Men's lacrosse starts season with 2 blowouts

If the Terrapin men's lacrosse team was tired after traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., this weekend, it sure didn't show on the scoreboard.

It took just 13 seconds for midfielder Jeff Reynolds to tally the Terps' first goal of the season against Presbyterian. One day, two games and 33 goals later, the Terps headed back to College Park with some game experience and two easy wins under their belt.

As expected, the No. 3 Terps faced little resistance in winning out at the Wounded Warrior Project's "Face Off for a Cause." The Terps scored a 15-4 victory over Air Force on Saturday after defeating Presbyterian 18-3 in their season-opener Friday.

"We got accomplished what we needed to get accomplished," coach Dave Cottle said. "We experimented with some things: working on the midfields, defensive rotations. We're still not sure what we're doing [defensively]."

Though the Terps ultimately won each game with ease, they still faced game situations that will arise down the line against more comparable foes. The players know they will be better prepared to react when that time comes.

After scrimmaging each of the past two weekends, the Terps were eager to play games that count. And with the disparity in talent, this weekend was as much about improvement as it was the final result.

"It gave us a chance to tweak some things, touch some things up and see how it works in game situation," said midfielder Dan Groot, who tallied two goals and three assists on the weekend. "It was nice to get out there and not have to practice where you stop every two seconds."

Seemingly, the only time the Terps stopped was to wait for their opponent to pull the ball out of the net.

Groot, Grant Catalino and Travis Reed each had two goals and two assists against Presbyterian. Attackman Will Yeatman led the Terps with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in two games.

Still, Cottle said he wanted to see better spacing and movement within the offense. Yeatman noted there is room for improvement.

"We still have a ways to go in terms of our offense, the unity and the cohesiveness we have as a whole," Yeatman said. "Early on in the season, a lot of guys play well individually. But there's a ton of talent and a ton of good guys, and we're gonna continue to get better. These were two steps, certainly."

But regardless of whatever kinks are left to be worked out, the Terps were pleased as they returned to College Park. The first weekend went off without a hitch, giving the Terps some early confidence heading into next weekend's game against No. 8 Georgetown.

"Going forward, we're 2-0, we haven't lost yet, so that's a good thing," Groot said. "We got a lot of work to do this week."

n TERP NOTE: Attackman Ryan Young scored three goals against Air Force. Young, originally suspended for two games after being charged with driving while intoxicated on Aug. 2, was ruled eligible before the game. The violation requires a student athlete to miss 10 percent of the schedule, according to the Student-Athlete Code of Conduct. The Terps play 14 regular season games this season.

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