Faceoffs

After hovering over the 50 percent mark on faceoffs for much of the season, Mount St. Mary's has fared worse against Northeast Conference opponents. The team won just 10-of-24 draws against Quinnipiac, 11-of-30 against No. 20 Bryant and 13-of-33 against Robert Morris. The Mountaineers collected six more groundballs than the Bobcats did, but they finished with a -23 margin against the Bears and a -12 differential against the Colonials. In Saturday's 17-14 loss to Robert Morris, coach Tom Gravante resorted to unusual measures by moving starting attackmen like Andrew Scalley and Brett Schmidt and starting midfielder Bryant Schmidt to the wings on faceoffs.

ESPN analyst Mark Dixon was in the network's studio in Charlotte providing his perspective on each of the four games in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals this past weekend, and he will do the same this Saturday before appearing in person at Monday's title game at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. The former Blue Jays midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter @Dixonlacrosse, discussed the most intriguing game of the quarterfinal round, top-seeded Syracuse's 7-6 decision against Yale, and his thoughts on the Final Four.

For the second time in the last three contests, Maryland gave freshman Charlie Raffa more faceoffs than junior Curtis Holmes. In the team's 12-8 victory over Mount St. Mary's on April 25, Raffa took 10 faceoffs, winning six. Holmes won 4-of-10. The disparity was much wider in the Terps' 13-11 loss to Colgate last Saturday when Raffa went 12-of-24 and Holmes was 0-of-3. As the team prepares to meet No. 7 seed Lehigh and junior Ryan Snyder (132-of-259 for 51.0 percent) in Sunday night's first-round NCAA tournament game, Maryland coach John Tillman confirmed that he intended to go with the player having the most success on faceoffs.

For most of the 2013 campaign, Maryland has relied on sophomore Charlie Raffa to take the vast majority of the faceoffs. And despite the team's recent struggles in that department, not much is expected to change as the No. 4 Terps (9-2) prepare to meet Virginia (6-7) in Friday's semifinal of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The team has not won more than 50 percent of its draws in five of its last six contests, and Raffa has taken 109 of the 115 faceoffs over that span, winning 54 of them.

Stevenson has thrown as many as six guys out for faceoffs, but three - senior Doug Reidt, junior Sam Ramatowski and freshman Sam Wyatt - have taken at least 96 draws each. Reidt owns the best percentage this season at 53.6 percent and has taken the most faceoffs (181). Ramatowski ranks second in attempted draws (110) and has won 51.8 percent. Wyatt has been the team's first option in the Greyhounds' last two contests, winning a combined 59.1 percent (13-of-22) in victories against Ohio Wesleyan and Birmingham-Southern.

Last season, Justin Radebaugh won 42 of 71 faceoffs for Salisbury after transferring from UMBC. But the Lutherville native and Boys' Latin graduate has not made an appearance in each of the team's first two games this year due to post-concussion symptoms. That means more reps for junior Tyler Granelli, who has taken 70 of the Sea Gulls' 85 faceoffs this season and won 44. “It's pretty much a one-man show because Justin has a concussion,” coach Jim Berkman said last week.

With his eye-opening 22-of-30 performance in Denver's 16-14 upset of No. 8 seed North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament last Saturday, Pioneers junior Chase Carraro ranks fifth in Division I with a 62.9 faceoff percentage. But as important as faceoffs are to determining possession, it's what Denver does after the faceoffs that has caught the attention of No. 1 seed Loyola, which will face the Pioneers in a quarterfinal contest at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis this Saturday.

The most prominent storyline of Wednesday night's NCAA tournament quarterfinal between visiting Cabrini and No. 1 seed Salisbury involves the Cavaliers' top-ranked defense against the Sea Gulls' top-ranked offense. Another thread figures to be the battle on faceoffs between Cabrini freshman Anthony DiNenno and Salisbury junior Tyler Granelli. DiNenno ranks first in Division I with a 69.6 percentage (211-of-303). Granelli isn't far behind, ranking third with a 68.4 percentage (210-of-307)

In response to the NCAA's proposed rule changes for the 2013 men's lacrosse season, the US Lacrosse men's game safety education subcommittee provided comments centered on player safety Wednesday to the NCAA men's lacrosse rules committee. Angelo Calvello, chairman of the US Lacrosse men's game safety education subcommittee, wrote a letter about recommendations involving the proposed rule changes for faceoffs and restarts. Among the highlights, US Lacrosse requested the NCAA rescind proposals that move faceoff players to 12 inches apart and that outlaw the motorcycle grip.

Loyola's long line of strong faceoff specialists - from Dan Kallaugher to Tim McDermott to John Schiavone to J.P. Dalton - has not continued this season. Sophomore Blake Burkhart has won 50 percent (80-of-160) of the draws he has taken, and junior Brendan Donovan has won 47.1 percent (49-of-104). The No. 8 Greyhounds (9-3 overall and 5-1 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference) are winning 49.5 percent (137-of-277), and the team's uneven results showed up in last Saturday's 13-12 overtime loss to top-ranked Denver.

Loyola's long line of strong faceoff specialists - from Dan Kallaugher to Tim McDermott to John Schiavone to J.P. Dalton - has not continued this season. Sophomore Blake Burkhart has won 50 percent (80-of-160) of the draws he has taken, and junior Brendan Donovan has won 47.1 percent (49-of-104). The No. 8 Greyhounds (9-3 overall and 5-1 in the Eastern College Athletic Conference) are winning 49.5 percent (137-of-277), and the team's uneven results showed up in last Saturday's 13-12 overtime loss to top-ranked Denver.

A little over a month ago, the Maryland men's lacrosse team had the most high-powered offense in the country, a perfect record and the No. 1 ranking. But a strength has turned into their major weakness, and as the Terps prepare to welcome No. 14 Yale to Byrd Stadium in College Park on Saturday, they have been questioning everything about their floundering attack. After averaging 15 goals in its first six contests, Maryland is averaging 8.0 goals and has reached double digits in just one of its past four games.

Senior faceoff specialist Mike Poppleton will be a game-time decision for No. 12 Johns Hopkins' showdown with No. 4 North Carolina on Saturday. Poppleton, who has won 70.9 percent (100 of 141) of his draws this season, left Saturday's 15-8 victory over No. 13 Virginia with an unspecified injury shortly after winning four of six  faceoffs and scoring once. Poppleton did not return, and coach Dave Pietramala said a decision on Poppleton won't be made until Saturday. “He's good,” Pietramala said.

After eight contests in which Towson couldn't find a primary faceoff specialist, the team may have found a long-term solution in a freshman who uses a long pole. Long-stick midfielder Patrick Conroy has assumed the role in the Tigers' last two games. He won 7-of-13 draws (53.8 percent) in the team's 12-9 victory over UMBC a week ago and then 8-of-15 faceoffs (53.3 percent) in a 7-6 overtime decision against Colonial Athletic Association rival Delaware Friday night. Coach Shawn Nadelen said Conroy was part of the faceoff unit during fall workouts, but was forced to sit out the first six games of the season while recovering from an unspecified illness.

A high school boys lacrosse game that was supposed to be a warm-up act for the two college games that followed played more like a main event at the seventh annual Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday. Justin Guterding scored or assisted on the first four goals by Garden City (N.Y.) and a second-half rally by No. 5 Loyola fell short as the Trojans won, 6-5. "We let some hasty decisions and some rushed play let them get a lot of possessions," Loyola coach Jack Crawford said.

The Johns Hopkins men's lacrosse team took all the mystery out of the program's 85th meeting with Virginia. Scoring 11 of the game's first 12 goals, the No. 12 Blue Jays dominated the Cavaliers in a 15-8 victory that wasn't nearly as close as the final score suggested during the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium on Saturday. Johns Hopkins' impressive performance came after a 13-8 loss to No. 6 Syracuse on March 16. Both of the Blue Jays' losses this season have been to ranked opponents - against the Orange and to No. 11 Princeton, 11-8, on March 1. For at least one day, the Blue Jays (6-2)

What was an area of concern for Johns Hopkins entering the season has developed into a strength.With the departure of Steve Vecchione, who handled faceoffs for four years, coach Tony Seaman found a successor in Peter Jacobs, a 6-foot-5 junior midfielder from Manhasset, N.Y.Jacobs has won 63 percent of his faceoffs, including 11 of 19 in last week's win over Maryland in which he also collected 15 ground balls and three goals."

As practice ended on Monday and the Maryland lacrosse players dispersed, coach Dick Edell approached Brian Haggerty and simply winked.No words. No explanations.It's Hopkins-Maryland week, and nothing needs to be said, especially to Haggerty."It was to the effect: 'You remember last May, don't you?' " said Edell, referring to the Terrapins' 9-7 loss to Johns Hopkins in last year's NCAA quarterfinals. "He has a personal agenda to put that memory behind him."It was 11 months ago when Haggerty, a freshman reserve, was thrust into a prominent role when Maryland's top faceoff specialist, Chris Nohe, reinjured his back after the opening draw.

Navy owns an 11-4 advantage in this Patriot League series, and the Midshipmen have won three of the last four meetings. No. 16 Colgate (6-2 overall and 1-0 in the conference) has won three consecutive games since dropping back-to-back contests to No. 2 Cornell on March 2 and Hobart three days later. The Raiders are averaging 10.9 goals per game this season and headlined by senior attackman and 2012 Tewaaraton Award winner Peter Baum. Navy (3-5, 1-2) has dropped its last two outings and has averaged just 6.2 goals in those five losses.

Navy coach Rick Sowell was trying his best not to say it, but his facial expression told the story. When asked why his team struggled again offensively in an 11-3 loss to Colgate in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium, Sowell said he didn't want to go searching for anything at this point. He didn't have to go far. All he had to do was point to Colgate attackmen Ryan Walsh (four goals, three assists) and Peter Baum (three goals). The Midshipmen (3-6 overall, 1-3 Patriot League)