Diamondback Online - The University of Maryland's Independent Daily Student Newspaper

Media Credit: Adam Fried

When the Terrapin men's lacrosse team needed a boost on Senior Day, it was fitting that Will Dalton answered the call.

Yale had cut the Terp lead, which had been seven at halftime, down to four early in the fourth quarter. The senior co-captain went to the faceoff X knowing the Terps required a spark to close out the win.

Dalton won the ensuing faceoff and took the ball straight to the goal, shielding off a Bulldog defender with his large body before flipping a shot into the back of the net, all within 7 seconds.

The veteran play proved to be just what the Terps needed. Yale never got as close again and the No. 8 Terps cruised to a 16-10 win Saturday at Byrd Stadium.

"That was a big play," coach Dave Cottle said. "It kind of ended the game. That kind of stated the game was over after he scored."

The Terps celebrated the final regular-season home game for its nine seniors with an offensive explosion they had been missing in recent weeks. The Terps had not scored double-digit goals in their last four games, but they built an 11-4 lead by halftime.

Despite recent struggles with half-field offense, the Terps showed an ability to move the ball to generate easy scoring opportunities. Freshman attackman Grant Catalino paced the Terp offense with four goals and three assists, and Dalton, Bryn Holmes, Jeff Reynolds and Travis Reed each notched two goals.

A 7-0 run in a 15:04 span that started midway through the first quarter put the Terps comfortably ahead.

"We've been struggling a little bit offensively, and to get a little momentum and to get some nice shots on goal, it's really crucial to go into the tournament having that feeling," Reynolds, a junior midfielder, said.

Still, the team failed to sustain its offensive success throughout the game. The Terps managed just one goal in the third quarter as the Bulldogs trimmed the lead.

It took Dalton's goal and three late scores by Catalino to finish off Yale.

"We kind of got off the horse a little bit in the second half, but we were able to maintain and focus on what we needed to do," Reynolds said.

The Terps needed to beat Yale to improve their NCAA tournament seeding and bounce back from a tough loss in the ACC tournament.

While other top teams across the nation, including No. 2 Syracuse, No. 4 Georgetown and No. 13 Princeton hurt their resumés with losses to lower-ranked teams in their season finales Saturday, the Terps were able to take care of business.

They also were able to honor the seniors and send them out in style. Dalton's two goals tied a career high, and senior midfielder Drew Evans added a goal.

The Terps' biggest star in the game was not a senior, but Catalino, who now leads the team with 36 points. But the freshman was quick to deflect credit to the elder Terps.

"Today the game was dedicated to them, and I think things just kind of fell into my shoes today," he said. "But half my assists and a few of my goals were created by upperclassmen."

About the only thing that didn't go right for the seniors was the failure of the defenders to get in the score column.

But it wasn't from lack of trying. Ryne Adolph went up field to unleash his first shot of the year late in the second quarter, but it was stopped by Yale goalie Joe Costa. In the third quarter, Joe Cinosky took his third shot of the season, but it was denied by the other Yale netminder, George Carafides.

Cinosky said Senior Day afforded him some extra liberties as long as his offensive exploits didn't hurt the team too much.

"At first I was just trying to clear the ball, but then the guy didn't pick me up, so I figured it was Senior Day," Cinosky said. "I could get away with that today, but probably no other game would I be able to get away with that."

n Terp Note: Reed, the Terps' second-leading scorer, came off the bench yesterday after missing significant practice time during the week due to several minor injuries. He scored twice, his first goals since March 29. Reed now has 20 goals and 11 assists on the year.

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