Diamondback Blogs

My game preview for the 104th meeting between the Terps and Hopkins takes a look at the Blue Jays and their struggles. But here are a few things you won’t find in the pages of Friday’s edition of The Diamondback, deleted scenes if you will…(in the order of when they happened)

Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said he feels the Terps are a better team this season and he is especially worried about how his team will react to the goalie tandem of Brian Phipps and Jason Carter. He’s looking for his team to take smarter shots.

While my story was about Hopkins NCAA tournament hopes, Inside Lacrosse/ESPN analyst Quint Kessenich said the Terps should be alright, even if they fall to Johns Hopkins. He said they are playing for seeding at this point but added all three of their remaining regular season games are really important because “the ACC tournament doesn’t do anybody any favors.”

Kessenich noted that even though the Blue Jays have lost five straight, they are probably favored by many to win this game on their home field. He said you could easily argue that Hopkins has played better during their 5-game losing streak this season than last season’s 3-game skid.

A player with the last name Holmes has scored the first Terp goal in each of the last two meetings between these teams. In 2006 at Homewood, it was Travis Holmes who got the scoring started for the Terps en route to an 11-4 win. Sophomore midfielder Bryn Holmes, who was in the stands to witness his older brother’s tally, got the Terps on the board in last year’s 8-7 overtime loss to the Blue Jays at Byrd Stadium.

While Bryn Holmes hasn’t faced Hopkins at Homewood Field, he has played there twice in MIAA championship games while at McDonogh. He’s not exactly sure what it will be like to play in front of a hostile Hopkins crowd, but he’s just excited for another chance to take the field.

“I played there a lot, and I love the atmosphere,” Holmes said. “It’s definitely the Mecca of lacrosse, I guess you could call it.”

If the Terp-Hopkins rivalry was not enough for you, it will also be Homecoming at Johns Hopkins on Saturday. Junior midfielder Dan Groot’s summation of the situation:

“It’s a great atmosphere. They’ve got the band over there. It’s a great venue. There’ll be a lot of people if we can get some good weather.” (For the record, weather.com is predicting 73 degrees with a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms.)

Stay tuned next week for Editor’s Commentary and maybe even an Alternate Ending….

edetweilerdbk@gmail.com

After a week of debating a trip to Chapel Hill, N.C., for the women’s lacrosse ACC/ALC Challenge, I finally made it down. But even the ride down caused some uncertainty. On the way, I found out that the game was pushed up an hour to 4 p.m. due to a thunderstorm threat.

I ended up getting there with just enough time to get dressed at Carmichael Fieldhouse and get over to Fetzer Field in time for the game.

After the crazy ride, things were just as nutty.

The press box had a unique guest, coach Cathy Reese’s newborn daughter, Cayden. Throughout the game sports information director Matt Lynch was attempting to be a babysitter, until a Tar Heel SID had to help him out.

Before this experience, Matt said he would see the newborn and want a baby. Now those feelings are now long gone.

Although watching Matt try to babysit was entertaining, the Terrapin women’s lacrosse game against Penn State was even better. It was only the third close game the Terps played all season, but by far the most dramatic. The Terps won the game in triple overtime when Kelly Kasper scored in the sudden death overtime period.

I can only hope that Sunday’s action, both on the field and in the press box, is as entertaining.

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You know how you felt before that history exam worth 40 percent of your semester grade? Remember the anticipation leading up to your first high school date with the cute girl/guy from home room?

Now combine them, and that’s kind of how Terrapin men’s lacrosse long pole Brian Farrell is feeling right now waiting to play Friday’s home game against Navy.

“It gets you pumped up,” said Farrell, who is one of 27 Terps who has never suited up for a home game against the Midshipmen. “You already get chills down your back come Wednesday and you’ve still got two days to prepare. It’s going to be fun, and it should be a good game.”

It’s an 8 p.m. Friday start time that should bring a large crowd out to Byrd Stadium. (If you’re looking for incentive to go, the first 1,000 fans in get free t-shirts.)

Junior midfielder Jeremy Sieverts, a Butler transfer, is readying for his first shot at Navy at home. Last year’s game at Navy-Marine Corps. Field in Annapolis brought out 14,625 to see the Terps win 8-7 in two overtimes, and Sieverts doesn’t expect anything different this year—except for maybe a few more Terp fans.

“Last year was a great experience playing there,” Sieverts said. “I think it will be just as exciting with a great atmosphere again this year. We’re really excited for Friday.”

For freshmen like attackman Grant Catalino, it’s a new experience altogether. Even though he’s played in rivalry games already this season, Catalino admitted he really doesn’t know what to expect.

“The last few games have been pretty big rivalries, but from what I hear the Navy game is one of the biggest we have here,” Catalino said. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m excited but nervous at the same time.”

Add in the fact that the Terps haven’t beat Navy at home since 2002 and that both teams are ranked in the top-10 for the fifth straight year, and it should make enough for high drama at Byrd.

Maybe even enough to make you blow off studying for that big exam. Go ahead and ask the cute kid on your dorm floor to accompany you.

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Well, that sucked.

Just when it looked like we’d all be heading to Tampa next week, the Terrapin women’s basketball season ended here in Spokane on Monday night.

The Terps played well in the 98-87 loss. But Stanford played one of the best games I have ever seen.

Candice Wiggins was ridiculous, scoring 41 points and showing incredible range.

After the game, Crystal Langhorne, Marissa Coleman, Kristi Toliver and Brenda Frese all had tears in their eyes when they walked into the press conference.

Langhorne started sobbing when she answered her first question, and Frese started crying again when Langhorne did.

Langhorne and Laura Harper sat consoling each other in a corner of the Terps’ locker room afterward, and nobody seemed willing to believe that the season was actually over.

After following them so closely for the past several months, it was definitely tough to see it all end.

The Terps had a good run. It’s too bad they couldn’t keep it going for one more week.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com

The Terrapin women’s basketball team dominated Vanderbilt tonight. The consensus among the assortment of media and the Terps themselves was that the 80-66 win was the Terps’ best all-around performance in a very long while.

Kristi Toliver mentioned games against Oklahoma and LSU that were played back in November as the last performances that were similar to this.

After Diamondback photographer Adam Fried and I left the rather generic Spokane Arena after the game, we decided to walk the mile or so back to the hotel instead of wait for a taxi.

It didn’t take long before we were extremely confused about where we were, and we ended up crossing the bridge over a large river, and crossing another bridge farther down going the other way over the river before we found the hotel.

It turned out we made a huge circle around a good chunk of Spokane. The hotel really wasn’t that far from the arena.

We did get to see some pretty nice scenery though, as the rapids in the river were pretty impressive, and since we’re on pacific time, we still made it back before 10 p.m.

And speaking of impressive sightings, there’s a rumor that Henry Winkler, a.k.a The Fonz is in town for reasons unrelated to basketball.

John Willmott of the WMUC radio crew took a picture with Winkler in the airport yesterday, and Fonzi is apparently staying at the same hotel as the Terps.

He is reportedly in town to make an appearance at some sort of show or event with the actor who played Ralph Malph in Happy Days and the actress who played Shirley in Laverne and Shirley.

Spokane is obviously the place to be this weekend.

schimmeldbk@gmail.com