It's the same problem at midfield. Dan Groot, Jeff Reynolds and Jeremy Sieverts play hard, hustle and will get ground balls, but the Terps don't have a consistent scorer in the first group. UMBC has two in Kyle Wimer and Peet Poillon, and Syracuse has three or four.
But Maryland doesn't have a midfielder - not one - who scares you.
Maryland's defense has struggled, but it has gotten better. The strength, bulk and power are there, but this group could use more speed.
Forgive me for the pessimism, and it's not all gloom and doom for Maryland. The Terps have quality wins over Duke and North Carolina this season, and they lost a seven-overtime epic to Virginia. They came within a save in the final second of tying Hopkins and sending that game into overtime.
In this era of parity, teams aren't usually far away from turning their seasons around. If Maryland beats Pennsylvania and Yale, and wins at least one game in the ACC tournament, it should get into the NCAA tournament. If not, these Terps might end up flat on their backs with no place to go.
"We have right now what looks to be two wins against the field," Cottle said. "I don't think any team has not made the tournament with three wins against the field. So if we could get three wins against the field, that would increase our chances. I think there's a lot of games left to be played. Hopefully, we can get on a little bit of a roll here. But obviously, the more games we win in the ACC tournament, the better."
Listen to Mike Preston on Mondays from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Fox Sports (1370 AM).
MARYLAND (7-5) @ PENN (3-7)
Saturday, 4:30 p.m.
