Dan Burns’ teammates on the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team have affectionately dubbed the redshirt junior “Pigeon Boy” because of his ability to fly around the field.
But at the start of the season, Burns found himself grounded.
While running a 40-yard dash during the team’s strength and conditioning in November, Burns injured his hamstring. His recovery stretched into the start of the season in February, leaving the Severna Park native on the sideline with no outlet for his pent-up energy.
“It was definitely frustrating at first,” Burns said. “You start to wonder whether you’re going to come back at all during the season.”
But after a protracted and arduous journey, he finally did come back, and by the time he reached full strength at the end of March, the Terps asked Burns to take on an added responsibility — a starting spot on the first midfield line.
Burns, a short stick midfielder who had never played on offense or even started a game in his collegiate career, accepted the challenge. The change marked not only a turning point in his career but one for the team as a whole.
“There’s no detachment between the point that Danny Burns started playing better and we started playing better,” coach Dave Cottle said.
The move would have been hard to foresee early in the season, with Burns on the sideline waiting in frustration for his recovery to end. By the time he was cleared to play for the third game of the season against Duke on March 6, Burns was eager to take off — perhaps too eager.
“I came back a few times, re-injured it a few times,” Burns said. “Coming out on the field the first time, right off the bat you just want to start sprinting and being like your old self,but you can’t, and you just have to be patient.”
“He’s such a competitor and a tough guy and a hardworking guy that he tried to go too fast,” Cottle said. “If he had his way, he would have gone 100 percent from the first day.”
So Burns turned to his coaches to set the pace for him, and they gradually increased his playing time and eased him back into the Terps’ lineup game-by-game. Through the lengthy comeback process, which lasted through the first six games of the year, he received help and advice from friends and teammates. Midfielder Jake Bernhardt even took it upon himself to help Burns work out in personalized individual sessions.
Even though it pained him nearly as much as his injury to slow his game down, Burns dedicated himself to returning to full strength. Early in his recovery, Burns recalled, he would pick up a loose ball in Terps’ territory, a passageway to the opposing goal as clear as day. But while he itched to sprint, knowing a fast break was there for the taking, he knew his hamstring couldn’t take the strain. Instead, he passed off to teammates and bided his time.
That patience and resolve added an extra element to his game, and his coaches took notice. After Burns proved he was fully healthy against North Carolina at the end of March, they asked him to join the starting midfield rotation.
The change came out of the blue for Burns. The team’s midfield started the year as a looming question mark, and the dearth of experience led to frequent experimentation — such as Burns on the starting line — while the Terps tried to find the right combination.
“They mentioned when I was recovering they were going to try to have me run a little offense,” Burns said. “But I didn’t know I was going to be on the first line the next game, so it was a big transition.”
Considering the timing of the switch — the move was sandwiched between games against No. 2 North Carolina and No. 1 Virginia — some critics wondered aloud about its merits. But the Terps never doubted the decision to have Burns, who continued to serve as a faceoff wing and defensive-oriented short stick midfielder, out on the field as much as possible.
“Coach needed more guys to be transition players, to play both sides of the field, and Dan is just a great athlete,” Bernhardt said. “We play him a lot, but he’s just such a good player that you need him on the field. People were skeptical about whether or not to keep him on offense on the first midfield line. But you know what? I personally believe that he’s one of, if not the, most important player on this team.”
Burns’ importance is not often evident on the scoreboard — he has scored just two goals since the switch, including one in Saturday’s 18-10 win against Colgate.
Instead, it’s the transition play he brings in the midfield, the innate sense of when to make his move into the opponent’s territory, that is most valuable. It was obvious enough this weekend as he tore down the field against the Raiders just behind long pole Brian Farrell, who had scooped up a ground ball off a Colgate turnover. Farrell, challenged by a defender, flipped the ball over his shoulder to Burns, who scored from 15 yards out.
“I think he’s really helped in a lot of areas,” Cottle said. “Our clearing percentage has gone up, our midfield defense and transition defense [have improved] — he’s made a tremendous difference in those areas. And when he scores occasionally, it’s a bonus.”
Though his teammates and coaches lament Burns’ shortened schedule, they said they’re glad to have him back as the No. 3 seed Terps commence their NCAA Tournament play Saturday with a first-round matchup against No. 11 Hofstra.
“We knew that we’d save him for later on and that would be more important in the end,” goalie Brian Phipps said. “And he’s stepped up. It’s fun seeing him fly around like that on the field — just like a bird.”
kyanchulis@umdbk.com
