Year and Coach of the Year – will be announced early next week after the conclusion of the ACC tournament.

The 2012 ACC Men’s Lacrosse Championship will begin Friday, April 20, at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville, Va. Maryland, the No 4 seed, will face No. 1 seed Duke in the tournament’s first semifinal game at 5 p.m. No. 2 seed Virginia battles No. 3 seed North Carolina in the second semifinal, which is slated for a 7:30 p.m. face-off.