Fathers of three Terps were on Maryland’s last NCAA title squad
What happened in 1975?
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The Vietnam War ended and “Saturday Night Live” began. Bruce Springsteen was “Born to Run” and Tiger Woods was born to golf. It was the year of “Jaws” and “The Godfather Part II.”
In other words, it was a long time ago.
No one is more aware of the passage of time than those associated with the Maryland lacrosse program. It’s the last year the Terrapins won a men’s national championship. With thigh-exposing shorts, knee socks, handlebar mustaches and sideburns, the Terps were all that in the spring of 1975 when they beat Navy, 20-13, to win their second NCAA title in three years.
But since then, the Terps have been all about frustration. In the time that Syracuse has won 11 NCAA titles and rival Johns Hopkins has captured eight, Maryland has had multiple disappointments in the finals (five), semifinals (nine), and quarterfinals (nine).
No Maryland players are more in tune with the significance of 1975 than Brian Farrell, Travis Reed, and Brian Phipps — each of their fathers played for the school’s last title team.
“Mr. Reed gives me and Travis a hard time about how he has a championship under his belt,” said Brian Farrell. “But, really, the dads are our biggest supporters.”
With a win Saturday over unseeded Notre Dame (8-6), No. 3 Maryland (12-3) would advance to the Final Four next weekend at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore, an appropriate venue for the Terps to try to end the drought.
“Don’t go there,” said Wilson Phipps, father of Brian. “I won’t allow myself to even think about that yet.”
Getting to the Final Four might mean more to the fathers than to the sons. All of the dads are still involved with the sport. Jake Reed is head coach at Dulaney, which won the Maryland 4A/3A title in 2008. Wilson Phipps is an assistant at Severn. Mike Farrell is founder of TLC Lacrosse, an elite girls program.
“I’m praying for this weekend,” said Farrell. “Not so much the need to win the national championship, but just the opportunity for the boys to play in the Final Four, especially since it’s in Baltimore. I really want them to experience that. It would be fun for them and everyone involved with Maryland lacrosse.”
In his day, Mike Farrell was a 6-foot-3, 210-pound long-stick midfielder, a three-time All-America and winner of the Schmeisser Memorial Cup as nation’s top defensemen. He was a more compact version of his 6-5, 240-pound son, Brian, a redshirt junior, who has set career scoring marks (20 goals, 14 assists) for Maryland defenders.
“Mike was an unbelievable athlete. He was the goalie on the soccer team,” said Wilson Phipps. “Like his dad, Brian has a great stick and instincts for the game. My Brian [Phipps] loves to outlet the ball to him, knowing his ability to make something happen on offense.”
The other sons don’t resemble their fathers on the field in the least. Wilson Phipps (1975-79) was a defenseman; son Brian is a goalie. Jake Reed (1974-77) was a goalie; son Travis is an attackman, and the Terps’ third leading scorer (20 goals, 17 assists). Brian Phipps ranks No. 4 on the Maryland career saves list, one slot below Jake Reed.
There is some grainy videotape of a game or two. But for the most part, the current Terps have learned about their fathers’ lacrosse exploits by word of mouth.
“I hear he was a little bit shorter, a little bit skinnier than me, a little bit quicker,” said Brian Farrell. “They said he was the best. But I don’t know. I’ve never seen him play. To me he’s just an old, fat guy.”
