Annual Alumni Game on Tap Friday

Alumni events have become more regular in the past year, but none have the history of the Alumni Game. For one night every October the current team and former Terrapins gather on the J. Logan and Louise Schutz Football Practice Complex located behind the Varsity Team House to play a fun, but competitive game.

It's a chance for the current Terps to get in one final fall scrimmage, while it gives the alums the opportunity to lace up the cleats again and see what the youngsters have in them.

The trick is that not all of the alums let the coaching staff know they are coming, but a few that have confirmed they will be back in College Park and playing include 2011 grads Brian Farrell, Dan Burns, Ryan Young, Travis Reed, Max Schmidt, Brett Schmidt, Michael and Mark White, Shane Hall, Warren Hansen, Eric Boyle, Bob Kercher and Fran Gormley. Terps of a finer vintage include Jeff Reynolds, Dean Hart, Ryne Adolph, Ryan Clarke, Jeremy Sieverts and Spencer McAllister.

Of course, there will also be former Terps coming, but not competing, to enjoy the camaraderie. If any Terrapin alums are coming into town send an e-mail to umterpslax@gmail.com to let director of lacrosse operations Brian Phipps know. It's not too late.

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The Inaugural Forever Young Walk/Run For Pancreatic Cancer Set For Saturday

The 2011 season will forever be known as the season that the Terrapins won the ACC title and returned to not only the Final Four, but also the NCAA championship game. But it will also be remembered for the program rallying around Ryan Young and his mother, Maria, who passed away on April 14 after a three-and-a-half year battle with pancreatic cancer. Her story can be found in last season's blog entry: Forever Young.

But, the story didn't end on Memorial Day in M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

On Saturday, the Terrapins, in conjunction with a number of the Maryland parents, are presenting the Inaugural Forever Young Walk/Run for Pancreatic Cancer. The event is a 2.2-mile walk/run, beginning and ending at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium.

There is a $25 fee to participate in the event and each participant will be given an Under Armour t-shirt with the walk/run logo on it. You can register ahead of time or on the day of the event. Further details on the Forever Young Walk/Run for Pancreatic Cancer can be found by clicking here.

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2011 Awards Banquet Ends Fall Ball Activities on Sunday

Capping off the weekends' events is the annual Awards Banquet. Members of the 2011 team will return to campus with their families and the current Terrapin squad to honor last season's team and handout some hardware.

A complete recap of the event will be posted to umterps.com following the banquet.

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Fall Ball Scrimmages

Last weekend the Terrapins headed up to Rutgers to take on the Scarlet Knights and UMass in the team's only Fall Ball scrimmages.

Regular readers of this blog know that you will not get results or really any details from a scrimmage, because - they are just scrimmages! The scores don't really matters - win or lose.
What I will let you in on is that there were some good things and some things that need to be worked on before the third weekend in February rolls around. That's not earth-rattling news for sure, but it's the same news that is coming out for every team in fall. It's what Fall Ball is all about.

I'll get into some of the players that have been a part of the "good things" later on in this blog.

Aside from the scrimmages there were a couple of other reasons the Terrapins headed up to the northeast.

First, the team and coaching staff held a clinic at the SONO Field House in Darien, Conn., on Oct. 15. That was followed by an autograph session. These are always fun events for the Maryland players and coaches and are great opportunities to reach out to communities and help teach some lacrosse.

Second, the Terrapins were a part of an alumni dinner that night in New York City where the team was able to meet and talk with numerous alums from the area. The alumni have become increasingly a part of the Maryland program and have been so supportive of Coach Tillman and his team.

Any alums that want to become more involved can contact the men's lacrosse coaching staff and director of lacrosse operations Brian Phipps at umterpslax@gmail.com.

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Fall Practices - Who's Who and What's What

First off - I was not at every practice, so take that to heart. But, I tried to make it out to at least one practice a week and regularly spoke with the coaches to find out what was happening. From all of that here's a few pieces of info to tied you over until January. (FYI - freshmen will get their own section of this, so don't panic if you don't see their names right away.)

- In the past few years, the offensive midfield was considered to be just a bit behind the attack and close defense in terms of impact on the team. That's not the case right now. The Terrapins five of six players from its top two midfields from a year ago, so those units should be the strength of the team.

It's no surprise that the leader of this unit is senior Joe Cummings. Not only is he such a versatile offensive player, he has also worked extremely hard on the defensive end of the field. His lacrosse IQ alone makes him valuable offensively and defensively.

Add in seniors Jake Bernhardt and Drew Snider and juniors Kevin Cooper and John Haus and the midfield has depth, scoring ability and athleticism.

Also impressive in the midfield were 2011 short-sticks Michael Shakespeare and David Miller. Both came into the fall in good condition and could be the backbone of a possible third line.

One of the experiments of the fall was trying sophomore Quinn Haley at midfield (not defensive midfield as some had speculated). All in all he faired rather well. Offensively, he's solid and worked very hard defensively to try to pick up the terminology and schemes. Only time will tell is Haley will stay at midfield or return to his natural attack position, but the Terrapins have had success with taking a smart attackman and turning him into a middie (see: Cummings, Joe).

- The attack took a bit of a hit with the graduation losses of Grant Catalino, Ryan Young and Travis Reed, but Owen Blye returns as a fourth-year junior and will need to be the leader there for the Terps in 2012. Not surprisingly, Blye came into camp in excellent condition and continued to refine his game.

The other two spots are still up for grabs and likely will not be decided until February or beyond. There are solid candidates including sophomores Sean McGuire and Rustin Bryant. Both of those players showed flashes this fall, but will need to continue to progress.

We've seen freshmen make an immediate impact at attack both here at Maryland (see: 2008) and around the country, so it won't surprise anyone if the Terps' highly-touted freshmen attackmen play a role this season, but more on freshmen in a bit.

Of course the option is always there to move Cummings back to his natural attack position, but for now he remains a middie.

- As much as the attack lost to graduation, the close defense took an even bigger hit. Not only did the Terrapins graduate three starters, but the top two reserves also graduated. That leaves defensive assistant Kevin Warne with a lot of holes to fill, but Maryland is not without talent.

One of the most impressive performers of the fall was redshirt freshman Casey Ikeda. Ikeda came to College Park last fall with a shoulder injury and never had the chance to pick up a stick and show what made him one of the top recruits in the nation coming out of high school. Now that he's healthy, it didn't take long for him to show why. Ikeda quickly became one of the top defenders on the team and showed quick feet, a good stick and a solid knowledge of the system. He also seems to be one of those guys that once they get on the field they just have "it." No one can define "it," but you know "it" when you see "it" and Ikeda seems to have "it."

Another defender that impressed was sophomore Michael Ehrhardt. His size fits the classic "Maryland defender" and he is also solid athletically. He still has some rough edges to smooth over, but his upside is pretty good.

Senior Grant Oliver is also an option at close defense and had a good fall camp, as did junior Mike Scheeler and sophomores Emmett Cahill and Patrick Rhodey.

The biggest wild card at close defense could be sophomore Brian Cooper, who was give a long pole and looked at down low. Cooper is an exceptional athlete who seemed to pick up the schemes fairly well. How he progresses could be one of the team's biggest storylines in the spring.

- Last fall (and even into the early spring) there was a battle for the starting goalie spot. No such battle this season as sophomore Niko Amato returns for an encore to his spectacular first season.

Senior MJ Leonard gives the Terrapins a solid backup with freshman Kyle Bernlohr waiting in the wings.

- The Terps lost three-time All-American Brian Farrell at pole, but there won't be much of a drop off at the top long pole spot. Junior Jesse Bernhardt is among the best and is arguably the top long pole in the nation. All you have to do is watch him play and it's easy to see Berhnardt is on another level - a tenacious defender, an animal when the ball is on the ground and a threat in the transition game.

While there may not be a question as to the top long pole, the rest of the depth here is a question mark and will likely not be decided until February and beyond.

- Junior Landon Carr returns as the team's top short-stick option, but from there it looks to be a mixed bag. The offensive midfielders are all capable defenders and could be more two-way players this season. That could lead to more transition opportunities and an increase in tempo.

- Another set position that was anything but a year ago is the face-off spot. Junior Curtis Holmes had one of the most dominating seasons ever for a Terrapin facing-off and will be the No. 1 option on draws this season.

But don't expect Holmes to top his single-season record for face-offs taken. The Terrapins have more options this season with sophomore Dan Noskin having a year of competing with Holmes under his belt and freshman Bobby Gribbin in the mix.

- That brings us to freshmen. The old adage in football is that the most popular player in town is the backup quarterback. I liken that to the interest in freshmen during Fall Ball. It's the unknown that makes them interesting. Most - and this, I'd figure, goes for just about every freshman on every team around the country - are just trying to figure out what to do, when to do it and what they can do to get yelled at the least.

That being said - there were some bright spots among the 2012 freshman class. There were also a lot of growing pains, but that's to be expected.

In the positions where freshmen could be expected to contribute right away, David Solomon, Kevin Forster and Jay Carlson each have different skill sets and displayed flashes of brilliance at attack, but need to be more consistent. Long poles Goran Murray and Kellen Miller both were impressive at times, but need to adjust to the physicality of college lacrosse.

Overall, we'll have a better idea of what freshmen could contribute in 2012 when the team takes the field again in January, but there were a lot of good signs in their performances this fall.

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No Place Like Home

By now anyone taking the time to read this blog already knows that Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium will be an NCAA quarterfinal site in 2013.

This is terrific news and brings one of the best days of lacrosse of any season back to one of the nation's finest venues. What it also shows is the commitment the University and the Athletic Department have made to lacrosse.

While it's still a ways off, it is exciting news and gives all lacrosse fans something to look forward to.

If you haven't read the official release, you can do so by clicking here.

For those wondering - the last time Maryland hosted a quarterfinal was 2001. The Terps dropped a heartbreaker to Towson, 12-11, while Notre Dame topped Johns Hopkins in the other game, 13-9.

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Wrapping Up

That about does it for Fall Ball. The team and the coaching staff have been working extremely hard to live up to the high standards set for Maryland men's lacrosse. How it all plays out won't be known for seven more months, but the journey has begun.

Check back on Sunday to see the recap of the annual awards banquet. We'll also have some photos, videos and maybe another blog on the inaugural Forever Young Run/Walk for Pancreatic Cancer. I hope to see you all at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium on Saturday to support this great cause.