Men's lacrosse can make amends against UMBC

The Terrapin men's lacrosse team had its 2007 season ended abruptly when University of Maryland, Baltimore County, came into Byrd Stadium and upset the Terps in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

It was the earliest end to a Terp season since 2002. And it came after the No. 7-seeded Terps had easily won the regular season meeting with the Retrievers.

"It was bad for everyone," senior midfielder Drew Evans said. "Losing in the first round is terrible, especially when we think we should've won."

The teams will meet again tonight in Baltimore, but don't expect the No. 6 Terps to use the word "revenge" when talking about the rematch with No. 19 UMBC.

"Whether we come out and play really well and get a win or not, we can't undo what's already been done," coach Dave Cottle said.

Evans agreed, saying the Terps were ready to move on right away after the 13-9 loss.

"After we lost last year, we just wanted to put that loss behind us," Evans said. "It's two totally different teams, so we're looking at it as a new game."

The Terps (4-1) will see a drastically different Retriever squad this season. UMBC graduated all three of last season's starting attackmen, and it had to replace the loss of 68 percent of its scoring from last season.

Junior midfielder Dan Groot said it's not a big deal because of the familiarity between the programs, which will meet for the 30th time.

"It's a rivalry game," he said. "New players but same coaches, same style. We should see the same things."

This season's Retrievers have won both of their home games but dropped contests to Delaware, Rutgers and a close match-up at then-No.1 Johns Hopkins.

They do return junior goalie Jeremy Blevins, who made 18 stops in last season's win over the Terps, and two-time All-American Terry Kimener, who leads the team in points with 18.

Cottle said the chance to "reverse a loss" from last season's schedule should be a motivation to his team.

The Terps have already done it this season with a win over Georgetown, which handed the Terps their first loss last season. Cottle praised his team's focus leading up to that game, which he said gave his young team much-needed confidence.

"That was a sweet game," Evans said of the 11-6 win over the Hoyas on Feb. 23. "I think the number one thing there was energy. We were all fired up for the game, and I think you're going to see the same for this one."

Now they will try to avenge their final loss last season.

While the Terps stayed away from using the 'r' word, Groot said last season's game will at least be in the back of their minds.

"It's good for us to be able to get back at them," Groot said. "It's a good opportunity for us, and we're going to try and capitalize on it."

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