Spirited atmosphere awaits Terps in NCAA tournament
It’s a scene straight out of “Braveheart.” The Lehigh lacrosse team emerges from its locker room with a flag waving and players howling. The Mountain Hawks trail the flag to midfield, and when it is slammed into the turf, they jump, scream and gesture to the heavens.
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That’s what awaits Maryland in the opening round of the NCAA tournament as the unseeded Terrapins (9-5) face the seventh-seeded Mountain Hawks (14-2). The ritual will be especially spirited Sunday night as Lehigh makes its first NCAA tournament appearance before a sellout crowd in Bethlehem, Pa.
If any team is equipped to deal with an intimidating atmosphere, it’s Maryland in its 78th NCAA tournament game. Four of those games came last year en route to the finals.
“Talking to some of the people in the Patriot League, they didn’t really care for it too much,” Maryland coach John Tillman said of Lehigh’s pregame routine. “Our big thing is, while that goes on, we’ve got to really focus on ourselves.”
This will be a rare challenge for Maryland, which hasn’t played Lehigh since 1928. Slow-down tactics helped drive the defensive-minded Mountain Hawks to the most wins in program history. But in the Patriot League tournament, Lehigh scored 29 goals in two wins, an impressive display of its ability to adapt not only to an unfavorable pace but also to unaccustomed pressure.
If the Terrapins have any doubts about the readiness of the Mountain Hawks, they should be dispelled by Lehigh’s 16-14 Patriot League championship win over NCAA tournament-bound Colgate. In Hamilton, N.Y., on Saturday, Colgate rebounded with a 13-11 victory over Maryland.
The Lehigh defense, ranked second in the nation (6.63 goals per game), is led by freshman goalie Matt Poillon, who has the nation’s fourth-best save percentage (.595). He works behind all-conference defenders Ty Souders (first team), Lukas Mikelinich (second team) and Mike Noone (second team).
“We’re gonna have to be able to handle double teams and play unselfishly to generate offense,” said Maryland attack Owen Blye (16 goals, 15 assists), who returns to his home state Sunday. “They’ve got athletes and guys with good lacrosse skills.”
Last year Lehigh made the Patriot League tournament for the first time in the four-year tenure of Kevin Cassese. This season, with 10 of their top 11 scorers back, including David DiMaria (22 goals, 22 assists) and Dante Fantoni (22 goals, 19 assists), the offense was in good hands.
With a young defense that has progressed rapidly and a freshman goalie who has been a revelation, the elements were in place for a breakthrough season. Add a dose of emotion and you have a dangerous, motivated team primed for its rare moment.
“They’ve had seven or eight guys … who’ve been through the wars,” Tillman said. “They’ve won a lot of close games. They seem like a very united team, a very confident team that seems to handle a lot of different situations pretty well.”
Sunday will be the most different situation Lehigh has faced in program history.
