For 15 minutes Saturday, Bryn Holmes made Brian Phipps’ life much less complicated.
When Holmes lined up at the center ‘X’ in the third quarter of the Terps’ 10-9 win against then-No. 16 Johns Hopkins, the team’s faceoff specialist didn’t come away empty-handed very often.
Holmes won 4 of 5 third-quarter faceoffs for the Terps, who raced from a one-goal halftime deficit to score three of the quarter’s first goals to take a 6-5 lead.
As the Terps’ offense got going, Holmes and the Terps’ defense stayed happily in place.
“[Defender] Brett Schmidt and I were joking; we were saying that we could do this all game,” Phipps said.
They’ve only recently gotten used to the long-running lapses in action.
Earlier this season, game-changing performances from the senior had been lacking, especially against top-flight opponents. Two weeks ago, the top-five team’s No. 1 option on faceoffs had won less than half of his battles on the season.
Even in the Terps’ wins against Georgetown, Duke and Towson, the team lost the majority of its faceoffs. Against the then-No. 9 Blue Devils, the Terps won less than a third.
Still, coach Dave Cottle continued to place trust in Holmes. Rather than lighten his load, the coach placed even more responsibility firmly on Holmes’ shoulders, dedicating his practice time almost exclusively to faceoffs.
The perseverance paid off.
In the team’s game against Navy on April 10, Holmes took all but two of the team’s faceoffs and won 71 percent of them, helping the Terps snap a two-game losing streak. Against the Blue Jays, he proved his play was no fluke. His 13-of-21 performance paced the No. 5 Terps (8-2) to a possession-heavy showing against their in-state rival.
“That is the toughest son of a booger I think any of us have ever been around anytime in my coaching career,” Cottle said. “That kid — he’s a warrior. Bryn was a difference in this game, and every man in that locker room is glad to have Bryn Holmes on their team, I can tell you that.”
The Terps also beat Johns Hopkins 19-6 on ground balls in second half, many of which came either immediately after faceoffs or in ensuing midfield scrums.
“I thought on every 50-50 ground ball, we really scrapped for it and came up big,” he said. “We really focused a lot. And obviously it has really paid off. Especially this weekend, we finally got the chance to get the upper hand on Hopkins.”
His faceoff wizardry had good timing, too. After the Blue Jays had scored two straight to pull within two goals in the fourth quarter, Holmes flicked a faceoff to long pole Jesse Bernhardt, who scooped it up and headed straight to net, where he finished what Holmes started.
“We tried to get the ball as well as we could and especially keep it on the offensive end,” Bernhardt said. “Bryn did a good job facing off, and that really helped us play well.”
kyanchulis@umdbk.com
