BALTIMORE — In the low-scoring affair that I think many expected, Virginia has a 5-3 lead here at halftime, courtesy of a first-half hat trick from midfielder Colin Briggs.

Speaking of which, here are three points from the first 30 minutes of action:

1.) Briggs has one baddd shot. The junior, who missed Saturday’s semifinal win due to a “team matter,” is picking corners out there. He has three goals so far, a byproduct of finding some time and space off less-than-stellar Terp slides.

2.) Back to the drawing board? The Terps knew they’d face a zone defense today, but they’ve done little against it. It will be interesting to see whether — and how — Tillman and Co. retool their zone-busting attack.

3.) Young/Stanwick: M.I.A. Arguably the game’s top two players to watch — attackmen Travis Young and Steele Stanwick — have yet to make a real dent in the afternoon’s proceedings. Stanwick’s been smothered by Terp defender Brett Schmidt, while Young’s missed two golden scoring opportunities on the crease.

Check back here for more later.

BALTIMORE — We’re 30 minutes from the first faceoff here at M&T Bank Stadium, which can only be described as a furnace. (Granted, I’m writing this from an air-conditioned room with free water at my convenience.)

A lot — a whole lot — is riding on this one for the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team, which hasn’t taken home a title since 1975. This is also the Terps’ last title appearance since 1998.

With that said, here are three things to watch today:

1.) The heat. No, I’m not talking about the Big Three set to play tonight. It’s 97 degrees right now, which means it’s going to be far worse on this turf field. If this game turns into a track meet (doubtful), we’ll see who’s got more gas fast. If it doesn’t, it still bears watching.

2.) Steele Stanwick. The Tewaaraton Award finalist can break the all-time NCAA Tournament scoring record with another big outing today. He’ll be facing an old nemesis in close defender Brett Schmidt, who has more than held his own against some of the nation’s top attackmen all year long.

3.) Virginia’s zone. Ever since Virginia defender Matt Lovejoy went down last month, the Cavaliers have opted for a more zone-oriented look. And, boy, has it paid off. Coach Dom Starsia’s new look can count high-octane Cornell and Denver among its most recent victims, and the Terps have had only mixed success against zones this year.

Check back at halftime for more, and follow me and Jakob Engelke on Twitter @jonas_shaffer and @Jakob_Engelke for in-game goodies.

Jonas Shaffer is The Diamondback’s sports editor. You can contact him at sports@umdbk.com.

For the first time since 2006, the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team will be playing during Memorial Day weekend.

On a set play with just 32 seconds remaining in overtime, attackman Ryan Young found attackman Grant Catalino with a feed on the right wing. Catalino, who had come off a pick on the crease, caught the pass and in one swift motion, rifled an elevator shot over the shoulder of Syracuse goalie John Galloway, giving the Terps a spot in the Final Four with a 6-5 upset win over the top-seeded Orange in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Right after the shot flew into the goal’s mesh netting, players stormed the field in celebration, throwing their sticks and helmets into the air while dog-piling on top of Catalino.

“It was a set play,” Catalino said of the game-winning score during an on-air, postgame interview. “We spent a lot of time on this play. It worked to perfection.

“I’m in shock right now. I’m speechless. I’ve never been there [the Final Four] before. It’s our hometown and it will be great to play in Baltimore.”

In addition Catalino, who finished with one goal and one assist, midfielder Scott Larue (two goals) and Young (three assists) paced the Terps on offense in a game that was dominated by two hard-nosed defensive units. Syracuse was held scoreless for more than 17 minutes during the middle quarters of the game, and the Terps were shut down completely in the fourth quarter.

Goalie play was particularly important, as freshman Niko Amato came up big for the Terps, stopping nine Orange shots. Arguably his biggest save of the night came with 19 seconds left in regulation, when Syracuse midfielder Jovan Miller (two goals) dodged down the right alley and rifled a high shot toward the Terps’ cage. But Amato stood his ground, stopping the shot and keeping the Terps’ upset hopes alive heading into overtime.

Once in the extra frame, the Terps got a chance off the opening faceoff, but were denied by Galloway, who finished with 11 saves. After Syracuse missed the cage with a wide shot in transition, the Terps regained possession and set up the final play that led to Catalino’s game winner.

“It means a lot for our state in particular,” coach John Tillman said of the Final Four appearance. “These guys, they’ve been through more than anybody in the country this year. To lose their coach and have to get used to a new staff … it’s unbelievable. I want to thank the prior staff. They left us with a huge group. They were fortunate enough to help us to get us to where we wanted to go.”

The Terps will face the winner of the Duke/Notre Dame matchup at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore next Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

We’ll keep you posted here and at www.diamondbackonline.com throughout the week and next weekend when the Terps will take their next step toward winning the program’s first national championship since 1975.

Jakob Engelke is the Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s lacrosse beat reporter. He can be reached at jengelke@umdbk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jakob_Engelke.

The Terrapin men’s soccer team released its fall schedule today, highlighted by the ACC/Big East Challenge to kick off the season. The schedule includes seven teams that made last year’s NCAA Tournament and teams from seven different conferences in the country.

After preseason games against Army and Georgetown, the Terps face St. John’s in the ACC/Big East Challenge at the Germantown SoccerPlex on Friday, August 26.

Other notable non-conference opponents include West Virginia (8/28), Stanford (9/2) and Creighton (9/30).

“Once again, I am excited to announce another challenging schedule for our 2011 team,” coach Sasho Cirovski said in a release.  “In addition to our always difficult ACC opponents, we have added teams representing seven different conferences, with four from the Big East.  We have a young and talented squad that is humble and hungry.  I believe our fans will be excited to support us as we begin the quest to return to the College Cup.”

For the first time it seems, the ACC Tournament will be split up. The first round will be at the site of the No. 1 seed on Nov. 7, while the second round will be played the very next day at the site of the higher seed. The semifinals and finals will be played in Cary, N.C form Nov. 10-12.

2011 Terps men’s soccer schedule:
(more…)

So there’s been a lot that’s happened since last Wednesday when Mark Turgeon was formally introduced as the Terrapin men’s basketball coach. Here’s a quick rundown of each of those things:

- Former coach Gary Williams signees have all been released of their LOI’s: guards Sterling Gibbs and Nick Faust and forward Martin Breunig. Gibbs verbally committed to Texas last night, while Faust is set to announce his decision sometime this week.

- Turgeon received his first verbal commitment in Fredericksburg, Va. guard Seth Allen, who visited the campus on Saturday. Although he is in the 2012 class, many view Allen as Gibb’s replacement.

- Turgeon has seemingly finalized his staff. Reports today surfaced that Kansas State assistant Delonte Hill (rumored to be the highest paid assistant in the country) has accepted an offer from the Terps. He will join Scott Spinelli (Texas A&M associate head coach under Turgeon) and Bino Ranson (holdover from Williams-era). Rob Ehsan is looking to join the Virginia Tech coaching staff, while Keith Booth’s future is still to be determined.

Hill is a huge get for the Terps. He has strong AAU ties to the Washington D.C. area and was able to lure Michael Beasley and Wally Judge to play at Kansas State. Retaining Ranson seemed crucial to Turgeon’s interests as he holds important connections in the Baltimore area. Meanwhile, Spinelli has been Turgeon’s go-to guy since the tandem left Wichita State together to coach at Texas A&M.

- The Terps will face Illinois in the ACC-Big 10 challenge on November 29.

“We’re excited about playing Illinois in this event,”  Turgeon said in a release. “I have a ton of respect for Coach [Bruce] Weber. We coached against each other in the Missouri Valley Conference. His teams play a great system and are always prepared. It should be a great game.”

Chris Eckard is the Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s basketball beat reporter. Reach him at ceckard@umdbk.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/ceckard.

In case you haven’t heard, the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team dominated North Carolina yesterday and earned a berth in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals with a 13-6 victory in Chapel Hill.

But even if you didn’t catch the game on TV, I’m sure you’ve heard about the hidden ball trick the Terps used to score their ninth goal of the afternoon, as it’s been getting national media attention this morning. But if you’ve been doing your due dilligence by studying for final exams and happened to miss it, don’t fret. Here’s the clip from ESPN’s broadcast.

It was one of the best plays I’ve seen in a while, and it caught everyone off guard, including myself, the game’s announcers on ESPN and, most importantly, the Tar Heel defense.

Long pole Brian Farrell, who assisted the goal eventually scored by midfielder Drew Snider appeared on ESPN2’s First Take this morning to talk about the play.

On the play:

To be honest with you, we kind of winged it. I was running up towards Grant and I think he was thinking the same thing I was. I kept it in my stick and it worked from there.

On if it was premeditated:

We don’t have a play for the hidden ball trick. It was just two creative guys.

On what if the play went wrong:

It’s a low risk play because if they find I have the ball, I just pass it to someone else and get off the field.

On what was being said on the field:

The UNC coaching staff was yelling, ‘37’s got it. 37’s got it.’ A lot of my teammates were yelling at Grant for trying to dodge against five guys. … But it worked out.

Coach John Tillman said after the game that it was all Farrell and Catalino, and he didn’t call or orchestrate the play at all.

“I’m going to give those guys points for creativity and confidence and making the play,” Tillman told the Raleigh News & Observer. “I’m glad it worked. If it didn’t, I’d be really upset.”

The Terps next play in the Elite Eight this Sunday at noon against No. 1 Syracuse. The game is one of two quarterfinal matchups to be held in Foxborough, Mass. The other — Duke vs. Notre Dame — is a rematch of the 2010 national championship game and will be played following the Terps tilt with the Orange.

Jakob Engelke is The Diamondback’s Terrapin men’s lacrosse beat reporter. He can be reached at jengelke@umdbk.com. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/Jakob_Engelke.