These two teams met just about a month ago and some things have changed, but most have not.
The biggest difference will be in the Blue Jay midfield where junior midfielder John Greeley is out due to a torn ACL suffered during Hopkins’ 8-2 loss to Navy on April 21 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. I don’t expect any Terp fans to feel sorry for the Blue Jays, especially since their top midfield line may have gotten even more effective since junior Lee Coppersmith has been moved up from the second line. In the three games the Blue Jays have played since the Navy game, the first line of Coppersmith, John Ranagan and Rob Guida has combined for 10 goals and three assists.
The other topic that I’m sure will be discussed in the Blue Jays’ coaches’ meetings is who will cover Owen Blye. In the April 14th meeting, Hopkins had its defensive ace, Tucker Durkin, on Joe Cummings, which allowed Blye to exploit his matchup to the tune of four goals – all in the second half. Meanwhile, Cummings finished the game with one assist and Durkin finished without a groundball and without a caused turnover. Who Durkin covers initially will be answered early, but whether or not he stays on that guy is something to keep your eye on.
Comment—On Terp Talk Thursday night, Hopkins loyalist Jesse Schwartzman predicted Durkin will be on Blye and said he would shut Blye down. Not so sure about that!!!
Finally, this game may come down to which goalie plays best. Maryland’s Niko Amato and Hopkins’ Pierce Bassett are each All-America caliber goalies, but neither of them has played his best over the past three games. Bassett has a save percentage of just .358 over the Blue Jays’ last three games (at Loyola, Army and Stony Brook), while his goals-against average is 8.09 Amato’s numbers over his last three are better, but not by too much. Against Bellarmine, Colgate and Lehigh, Amato has a .431 save percentage with a 9.72 goals-against average. This won’t be either goalie’s first game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Amato has only played there once, allowing just four goals with four saves in the Terps’ 10-4 win over the Midshipmen last season. Bassett has played at Navy twice and has yet to come home with a win. He played well, making 14 saves, but the Blue Jays lost to the Mids, 9-8 in overtime, in 2010. Earlier this season he made seven stops in an 8-2 loss to Navy.
Any way you look at it or try to break it down, the 109th meeting of “Lacrosse’s Greatest Rivalry” will come down to which team makes the fewest mistakes and plays with the greatest amount of energy (more on that later).
Comments–There is a change in Maryland since the first game. the 1st midfield line has risen to higher levels. I anxiously await Saturday.
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