Faceoffs

Loyola's Jamie Hanford is the best dual weapon in lacrosse, but don't attempt to explain that to him.Name another team who asks a player to take on the physically grinding task of faceoffs and then match up against the opposition's top attackman. Yet Hanford excels at both and single-handedly changes the facets of games, giving the Greyhounds numerous scoring opportunities by dominating the draws while silencing the other team's attack.Although Hanford won't admit it, many perceive him as one of the top workhorses in college lacrosse history.

Scoring goals is a necessity in boys lacrosse, but ground balls were the difference for Gilman. In a matchup between the area's two best lacrosse programs, the top-ranked and visiting Greyhounds slipped past No. 2 Boys' Latin, 14-12, yesterday. Although Lakers senior attack Brian Nee led all scorers with seven goals and senior attack Dan LaMonica contributed a goal and four assists, Gilman improved to 2-0 in the MIAA A Conference and 3-0 overall by dominating ground balls (51-37) and faceoffs (20-10)

This is the first-ever meeting between these teams. Birmingham-Southern (14-4) has won seven of its last eight contests, including upending Colorado College, 8-5, for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament crown and earning the automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament. The only two losses Stevenson (15-4) has absorbed in the last 12 games have been to No. 1 seed Salisbury. Here are a few factors that could influence this NCAA tournament first-round contest at Mustang Stadium in Owings Mills Wednesday night.

On a day when Towson desperately needed someone to step up, coach Shawn Nadelen didn't hesitate to reach down into the bowels of his depth chart. With both of the Tigers' top face-off specialists struggling against Mount St. Mary's, Nadelen turned to third-stringer Ian Mills, who hadn't appeared in either of Towson's first three games. The junior came up huge down the stretch, winning four of five face-offs in the fourth quarter, as the host Tigers rallied to score the game's final three goals in a 10-8 win. "We talked [Friday]

No. 2 Johns Hopkins has won all eight meetings in this series and is coming off a 12-6 victory over Towson in its season opener Friday evening. Meanwhile, No. 18 Delaware (2-1) dropped its first game of the season, falling, 13-8, to previously unranked Loyola Saturday. Here are a few factors that could influence the outcome. 1) Blue Jays' offense without Chris Boland. How the attack makes up for the expected absence of senior attackman Chris Boland (shoulder) will be huge for Johns Hopkins.

WASHINGTON -- Attackmen Andrew Baird and Matt McBride scored unassisted goals in the final seven minutes to lead Georgetown to a 9-7 win against Navy yesterday. But it was midfielder Christiaan Trunz who powered the Hoyas to the opening-round victory in the NCAA Division I men's tournament. Stymied by Navy faceoff specialist William Wallace in the first quarter as the Midshipmen took a 3-0 lead, Trunz dug Georgetown out of the deficit by winning 11 of the game's final 15 faceoffs, as the fifth-seeded Hoyas outscored unseeded Navy 7-3 during the final two quarters.

Towson is clinging to a 27-26 lead in this cross-town rivalry, but Loyola has won the last four meetings. The No. 17 Greyhounds are flying high after bouncing then-No. 16 Delaware, 13-8, in their season opener a week ago. The Tigers (1-1) are trying to rebound from a 12-6 loss to then-No. 4 Johns Hopkins eight days ago. Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore on Saturday. 1) Getting more production from Loyola's midfield.

Trying to slow the quick-striking attack of the Westminster boys lacrosse team, opponents of late have employed a new weapon - zone defense. As visiting Liberty found out yesterday, however, the Owls aren't yet ready to exit their own zone. Continuing the best start in school history, Westminster got four goals from midfielder Brad Baer while controlling the ball for most of the way in a 12-7 victory over the Lions in a Carroll County and Central Maryland Conference game. It was a far more inspired performance for the Owls than in Tuesday's 5-4 win against South Carroll, something coach Jim Peters attributes in part to better ball movement.