Navy Bests Maryland in Annapolis Again
from press releases
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The eighth-ranked University of
Maryland men's lacrosse team dropped a 10-4 decision at No. 14 Navy
in front of 15,109 fans at a blustery Navy-Marine Corps Memorial
Stadium Friday night.
On their "Senior Night" the Mids (8-3) came out firing and took an
early 1-0 lead with Brendan Connors converting on Navy's first
extra-man opportunity at the 12:49 mark.
But it would be the Terps (6-4, 2-1 ACC) who had the lead at the
end of the first quarter thanks to near identical goals by
sophomore Ryan Young and junior Will Yeatman. Young tied the game
with 4:23 on the clock after dodging from behind the net,
separating from Navy defender Geoff Leone and beating goalie Tommy
Phelan to the top right corner. Yeatman's score came three minutes
later when he got a step on Matt Vernam and fired a shot over his
left shoulder to give the Terps a 2-1 lead.
The second quarter was a battle of attrition, with the two teams
combining for 13 turnovers, that only saw two goals scored, but
they were both by the Mids, who took a 3-2 lead into the half. Navy
took advantage of a Maryland turnover that ended with long pole
Zack Schroeder scoring at the 4:05 mark. Lennon gave the Midshipmen
the lead with five seconds left in the quarter.
Navy's fortunes took a turn for the worse when attackman Tim Paul
left the game at the 12:09 mark of the third quarter with an
apparent ankle knee. But the Mids outscored the Terps 4-0 in the
third to take a 7-2 lead heading into the fourth. Bruce Nechanicky
scored the first and last goals of the quarter for the Mids. His
goals were sandwiched around goals by Andy Warner and Michael
Beggins.
Maryland came out and won the opening face-off of the fourth and
immediately converted it into a goal. Sophomore Grant Catalino's
shot was saved by Phelan, who finished with 17 stops, but Young
scooped up the rebound and put it in for the Terps first score in
32 minutes of play.
The Terps continued to claw back into the game. After junior Dean
Hart caused a Navy turnover, Yeatman turned it into a goal at the
10:17 mark. Sophomore Travis Reed found Yeatman on the right wing
and skipped the ball quickly to him where he put a bounce pass past
Phelan.
But Navy had a bit of luck on its side. Senior goalie Jason Carter
made a tough save, one of his seven on the night, on a Ryan O'Leary
shot, but in the scrum for the rebound, Warner picked up the ball
and found a way to twist around and get enough on the shot to get
it into the Terrapin net. The Mids built the lead back to five on
Nechanicky's third goal of the game at the 6:23 mark. Brian
Striffler closed the scoring for Navy with his lone goal with 4:12
left in the fourth.
Maryland's defense got a solid showing from sophomore close
defenders Max Schmidt, who set career-highs with five groundballs
and four caused turnovers, and Brett Schmidt, who had a career-best
five groundballs in addition to three caused turnovers.
Junior Bryn Holmes had another terrific performance at the face-off
X, winning seven-of-11 draws to go along with three groundballs.
