Dave Cottle

The Chesapeake Bayhawks improved their credibility and that of Major League Lacrosse on Thursday, naming former Maryland lacrosse coach Dave Cottle their new coach. "It's the ideal situation, a no-brainer for me," said owner Brendan Kelly, who hired Cottle two years ago as a consultant and assistant coach and named him president in January 2011. "Dave's track record speaks for itself. To have him stay on board — with Dave's name out there for every college vacancy — was my goal.

Attackman Ryan Boyle (Gilman) scored 1:26 into overtime to give the Boston Cannons an 15-14 victory over the Chesapeake Bayhawks on Saturday night at Harvard Stadium in Cambridge, Mass. Boyle used an inside spin move to beat defenseman Michael Evans (Johns Hopkins, South River) from behind and fired a short shot past goalkeeper Kip Turner (Severn) to bring an end to a wild, back-and-forth affair. Boyle, the all-time leading scorer in Major League Lacrosse with 410 points, finished with three goals and two assists.

The selection committee's decision to award the No. 1 seed to Loyola Sunday night was the first time the program had earned that seed since 1999. That year, the Greyhounds went 12-0 as the only undefeated team in Division I, but fell to No. 8 seed Syracuse, 17-12, in the quarterfinals. The coach of that squad was Dave Cottle, and the current coach of the Chesapeake Bayhawks of the Major League Lacrosse relived the memory of that loss during a phone interview Tuesday. “I know in '99, we were devastated that we were the only undefeated team in the country and we had to play the winner of Syracuse-Princeton at Princeton,” Cottle said.

The storyline heading into Maryland's first-round game against Cornell on Sunday dealt with who to match up against Rob Pannell . This week, there isn't as much speculation over who among Dominic Imbordino , Joe Meurer (McDonogh) and Robby Haus (Gilman) will draw the assignment - one, because fans aren't as familiar with those players as they are with the Terps ' defense; and two, because Ohio State is much more likely to employ multiple strategies to slow down Pannell, as opposed to trying to play him straight up. "We want to play with seven," Buckeyes coach Nick Myers said.

Truth be told, life didn't change all that much for Dave Cottle in the two years after his last game as Maryland's men's lacrosse coach. It just became somewhat inverted. With his schedule suddenly open, sure, he finally got to see his son, Sean, play more of the sport he coached for nine seasons in College Park and another 19 at Loyola. And, yes, he can speak from experience these days when he jokes about knowing what it's like to go in for a Saturday morning oil change. (“I've never done that, that whole weekend thing,” he said.)

Dave Cottle is in his third season at Maryland as head coach. The Terps finished 12-4 last year and lost in the NCAA semifinals. Baltimoresun.com: What have you learned about your team during preseason? Dave Cottle: I think we're an older and more mature team on the defensve end of the field. Looks like we'll start three seniors on defense: Lee Zink, Dave Wagner (Severna Park) and Chris Passavia. Seniors Drew Virk and Paul Gillette (Severna Park) return at short stick defense and we have junior Tyler Hereth at long pole.

COLLEGE PARK - Dave Cottle anticipates a long marriage with the Maryland lacrosse team. The honeymoon? Can't we discuss less delicate matters? Cottle's hiring was a lacrosse gossip's dream. Mike LaMonica and Mike Mollot, two of the Terps' top offensive players, say his reputation as an offensive guru preceded him, but ringing endorsements are not what met Cottle last September when Maryland lacrosse went from the Big Man to the big stink. Three weeks after Dick Edell, a.k.a. the Big Man, announced his retirement after 18 years in charge at Maryland, the university hired Cottle, the one candidate players had lobbied against.

Sean Cottle turned 1 last Saturday. The cake and candles haven't come out yet because Sean's father has been busy with his 16-year-old, the Loyola College lacrosse program that could come of age this weekend.The NCAA semifinals will be held today at Rutgers, and come Monday's championship game, the Greyhounds could accomplish what seemed preposterous when Dave Cottle took over at Evergreen in 1983.Can Loyola take that final step, and win a national championship? The NCAA thinks so. It made the Greyhounds the No. 1 seed in this year's tournament.

With oral commitments from sophomores growing from a trickle to a deluge the past couple of years, it was only a matter of time before the first freshman commitment arrived. That time is now. According to Inside Lacrosse, the history makers are attackman Forry Smith of the Haverford School in Havertown, Pa., and Johns Hopkins, which should come as no surprise given remarks that coach Dave Pietramala made to Baltimore Sun reporter Childs Walker in a story on the sophomore trend that ran this month: "There's no question I'm talking out both sides of my mouth on this," Pietramala said.

The storyline heading into Maryland's first-round game against Cornell on Sunday dealt with who to match up against Rob Pannell . This week, there isn't as much speculation over who among Dominic Imbordino , Joe Meurer (McDonogh) and Robby Haus (Gilman) will draw the assignment - one, because fans aren't as familiar with those players as they are with the Terps ' defense; and two, because Ohio State is much more likely to employ multiple strategies to slow down Pannell, as opposed to trying to play him straight up. "We want to play with seven," Buckeyes coach Nick Myers said.

Major League Lacrosse Streaking Rubeor scores 4 as Bayhawks rout Machine, 14-5 Attackman Ben Rubeor (Loyola High) had another big game as the Chesapeake Bayhawks manhandled the Ohio Machine, 14-5, in a game shortened to three quarters Saturday night because of lightning around Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Rubeor, who scored seven goals in a win over the New York Lizards last weekend, scored four goals and assisted another against the Machine. He now has at least one point in 32 consecutive games, and was named Player of the Game for the second straight time Saturday.

Ben Rubeor plays attack for the Chesapeake Bayhawks and also serves as the high school lacrosse coach at St. Mary's in Annapolis. If he wants, Rubeor's got some interesting video to show his players this week. Rubeor finished with a career-high seven goals as Chesapeake defeated the New York Lizards, 9-3, in front of an announced 11,125 in a Major League Lacrosse game at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Saturday night. The 5-foot-11, 175-pound attackman from Virginia carried the Bayhawks (2-0)

Dan Burns has always been a local boy. He grew up Severna Park, won three Anne Arundel County titles and two state championships at Severna Park, and played college lacrosse at Maryland. Now, after beginning his Major League Lacrosse career with the Rochester Rattlers and Hamilton Nationals, Burns is returning home. The Chesapeake Bayhawks acquired the 25-year old in a trade with the Nationals this offseason, reuniting him with former Terps coach Dave Cottle in his home state.

After three weekends of training camp, the defending Major League Lacrosse champion Chesapeake Bayhawks have announced their 25-man roster heading into Saturday night's season opener at the Rochester Rattlers. The Bayhawks, one of the most experienced and deepest teams in MLL, return numerous veteran standouts, including 2012 Championship Weekend MVP Ben Rubeor (Loyola High). But there are also talented new faces who made a big impression on coach Dave Cottle during training camp, including Germantown native Grant Kaleikau and J.P. Dalton (Loyola University, St Mary's)

Johns Hopkins President Ronald J. Daniels formally notified the university community Tuesday of the school's intention to consider a conference affiliation for men's lacrosse. Daniels sent an email saying the shifting landscape of the sport has prompted the university to weigh the move. No formal invitations have been sent to Hopkins, and the school will set up a committee to discuss the potential move that would end 130 years of conference independence, he said. "Some traditional foes have recently announced changes in their own affiliations, changes that might limit their flexibility to continue scheduling games with us," Daniels said in the email.

The defending Major League Lacrosse champion Chesapeake Bayhawks will travel to the Rochester Rattlers on April 27 to open their 14-game schedule, the team announced today. The Bayhawks return for their fifth summer at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis with their home opener on Saturday, May 4 against the New York Lizards (previously known as the Long Island Lizards). The home opener will be highlighted by a tailgate celebration and postgame fireworks, as well as more events to be announced. The 2013 MLL regular season will consist of seven home games and seven away games.

Former Maryland and Loyola coach Dave Cottle has joined the Chesapeake Bayhawks of Major League Lacrosse as a consultant, president Brendan Kelly announced Monday. Kelly, who took on the role of coach last week, said Cottle would advise the staff on topics ranging from player evaluation to game strategies. "This is huge for the Bayhawks, and it's huge for Major League Lacrosse," Kelly said. "We are fortunate that someone with Dave Cottle's expertise is willing to dedicate his time.

When you get rid of a successful lacrosse coach like Dave Cottle at Maryland, you should have a short list of quality replacements. As of this morning, there aren't a lot of choices for the Terps. You can toss around names like Notre Dame's Kevin Corrigan and former Syracuse star Gary Gait, both top-notch coaches, but Maryland will have to ante up big bucks to lure either to College Park. Cottle made $117,552 in base salary, less than other coaches of non-revenue sports at Maryland, but he had other sources of income because he ran highly successful summer camps.

Dave Cottle had a very successful nine-year run as the head coach of the Maryland men's lacrosse team. During Friday night's Major League Lacrosse Collegiate Draft, the connections between the Chesapeake Bayhawks coach and his former squad were on full display. With their first two picks in the draft, the Bayhawks selected Maryland players, taking long-stick midfielder Jesse Bernhardt in the first round (No. 4 overall) and midfielder Kevin Cooper (Archbishop Spalding) in the second round at No. 16 overall.

Loyola's Charley Toomey was named the recipient of the F. Morris Touchstone Award as the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association Division I Coach of the Year, while Salisbury's Jim Berkman was named the top coach in Division III for the third time, the association announced today at the Intercollegiate Men's Lacrosse Coaches Association convention at the Marriott Waterfront hotel in Baltimore. Toomey guided the Greyhounds to an 18-1 record and the school's first-ever NCAA Division I championship in 2012 after Loyola started the year unranked in many preseason polls.