Maryland visits Syracuse Saturday for first time since 1983

COACHING MATCH-UP

• John Tillman is in his seventh season as a head coach, and fourth with the Terps, with a 57-34 career record for a 62.6 winning percentage. Tillman is 37-15 (.712) as Maryland’s head coach. He had a 20-19 record in three seasons as the head coach at Harvard.

• John Desko is in his 16th season as a head coach, all of them coming at the helm of the Syracuse Orange. During his 16 years as a head coach he has compiled a 189-45 (.808) career record. Desko has been a part of the Orange program for the past 37 years. He was a player from 1976-79 and was assistant coach 19 years (1980-98).

• This will be the second meeting between Tillman and Desko as head coaches. The only prior meeting was the 2011 NCAA quarterfinal game that Maryland won over No. 1-seed Syracuse, 6-5 in overtime.

SERIES HISTORY VS. SYRACUSE

• Maryland holds an 9-6 advantage in its all-time series vs. Syracuse, dating back to 1927. In NCAA Tournament play, Syracuse leads the series 4-3.

• The two teams played four times in an 11-year span from 1927 to 1937 with Maryland taking three straight after Syracuse won the first-ever meeting.

• The two storied programs did not play again until 1954 when the Terps took a 16-9 decision in College Park. The Orange travelled south again in 1956 and the result was the same – a lopsided Maryland victory (24-4).

• Maryland and Syracuse played only once in the 1960′s. That was in 1960 and again it was a Terrapin win by a 22-7 margin.

• The 1979 season was the first time the Terps and Orange battled in the NCAA Tournament. Playing in Byrd Stadium, the No. 2-seeded Terrapins were able to get past the No. 7-seeded Orangemen, 16-13.

• The last time Maryland and Syracuse played in the regular season was 1983. Syracuse took the season opener over the Terrapins, 16-13. The two programs also met in the NCAA Tournament that season and the Orangemen defeated Maryland again, 12-5, in the semifinals at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse would go on to win the National Championship with a 17-16 win over Johns Hopkins.

• Six years later the setting was nearly the same and so was the result. Maryland hosted Syracuse at Byrd Stadium in the 1989 semifinals and again it was the Orangemen taking an 18-8 victory. SU would go on to win the title with a championship-game victory over Hopkins.

• The two teams met again in the 1995 tournament, but this time it was in the NCAA finals at Byrd Stadium. Syracuse won its fourth-straight over the Terps, 13-9, claiming its sixth national championship. Matt Hahn had four goals and an assist for Maryland in the loss.

• The two teams met in the semifinals of the 1997 tournament. The unseeded Terps snapped the four-game losing skid to the Orangemen, toppling third-seeded Syracuse 18-17. Matt Hahn had three goals, including the game-winner, and an assist for the Terps, while Casey Powell and Rob Kavovit each had four goals for SU.

• The two stories programs met was the quarterfinals of the 2009 NCAA tournament. The No. 2-seeded Orange topped the unseeded Terps, 11-6, in Hempstead, N.Y., behind four points by Kenny Nims. Grant Catalino led the Terps with three points on two goals and an assist, while Ryan Young had three assists.

• The last time these two programs met saw the Terps pull off a stunning 6-5 overtime win over No. 1 seed Syracuse in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament on May 22, 2011 in Foxborough, Mass. Senior Grant Catalino scored the game-winning goal with 0:32 left in the first overtime from the right wing off of a feed by senior Ryan Young, who led all scoreres with three points on three assists. Redshirt freshman goalie Niko Amato was solid in cage for the Terps, holding the high-scoring Orange to just five goals with nine saves.

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 103 of the 112 games in which the Terps have scored 10 or more goals for a .920 winning percentage.

• Maryland scored 10, but fell at North Carolina, 11-10, on March 24, 2012 and again came out on the losing end, despite scoring 11 in a 13-11 loss at Colgate on May 5, 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 92.0 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 121-26 in games, for a .823 winning percentage, when it has held opponents under 10 goals. The Terps have played 196 total games since 2002. Maryland has held opponents to nine goals or less 75.0 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 historically and this season as well. Maryland is 2-0 on the year and shot 30% or better in its two victories.

W- Mount St. Mary’s: 16 goals, 44 shots = 36.4%
W- UMBC: 14 goals, 45 shots = 31.1%

• Since 2005 the Terps are a remarkable 64-4 (.941) when shooting 30% or better in a game. The only four losses were: 13-10 to Georgetown in 2009 (the Terps shot 10 of 30 for 33.3% vs. the Hoyas), 11-10 to No. 1 Virginia on April 3, 2010 (10 of 33 for 30.3%), 12-11 in overtime on April 16, 2011 to No. 3 Johns Hopkins (11 of 28 for 39.3%) and 13-11 at Colgate on May 5, 2012 (11 of 31 for 35.5%).

• If 30% is the benchmark, then 40% shooting is in a class all to itself and Maryland has shot 40% or better in 15 games since the start of the 2008 season. Out of those 14 games, Maryland shot 50% or better in four of them.

FRESHMAN HAT TRICKS

• With four goals in his first college game, a 16-3 win over Mount St. Mary’s (Feb. 8), Matt Rambo became just the ninth Maryland men’s lacrosse freshman to record a hat trick since 1998. He followed that up with another hat trick in the 14-3 win over UMBC (Feb. 15) to become the first Terp to record back-to-back hat tricks in his first two collegiate games since Grant Catalino in 2008.

• Game-by-game stats haven’t been saved since the 1998 season, so the following chart can only go back to then, but here’s a look at freshman hat tricks (consecutive games are underlined):

Andrew Combs (1 in 1998): 3-0=3 vs. Towson, Mar. 7
Mike LaMonica (1 in 1999): 3-0=3 vs. Penn State, Mar. 17
Mike Mollot (1 in 2000): 3-4=7 vs. Hofstra, May 14 (NCAA first round)
Dan LaMonica (3 in 2001): 3-1=4 vs. Duke, Mar. 4; 3-1=4 vs. Johns Hopkins, Apr. 14; 3-1=4 vs. Virginia, Apr. 20 (ACC semifinals)
Joe Walters (6 in 2003): 4-1=5 at Towson, Mar. 8; 4-2=6 vs. Bucknell, Mar. 11; 4-0=4 vs. Butler, Mar. 25; 3-1=4 at Virginia, Mar. 29; 4-0=4 at Navy, Apr. 5; 3-1=4 vs. UMBC, Apr. 25
Grant Catalino (3 in 2008): 4-0=4 at Georgetown, Feb. 23; 3-1=4 at Mount St. Mary’s, Feb. 26; 4-3=7 vs. Yale, May 3
Travis Reed (4 in 2008): 4-1=5 at Mount St. Mary’s, Feb. 26; 3-0=3 at Duke, Mar. 1; 3-0=3 vs. Providence, Mar. 3; 3-2=5 vs. Virginia, Mar. 29
John Haus (1 in 2010): 3-0=3 vs. North Carolina, Apr. 23 (ACC semifinals)
Matt Rambo (2 in 2014): 4-2=6 vs. Mount St. Mary’s, Feb. 8; 3-0=3 vs. UMBC, Feb. 15

TERPS’ 89TH SEASON OF LACROSSE

• The Terps boast an all-time record of 749-253-4 (.747), 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 88 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 12-6. 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 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, Army and Cornell 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.

CONSECUTIVE 10-WIN SEASONS

• Maryland’s 18-6 win over the Colgate on May 4, 2013 extended the Terps’ streak of double-digit win seasons to 11, which is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse. (Special thanks to Patrick Stevens of the D1scource.com).

• There are only four programs with a current streak of at least five-straight 10-win seasons:

Maryland (11): 2013 (10-4), 2012 (12-6), 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)
Notre Dame (8): 2013 (11-4), 2012 (13-3), 2011 (11-3), 2010 (10-7), 2009 (15-1), 2008 (14-3), 2007 (11-4), 2006 (10-5)
Duke (7): 2013 (16-5), 2012 (15-5) 2011 (14-6), 2010 (16-4), 2009 (15-4), 2008 (18-2), 2007 ( 17-3)
North Carolina (5): 2013 (13-4), 2012 (11-6), 2011 (10-6), 2010 (13-3), 2009 (12-6)

• Cornell’s string of seven-straight 10+ win seasons came to an end in 2012 with a 9-4 final mark. Virginia’s streak of eight-consecutive seasons with 10+ wins ended in 2013 with a 7-8 record, while Siena saw its run of six 10-win seasons end with an 8-9 mark this season.

A FAMILY AFFAIR

• Many school’s refer to their sports programs as families, but the Maryland men’s lacrosse program is truly a family affair. Since 2001, 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: 2010-11-12-13
Justin & Owen Blye: 2009-10-11
Brian & Kevin Cooper: 2011-12-13
Billy & Bobby Gribbin: 2012-13
Brendan & Ian Healy: 2003-04-05
Bryn & Curtis Holmes: 2010
Bryn & Travis Holmes: 2007
Dan & Mike LaMonica: 2001-02
Chris & Willy Passavia: 2001-02-03
Brian & Michael Phipps: 2007
Max & Xander Ritz: 2005-06
Mark & Michael White: 2008-09-10-11

• The 2014 season is the first since 2000 that the Terps have not had a brother combination on the roster.

MARYLAND IN SEASON OPENERS

• Maryland has an 85-3-1 (.961) 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.)

21 STRAIGHT IN SEASON OPENERS

• After beating Mount St. Mary’s to open the 2013 season the Terps have an 20-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 (three times), Air Force, Hobart, Duke, Georgetown (four times), Bellarmine (twice), Presbyterian, Detroit Mercy and Hartford. Over the 20-year stretch, Maryland outscored its foes 306-108 (an average score of 14.6-5.1) in those games.

• The Terps have not allowed more than seven goals to any opponent in a season opener over the last 21 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.

FOUR TAKEN IN MLL DRAFT

• Led by senior defender Michael Ehrhardt, four Maryland men’s lacrosse student-athletes were chosen in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft.

• Ehrhardt was chosen seventh overall by the Charlotte Hounds, becoming the eighth Maryland player to be taken in the first round, joining Lee Zink (2004, 5th), Chris Passavia (2004, 6th), Joe Walters (2006, 1st), Bill McGlone (2006, 5th), Ray Megill (2007, 9th), Joe Cinosky (2008, 9th) and Jesse Bernhardt (2013, 4th).

• Senior midfielder Mike Chanenchuk was the next Terrapin off the board, also joining the Hounds as the 11th overall selection.

• The third Terp to be selected was senior goalie Niko Amato, becoming the first Terp to join the Florida Launch, with the 29th overall selection.

• The final Terp to be drafted was senior short-stick defensive midfielder Brian Cooper, who earned the distinction of being 2014′s MLL equivalent of “Mr. Irrelevant” as the final selection of the draft, going with the 64th overall selection to the Chesapeake Bayhawks.

FIVE TERP ALUMS SELECTED FOR TEAM USA

• Five Maryland men’s lacrosse alumni were named to the 30-man roster for the U.S. National Team that will compete at the 2014 FIL World Championships from July 10-19 in Denver.

• Jesse Bernhardt (2013), Dan Burns (2011), Jeff Reynolds (2009), Drew Snider (2012) and Lee Zink (2004) made the team, which was selected from an original pool of 98 players through a seven-month selection process.

• Maryland’s five selections are tied for the most of any college program with Johns Hopkins, which also has five alums among the 30-man roster.

2014 TEAM CAPTAINS

• Four players have been named team captains for the 2014 season. The quartet, which was selected by a combination of team vote and coaches’ input, consists of seniors Tyler Adelsberger, Niko Amato, Mike Chanenchuk and Michael Ehrhardt.

BIG TEN LACROSSE STARTS IN 2015

• The University of Maryland’s men’s lacrosse team will compete in the Big Ten Conference beginning with the 2015 season, following an announcement from the conference office on June 3, 2013 that the Big Ten has secured six men’s teams when Johns Hopkins was accepted as a sport affiliate member for men’s lacrosse only beginning with the 2014-15 academic year to give the Big Ten six men’s programs, joining Maryland, Michigan, Ohio State, Penn State and Rutgers.

• The six programs that will comprise Big Ten men’s lacrosse boast 56 national championships, with schools that have competed for more than a century. Johns Hopkins has been an independent since 1883 and leads all schools with 44 national championships. Maryland has claimed 11 national titles, while Rutgers has also won a national championship. The Scarlet Knights launched men’s lacrosse in 1887, followed by programs starting in 1913 for Penn State, 1924 for Maryland and 1953 for Ohio State. Michigan instituted a men’s lacrosse program in 2012. Maryland, Ohio State and Penn State each qualified for the NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship in 2013, with the Buckeyes advancing to the quarterfinals.