Mids' Good Half Better Than the Terps'

Navy 5, Maryland 4

The Maryland men's lacrosse team did not score in the first half against Navy last night at Byrd Stadium. The Midshipmen were held scoreless in the second half.

In the end, Navy's first half was enough for a 5-4 victory before 7,106.

The series has been marked by late-game heroics on both sides. Maryland sent the game into overtime last year on a goal with seven seconds left in regulation. In 2006, the winning goal by Navy came with eight seconds left. The Midshipmen scored the winner in 2005 with 14 seconds left. And in 2003, the winning goal by Maryland came with 37 seconds left.

Last night, the main late-game performance came from Navy junior goalkeeper Tommy Phelan. The third-ranked Terrapins (7-3) closed to 5-4 following a goal by freshman Grant Catalino with 8 minutes 7 seconds left.

Maryland had four shots following Catalino's goal. Two went wide; Phelan saved the other two for the ninth-ranked Midshipmen (9-2).

Maryland's last chance came when junior Jeff Reynolds, the leading goal-scorer among the midfielders, had a one-on-one with Phelan with 11 seconds left. But a Navy defender checked the ball from his stick as he readied to shoot, junior Bobby Lennon got the groundball and the Midshipmen escaped.

"I knew our defense was going to play well enough that, no matter how many chances they got, we were going to play well enough to keep them out of it," said Phelan, who totaled 10 saves.

Said Navy Coach Richie Meade: "It was a great win. We had a couple chances to take a 6-0 lead. . . . That sixth goal would have been big. Instead, they closed it to four and started thinking they could get back into it."

In Maryland's three most important victories this year -- over Georgetown, North Carolina and Virginia -- it led at the end of the first quarter and did not relinquish the lead.

Last night, Navy led 1-0 at the end of the first quarter following a goal by sophomore Patrick Moran. It was 2-0 before the Midshipmen scored three times in less than four minutes -- two goals by sophomore Tim Paul sandwiching one from senior Greg Clement -- to take a 5-0 lead with 44 seconds left in the first half.

Meantime, the Terrapins were shut out in the first half for the first time since a 10-2 loss to Virginia on April 2, 2005.

Senior Brendan Teague played particularly well in his matchup against Catalino, Maryland's second-leading goal scorer. Teague caused three turnovers and had two groundballs in the first half. When Catalino did get past Teague, late in the half, he had a point-blank shot. It was saved by Phelan.

Maryland leading scorer Travis Reed, a freshman attackman, did not play after he was suspended indefinitely following an unspecified violation of team rules. And it took a while for Maryland's offense to get going. It scored its first goal with 4:03 left in the third quarter. Two extra-man goals and the goal by Catalino in an unsettled situation made it 5-4.

"Four goals is not enough to win a Division I lacrosse game," Maryland Coach Dave Cottle said.