Junior midfielder Brendan Healy hangs his head after the Terps’ 11-6 loss to Johns Hopkins. The Terps will likely need to win out to get into the NCAA tournament.
The mantra of the frustrating Terrapin men’s lacrosse season has been “look in the mirror.” In a year that has brought embarrassment to a proud program, the Terps are still trying to figure out who they are.
The more pressing question now is not who they are, but where they are.
At 5-5, the Terps are at .500 for the first time since 1994. The Terps have lost four of their last five games and haven’t notched a win over a top-10 team since the first week of the season against Georgetown.
“We dug our own hole; we have to dig ourselves out,” junior midfielder Bill McGlone said.
With No. 20 Fairfield, Penn and No. 3 Virginia remaining in the ACC tournament, the Terps know they don’t have much time to get their game together.
“We’re going to work through this. We’re going to be a good team starting Monday,” Terp coach Dave Cottle said after the team lost to Johns Hopkins. “The season’s over as far as we’re concerned. We’re 5-5, we’re at ground zero and we’re going to play our tail off. We made a commitment in practice to be the best; now we’re going to be the best. We’re going to do everything in our power to get this thing going in the right direction.”
Before the Johns Hopkins game, Cottle said all the Terps needed for an NCAA berth were wins over Fairfield Saturday and another over unranked Penn two weeks after that.
A win in the first round of the ACC tournament against the same team that beat the Terps 10-2 more than two weeks ago might also get the Terps in the tournament even if they lose to Fairfield.
The Fairfield game is much more dangerous than anyone expected in the beginning of the season, considering the Terps have taken an unexpected slide.
“I’m going to be ready to do whatever it takes,” junior midfielder Brendan Healy said. “I know we’ve all been saying that, but come Monday I’m going to be a different person. We all are. We have to lay it all on the line now. From this point, we have to win out to make the tournament. There’s no way a team this talented, that’s worked this hard, shouldn’t make the tournament.”
It has been a tough season for the Terps, but with the ACC tournament still ahead, it’s far from over in the Terps’ eyes. As they stand poised to drop once again in the national polls, Cottle has one defining feeling: excitement.
“I’m excited about the opportunity that we have in front of us. I think we’re going to be a very good team by the end of it. I’ve never doubted that. We just need a win,” he said.
