His team had just done something that a year ago would have hardly been noteworthy. But after his Terrapins had beaten Fairfield on Saturday afternoon, a rain-drenched Maryland men’s lacrosse Head Coach Dave Cottle appeared relieved.
“I scheduled this game last year thinking we were playing a 5-9 team,” he said, “but now all of a sudden we’re playing a 9-2 team on the road. That didn’t work out the way I had planned.”
What they had gotten themselves into was what appeared to be a heavyweight bout with one of the hottest team’s in the country.
The Stags were riding a seven game win streak, having stunned Notre Dame on a last second goal by sophomore sensation Greg Downing last Sunday, and despite a miserably cold and wet day, a season best 1,559 braved the elements to cheer on the home team.
But after failing to score in the second half en route to a 9-6 loss, Coach Ted Spencer and company were in no mood to be proud of their situation.
“We had an opportunity to make history,” he said. “And we didn’t do it.”
“We knew we they had a good team, but we’re a good team too. We thought we were going to win the game,” said sophomore goaltender Michael Kruger, who kept the game close by staving off 15 Maryland shots.
Had the Stags’ been able to slay yet another giant, they would have inched closer to a possible at-large birth to the NCAA tournament. The Stags (9-3, 2-0 Great Western Lacrosse League) were 2-0 against top 15 teams, and after beating the Fightin’ Irish last week, they jumped to No. 15 in the nation, the highest in the ten year history of the program.
With a roster on which 21 of the 40 players are freshmen, and the brightest stars (Kruger, Downing, attackman Mike Bocklet) are sophomores, Cottle said he feels sorry for teams who have to play the Stags two years down the road.
“Right now they’re physically immature, but Teddy [Spencer]’s going to have them in the weight room and they’re going to be gorillas in two years,” he said.
As for now, the Stags have a more than realistic chance to appear in their first NCAA tournament since 2002, which they could accomplish by winning the GWLL tournament.
They have three games remaining, all in the league, starting with Butler, Friday in Indianapolis, Ind. They play at Ohio State on Sunday, and wrap up the season at home against Denver May 7 – games the Stags must win, and think they can.
“We’re already focused on the next three games,” Kruger said.
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