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ANNAPOLIS, Md. - Despite a stout defensive presence from junior goalkeeper John Connors (Bellmore, N.Y.), the Mids' offense was unable to replicate its offensive firepower from a week ago as the Navy men's lacrosse team (1-1) dropped an 8-1 decision to No. 8 Maryland (1-0) Saturday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.

"I've got to start off by giving Maryland credit. They show up and played a good game and deserved the win today," said fourth-year Navy head coach Rick Sowell. "If you told me before the game that we would hold Maryland to eight goals, I would tell you we had a great chance to win. But if you told me before the game that we'd score one goal, I would say you are out of your mind. I never thought in a million years that we would only score one goal."

Maryland got on the board just under three minutes into the game when senior midfielder Joe LoCascio targeted his 10-yard shot from the right wing. Connors looked to have gotten a piece of it, but the ball sputtered into the net before Connors could make the clean stop.

Soon after both teams were forced to deal with less than ideal playing conditions as snow began to fall and visibility and footing became difficult.

Navy seemingly evened the game at one apiece when freshman attackman Jack Ray (Wyckoff, N.J.) scaled the crease and sent his shot into the back of the net. Ray's goal, however, was waived off as the officials said Ray fell inside of the crease before the ball engaged the net.

"It would have been big for Jack and his psyche and our entire team's psyche," said Sowell. "Maybe that goal makes a difference, but we will never know."

Instead of a 1-1 game, junior middie Henry West scored back to back unassisted goals for the Terps to give Maryland a 3-0 halftime advantage.

The Terps opened the second half with an extra-man goal by sophomore All-American Matt Rambo who was fed by Bryan Cole to push the Maryland lead to 4-0.

The Mids got on the board shortly thereafter when rookie midfielder Spencer Coyle (Annapolis, Md.) found second-year attack man T.J. Hanzsche (Berwyn, Pa.) for the eight-yard lefty shot from the right wing.

Navy, though, was unable to sustain the momentum and the Terps closed out the game by scoring the final four goals.

Maryland held a 34-27 advantage in shots thanks to double digits in the first and third quarters, while Navy held a slight 23-22 edge in ground balls thanks largely in part to its faceoff success.

For the first time in seven meetings against the Terps, Navy won the battle at the "x" (7-11) with Second-Team All-Patriot League specialist Brady Dove (Stevensville, Md.) winning seven of the 10 draws he took against All-American Charlie Raffa. A year ago, Raffa won 16 of the 21 draws against Navy and Dove was held to just five wins on 19 attempts.

"I would have signed up for winning 50 percent of the faceoffs going into this game because I think he's (Raffa) the best out there," added Sowell. "It says a lot about how Brady played today."

Meanwhile, Connors anchored a solid defensive effort by the Mids with 13 saves, including six in the opening quarter. Navy's starting close defense caused five turnovers and junior Jules Godino (Summit, N.J.) posted a team-high four ground balls.

"I'm very excited about our faceoff game, our goalkeeper and our defense. I think it's a bit of an aberration. Scoring 21 goals is an aberration and I think scoring one today is an aberration. It's tough to swallow."

The Mids return to action next Saturday when they play host to Bucknell (1-1) in both teams' Patriot League opener. Game time is set for 12:00 pm with Joe Miller and Pete Medhurst calling the action on 1430 WNAV and via the live video stream on PatriotLeague.tv powered by Campus Insiders.


### Go Navy ###