Midfielder Curtis Holmes battles for a faceoff draw against North Carolina on March 24. Despite an injured back on Friday, Holmes won 75 percent of his faceoffs in the Terps’ 13-6 victory over Navy.
Moments before the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team’s win over Navy on Friday, coach John Tillman pulled his faceoff specialist aside for a quick pep talk.
“You’re going to have your best game of the year,” he told midfielder Curtis Holmes. “You’re going to play well.”
Tillman was trying to restore some confidence in Holmes, who has struggled to live up to expectations after ranking seventh in Division I last year with a 62.6 faceoff percentage. Entering Friday’s 13-6 rout of the Midshipmen, Holmes had won just 50 percent (66-for-132) of his draws this season. He’d been hampered by several nagging injuries and was growing increasingly frustrated.
All of that changed Friday.
The junior went 15-for-20 at the faceoff X against Navy, including an impressive 12-0 run spanning from the first to third quarters.
The dominating performance proved key in snapping the No. 10 Terps’ first losing streak in two seasons under Tillman. With Holmes consistently gaining possession, the Terps took a season-high 52 shots. It was their most attempts since an early-season win against Bellarmine last year and their highest total against Navy since at least 1986.
“We were getting good possessions, good looks,” midfielder Kevin Cooper said.
That hasn’t been the case for much of the season, a reality largely due to Holmes’ struggles.
The Marriotsville native had gone 32-for-74 (43.2 percent) in a six-game stretch before Friday’s outburst. His faceoff issues had put the pressure on an inexperienced Terps defense, and the team dropped three of those six games.
Much of Holmes’ trouble winning draws could’ve been a byproduct of an ailing back.
After Friday’s game, Holmes said he hasn’t felt in top form for most of the season, and that he recently underwent MRIs and X-rays to pinpoint his injuries.
While he declined to elaborate further, Tillman said Holmes has been experiencing back pains – among other issues – that have impacted his form on faceoffs. Even after his stellar performance against Navy, Holmes conceded he was only at about “80 percent.”
“I mean, it’s been tough,” Holmes said. “But I think [the doctors] helped a lot because we were able to game plan and come together and figure out a way to get me healthy as soon as possible.”
Tillman said Holmes’ health concerns played a role in his decision to let midfielder Charlie Raffa see some time at the faceoff X. The freshman has taken draws in each of the past five games, and is 16-for-34 on the year.
Yet Tillman has been careful to make sure his top faceoff specialist didn’t perceive the lightened workload as distrust.
Holmes, after all, is a former All-American. He played a critical role in the Terps’ run to the national title game last season. And for the team to achieve similar heights this season, Tillman understands Holmes will need to put his recent struggles in the past.
“Hey, Curt, you’re the same guy,” he recalled telling Holmes during their pregame chat. “‘You know it’s in there.”
Holmes proved it Friday. Now he needs to show he can do it against the nation’s best. While Navy has won just 42.4 percent of its faceoffs this year, Saturday’s opponent – No. 3 Johns Hopkins – will likely present the Terps with a much stiffer test.
“Today was big for Curt coming into next week and the rest of the year,” attackman Joe Cummings said. “I’m really excited to see what Curt’s going to do the rest of the season.”
letourneau@umdbk.com
