Scott Van Pelt is a regular and Boomer Esiason made an appearance for the Nov. 14 game against Bucknell, but today the big name in the building is ex-Washington Redskin LaVar Arrington.

The former linebacker attended Penn State University and may have been drawn to the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. However, I’m a bit surprised to see Arrington show his face in Skins country after the fairly recent remarks he made about legendary coach Joe Gibbs.

“I called Joe Gibbs a coward for leaving,” Arrington said in [a recent Washington] Times interview. “You came in, you made some money for your NASCAR team. No one else is going to say that. I’m sure more people thought I was a [jerk] for saying that. Joe wouldn’t call me because he knows. There are a lot of people who know the truth about what went down with me and the Redskins.”

Perhaps some students were giving him a hard time because LaVar exited through the tunnel with 8:30 left to play in the first half.

The Terrapin basketball team wasn’t the only squad to pull out an overtime thriller, Friday.

The Terps field hockey squad is headed to the national championship after outlasting Iowa 2-1 in double overtime in Louisville Friday. The No. 1 Terps (21-2) will face No. 2 Wake Forest who defeated Syracuse 3-2 in their own overtime contest.

Coach Missy Meharg called it a “fans game,” thanks to the skill and execution on both sides, and, of course, the score.

It was easily the most gripping game of the season for the Terps, and perhaps the toughest.

“I talked to the coach at Iowa [Tracey Griesbaum] and said `you guys are the best team we’ve played all year,’” forward Katie O’Donnell said. “After I came away I thought, ‘obviously they’re the best team we’ve played so far, we’re in the final four. We’re the best four teams in the country.’”

In addition to the relentless Hawkeyes, the Terps had to overcome the exhaustion from multiple overtimes, and the frigid temperature. It was so cold at Trager Stadium that as the sun went down the watered down field became an “ice rink,” according to back Susie Rowe.

O’Donnell secured the win for the Terps, burying the game-winner in the 89^th minute. She took a crisp pass from back Rowe off of a penalty corner and flipped it into the goal.

Goalie Alicia Grater made several impressive saves in the second overtime to stop penalty corner chances for the Hawkeyes, and give the offense the opportunity it needed.

Now the Terps turn their attention to the Demon Deacons, a team they have beaten twice this season. The Terps beat Wake Forest two weekends ago to capture the ACC title, and will have to repeat the performance in order to capture the national crown.

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