Maryland vs. Denver
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When: Today, noon
Where: Byrd Stadium
Records: Terrapins 9-5; Pioneers 10-6
TV: ESPNU
Outlook: The NCAA men's lacrosse tournament is not the only tournament in which Maryland senior Will Dalton, a midfielder, and redshirt junior Jason Carter, a goalkeeper, will participate together in the coming months. Dalton and Carter also partake in summertime fishing tournaments on the Eastern Shore, where Dalton grew up.
"I love hunting and fishing and he loves fishing," Carter said. "So we're always out on his boat during the summer."
For now, though, the focus is on today's game. The teams also met in the first round in 2006. That day, Dalton was thrust into the main faceoff role following an injury to starter David Tamberrino. Geoff Snider, then a senior for Denver, entered leading the nation in faceoff percentage. Dalton won the first five faceoffs and helped the Terrapins to a 5-0 lead in a 16-8 victory.
Dalton moved to the Eastern Shore as a child, and did so under difficult circumstances. Fifteen years ago, his father, Stephen Dalton, had a stroke that left him paralyzed on one side of his body. Stephen Dalton had been a standout quarterback at Mount Hebron High and William & Mary and later had tryouts as a linebacker with the Baltimore Colts and Washington Redskins.
Soon after the stroke, the family moved to the Eastern Shore to live with the parents of Dalton's mother. Dalton was home-schooled as an eighth grader and attended high school at St. Mary's-Annapolis. There he met Carter, and the two found they had an interest in lacrosse and the outdoors.
"There's not a whole heck of a lot for a kid to do on the Eastern Shore," said Will's mother, Jeanne Dalton. "There's no movie theater and no bowling alley. There's nothing to do except to be outside."
Will Dalton has had chances to leave. He grew up playing hockey for the Washington Little Capitals and was offered a chance to play semipro hockey in Ontario, Canada, following his freshman year of high school. In lacrosse, he was recruited by Syracuse and North Carolina.
Both times, he opted to remain closer to home. And at Maryland, his father attends every game and Dalton plays with Carter, his best friend. "We had a [team] dinner the other night and some of the seniors stood up and talked," Will Dalton said. "It got pretty emotional. The first thing I said was, 'This felt like a family right away.' "
