Men's lax using fast-paced style for success

BALTIMORE – The Terrapin men's lacrosse team had controlled the ball for exactly three seconds in its sudden-death overtime period against Duke on Saturday.

But when midfielder Bryn Holmes knocked the ball loose with a punishing hit on a Blue Devils' midfielder, long pole Brian Farrell scooped up a ground ball and made his run up the field. Terps' coach Dave Cottle said he never thought about calling a timeout to set up his attack.

"You don't call timeout in transition," coach Dave Cottle said. "When Brian Farrell has the ball, we've got a situation where we're going to watch and see what happens."

What happened was a textbook example of transition offense: Farrell's 40-yard sprint, a quick pass to short stick midfielder Dean Hart and a flip to attackman Grant Catalino, who buried the ball in the net. In 10 seconds, the No. 7 Terps (3-0, 1-0 ACC) turned what could have been a disappointing loss into an 11-10 overtime victory over the No. 9 Blue Devils (2-2, 0-1) at the Konica Minolta Face-off Classic.

"Everybody was where they needed to be," Holmes said. "I came across the crease and just made a physical play, and we got the ball up the field and Brian Farrell and Dean and Catalino made the play."

The Terps take pride in their transition offense, which accounted for four of their goals in Saturday's game at M&T Bank Stadium. Because of their preferred uptempo style of play, the success of the attack often depends upon moving quickly up the field.

The team particularly relies on the play of their defensive midfielders — the long pole and short stick midfielders — to serve as the bridge between the defense and the attack.

On the game-winning play, Farrell led the charge while Hart notched an assist. And earlier in the game, the Terps took their first lead, 2-1, on a transition goal set up by short stick midfielder Scott LaRue. LaRue picked up an outlet pass from goalie Brian Phipps and dashed toward Duke territory on a breakaway, then dished to attackman Ryan Young near the left post. Young finished it off with the score.

"Our defensive midfield has offensive potential, which helps us out tremendously," Phipps said.

Cottle noted a marked improvement in this area of play when comparing this season's Terps with last year's version. And he credited Farrell for the improvement.

Farrell, the main force behind the Terps' transition game, played just the first three games of last season before two broken ribs and a buildup of blood around his lungs forced him to sit out the rest of the season.

"You can see what we missed," Cottle said. "The ground ball at the end of the game, he picks that up. We don't have probably anybody else on our team that probably can pick that up and can make that play."

But with Farrell back and playing to peak form — this weekend, he was one of two Terps named to the watch list for the Tewaaraton Trophy, awarded annually to the nation's top lacrosse player — opponents recognize the threat the Terps represent on every fast break opportunity.

"We gave up a bunch of goals in transition — extremely dangerous," Duke coach John Danowski said. "You want to play six-on-six. You don't want to play them in five-on-fours, four-on-threes and so on."

The always offensive-minded Farrell, who said he even considered taking it coast-to-coast himself on the final play, said he relishes every chance to turn a transition into points.

"Transition's just a part of the game that our team really thrives off," he said. "When we're able to go from defense and have a good defensive stop, push it and then score a goal on offense, it's really electrifying."

kyanchulis@umdbk.com