Men's lacrosse looking forward to comforts of home

Sophomore attackman Joe Cummings remembers growing up and watching the Terrapin men's lacrosse team play at Byrd Stadium.

He can remember the players running through the tunnel and touching Testudo's nose as they stormed the field in front of thousands of fans. He says it's something he's wanted to do his whole life.

"I grew up in the Maryland area," Cummings said. "That's one of the images, growing up, I remember seeing all the time and it was pretty cool."

Despite an impressive freshman season, which included 12 goals and a nod on the 2009 ACC All-Tournament team, Cummings has never actually stepped foot on the field at Byrd Stadium.

Instead, the Towson native has only played at neighboring Ludwig Field, traditionally home to the men's and women's soccer teams.

Ludwig Field became the lacrosse team's home away from home during the renovation of Tyser Tower and the addition of 64 suites and 440 mezzanine seats to the south side of the stadium. The Terps played all of their home games at Ludwig Field last season and four of their seven home games there in 2008.

This year, the Terps will play all their home games at Byrd Stadium.

The two stadiums have their obvious differences. Byrd Stadium can seat up to 54,000, while Ludwig Field sits 6,000 for soccer games, and a significant amount less for lacrosse.

"[I] definitely like Byrd 100 times more than Ludwig," attackman Ryan Young said. "I think a lot of people came to Maryland because of being able to play at Byrd. It's just a perk of being a Terp."

Players noted the lacrosse history of Byrd Stadium, which was home to the 1973 and 1975 Terp national championship teams as well as numerous All-Americans, adds to the excitement of playing there.

Byrd Stadium has also hosted historic games and final fours, including the 1995 and 1997 national title games, in which the Terps lost before crowds of more than 25,000 people.

"I think just the legacy of Byrd, being around so long and having a tradition behind Maryland lacrosse [makes it more exciting]," goalkeeper Brian Phipps said. "The whole aura of the football stadium, the huge stadium, just gives it a whole new level of intensity."

The prospect of having a larger crowd isn't missed by the Terps, who said they feed off the fans' energy.

"It's just a bigger stage when you play at Byrd, so everyone gets more excited for the games," Young said.

"It's probably intimidating for some schools to come in and see the huge stadium," Phipps said. "And it gives us more of a sense of pride knowing it's our home field."

The Terps enter this season with their usual heavy share of expectations and are ranked preseason No. 8 by Inside Lacrosse.

The team is hoping to rebound from an up-and-down campaign a year ago, and it starts with winning at home. The Terps have a light home schedule, with five regular season games scheduled, but will host the ACC Tournament in April.

"We can't wait to get back in there and start it up," said Phipps, a senior captain. "We're coming into Byrd, and our goal is to be undefeated at home. Right now, it's our home turf.

We missed it last year, so this year we're gonna have to come in and play well at home and defend our turf."

engelke@umdbk.com