Michael Phipps’ goal this May is to find a comeback for the one thing his father can hold over his head.
All it will take is a national championship.
Phipps, a senior attackman for the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team, has made a name for himself in the lacrosse world this season with his smart play and great stick skills. But his father, Wilson, was a member of the last Terp national championship team in 1975. And unless Michael can help lead the Terps to their first championship in 32 years, Dad will always have that extra piece of jewelry to flaunt if his son starts bragging.
“He says that I was a lot better player than he ever was in college and that I score more,” Michael Phipps said. “But then he’ll just flash me the ring – the one that I don’t have yet.”
The Phipps family is, to say the least, well-endowed in the lacrosse area. Michael’s brother, Brian, started most of the season for the Terps as a freshman goalie while senior Harry Alford recovered from injury. His mother, Betty, played lacrosse and field hockey while attending Roanoke. His grandfather, Louis, was an All-American for the Terps in 1949 before coaching for 14 years at Navy, where his team won nine national championships, eight of which were in a row.
And then there’s his dad.
Wilson Phipps raised both of his sons to play lacrosse. He was Michael’s youth-league coach and taught his son much of what he knows about the game, helping Michael enough to turn him into an All-American candidate.
“As a family, we’ve grown up with lacrosse,” Wilson said. “I tried to teach him the game – controlling the ball, when to pass, when to dodge, when to shoot. I guess he’s picked it up over the years.”
Because of his upbringing, Michael has a knowledge of the game that surpasses many of his peers. He has taken the role of lead attackman with poise and intelligence for the Terps, constantly keeping his teammates aware and making smart decisions.
As a result, despite consistently facing opponents’ top defenders and handling the ball for extended stretches, Phipps has only 15 turnovers in 15 games this season. He has also been able to lead the Terp offense with efficiency, scoring a team-leading 27 goals and racking up 21 assists, second on the team to junior attackman Max Ritz.
“You just can’t say enough about all the little things he does on the field,” senior long pole Ryan Clarke said. “Our offense doesn’t work without him. He’s the one making that pass, getting the shot – everything goes through him. … The fact that [the offense has] been doing so well after everyone doubted them speaks volumes about him.”
It has been a twisted staircase to stardom for Phipps.
After being one of the nation’s top prep players out of Severn School in Severna Park, Phipps joined the Terps with big aspirations. But with Joe Walters and Xander Ritz ahead of him in the attack positions, it was tough for Phipps to get the exposure he wanted early.
After getting limited time as a freshman, Phipps was expected to step up big for the Terps his sophomore season. But an ankle injury forced the rising star to miss the final nine games.
Then, as a healed junior, Phipps proved to be a valuable playmaker for the Terps. He finished the season second in assists, behind only Walters. But his shot seemed to have regressed. After eight goals on 21 shots as a sophomore, Phipps scored only seven goals on 39 shots in his junior year.
This season, things have turned back in the right direction. Even with more responsibilities than ever, Phipps has converted on 42.2 percent of his shots and developed into a viable replacement for Walters, the Terps’ all-time leading scorer. And filling the shoes of a player like Walters is no easy task.
“That’s a lot of pressure, because Joe’s probably the best player that’s ever played here,” Phipps said. “But it probably helped a lot, because I also learned a lot watching him and playing with him. It was a great amount of pressure, but a pressure that I hadn’t had in three years. And I wanted responsibility like that, and I was looking forward to it.”
Off the field, Phipps is quiet and humble. His cheeks reddened when asked about how he developed into such an intelligent player.
As a result, he is not the type to come out of the locker room screaming and pumping up his teammates. On the contrary, Phipps prefers to remain relatively silent before games. Clarke, Phipps’ roommate, said the team knows when Phipps is going to have a big game because the senior attackman is even more silent than normal.
And while vocal leaders are necessary in a locker room, Phipps knows his role and has embraced it.
“Michael’s a guy that the more responsibility you give him, the more he’ll do,” coach Dave Cottle said. “But as a whole, you don’t see him as the lead dog in the pack. He’s not the alpha male, if you would. But he didn’t need to be the alpha male. He needed to be intelligent and a leader and [someone who] could settle us down when things went wrong.”
It’s been quite a year for Phipps. On Senior Day last Saturday, Phipps poured in three goals in a span of one minute and seven seconds to mark his fourth hat trick of the season.
“Your whole career flashes in front of your eyes,” Phipps said after the game.
And now, as the Terps enter the NCAA tournament, the senior attackman has one last chance to put a finishing touch on his career, the opportunity to add another memory to his time as a Terp.
And maybe he can get his own finger accessory in the process, if only to dangle in front of Dad.
Contact reporter Adi Joseph at ajosephdbk@gmail.com.
