After starting the season strong against Hartford, Curtis Holmes has won less than half of his faceoffs in the Terps’ past two games.
UMBC shocked the lacrosse world Tuesday night, scoring five straight goals in the fourth quarter to capture an 8-7 win over the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team.
But perhaps more surprising than the Retrievers’ come-from-behind victory was their dominance at the faceoff X.
UMBC midfielder Phil Poe, who’d won just 46.8 percent of his career faceoffs entering the game, controlled 15 of 19 draws against the No. 4 Terps. Midfielder Curtis Holmes, meanwhile, had his worst performance in the red and gold. His 30.8 win percentage Tuesday was nearly 15 points below his previous career low.
“Coming into this one, I had my guys, while we were warming up and in practice, hold the whistles a lot longer just so I could be that much quicker,” Poe said after the Retrievers tallied just their eighth win over the Terps in 34 meetings. “Holmes is an excellent faceoff guy, and I just came in there just ready to play, I guess.”
Tuesday marked Holmes’ third consecutive outing in which he’s struggled. The All-American lost 11 of 13 draws to Georgetown defenseman Tyler Knarr on Feb. 24, helping trigger a six-goal Hoyas rally in the fourth quarter. And Saturday against Duke, Holmes won just nine of 20, marking his first career game with a faceoff win percentage below 50.
Holmes’ recent issues are especially perplexing considering his prior successes. The Marriottsville native controlled 62.9 percent of his draws last season, and won 19 of 20 faceoffs in the Terps’ season opener against Hartford.
“I really can’t say enough about Curtis,” coach John Tillman said after the Terps’ Feb. 18 win over the Hawks.
Now, less than three weeks after Holmes’ breathtaking performance, Tillman is wondering whether the junior’s workload — he’s taken about 95 percent of the Terps’ faceoffs since the start of last season — has become too heavy. After Holmes went 0-for-5 in the first quarter Tuesday, Tillman had midfielder Bobby Gribbin take two draws in the second.
The freshman lost both faceoffs, and Holmes returned for the rest of the game, but Tillman later said Gribbin might still see more time at the X in coming games.
“It’s certainly something we’ve got to look at,” Tillman said. “No doubt about it. I think Bobby has made a lot of improvement as the year’s gone on, so that’s something we’ve got to look at a little bit more.”
Still, Tillman wasn’t willing to place all of the blame for the team’s recent faceoff struggles on Holmes. He said the Terps’ wing players could do a better job helping Holmes on draws by picking up groundballs and making better decisions.
“We’re a team through and through,” he said. “We need to do a better job in all aspects there.”
letourneau@umdbk.com
