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Travis Reed took the field at Byrd Stadium for the first time on Wednesday.

It was the culmination of a dream for the Terrapin men's lacrosse freshman that began when he would go with his father to see the NCAA men's lacrosse championship held at the stadium when he was younger.

However, his memories of the stadium, which hosted six NCAA championships in the 1990s, probably didn't include the towering crane that currently protrudes into the sky above the stadium or the throng of men in hard hats working on its $50.8 million renovation.

He didn't mind.

"The field's so nice, which is one of the good things about it," Reed said. "When you're standing on the field and you look around, the stadium is so big. It's just pretty cool."

The No. 4 Terps practiced at Byrd Stadium on Wednesday in preparation for their first game of the season in the venue tomorrow against No. 1 Virginia.

They have played their first three home games of the season at Ludwig Field, but senior midfielder Will Dalton said playing at Byrd makes a game special.

"Ludwig's a great field, but when you play against a UVA or a Navy on Byrd, it just makes the game feel that much more important," Dalton said. "It escalates the level of intensity the game has from the get-go."

The Terps' game against Towson March 8 was originally scheduled for Byrd but was moved to Ludwig because there were no working scoreboards in Byrd at the time, according to Larry Leckonby, chief financial officer for athletics.

Leckonby said construction crews were re-routing wiring to the east scoreboard and erecting a new west scoreboard at the time. He said both will be fully operational tomorrow, which was the goal for the department and the contractor all along, with rivalry games against Virginia and Navy slated for this weekend and next.

The stadium's capacity will be reduced because the Tyser Tower side is not safe for spectators, but there will be enough room on the stadium's north side to accommodate fans.

"You make the best of the situation," coach Dave Cottle said. "They're making improvements. It's always been a great place, but it's going to be a better place. For now, we'll just make do with what we got."

The Terps got the chance to see what they had on Wednesday in their first time playing on the field since losing at home in the first round of last year's NCAA tournament.

Sophomore goalie Brian Phipps said the field was in great shape, and he was happy to get a chance to get re-acquainted with the sight lines in the stadium before tomorrow's game because the ball can sometimes get lost in the gray bleachers.

He also noted that the wind kicked up some dust on Wednesday, although that should not be an issue tomorrow thanks to yesterday's rains and given that crews will not be working.

Cottle was just happy to get his team out on the field.

"I think it was very important," Cottle said. "We don't want Virginia's freshmen and Maryland's freshmen to have both played at Byrd the same amount of times."

And if the Terps, who have lost four straight against Virginia, are going to beat the Cavaliers for their first win over a top-ranked team since March 4, 2006, against Duke, they will have to use every advantage they have, including the excitement of a return to Byrd.

"It's exciting playing there for the first time this year," Phipps said. "We've been waiting for the chance to be able to play there. And we've played there before, so we'll have the home-field advantage with our fans and everything. It's going to be really, really exciting."

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