Gait

COLLEGE PARK - The Dave Cottle era has ended at Loyola College and will begin today at the University of Maryland, where Cottle will be introduced as the Terrapins' new men's lacrosse coach, university athletic department sources said yesterday. Cottle, who turned the Greyhounds into perennial NCAA tournament participants during his 19-year tenure, becomes the eighth lacrosse coach in Maryland history. He replaces Dick Edell, who announced his retirement more than three weeks ago because of health reasons after 18 seasons in College Park.

With Notre Dame's Kevin Corrigan saying he is no longer interested in the job, speculation on Maryland's next lacrosse coach centers on Gary Gait and Dave Cottle. Longtime assistant Dave Slafkosky is the interim coach running the Terps through fall practice, but Maryland has been searching for a permanent successor to Dick Edell since the longtime boss retired nearly three weeks ago. Gait, the former Syracuse star who is an assistant coach in the Maryland women's program, continues to be a strong candidate to become the 10th head coach in the history of a program that began in 1924.

Gary Gait remains a prime candidate, but Maryland will also consider Loyola's Dave Cottle and Notre Dame's Kevin Corrigan before it hires a lacrosse coach. It's been nearly two weeks since Dick Edell told Terps players that declining health would force him to resign. Gait is viewed as a front-runner to fill the vacancy, but the university will follow standard hiring procedures. It has formed a six-person search committee and sent out feelers to some of the game's top coaches, inquiring about their interest.

Dave Slafkosky will be in charge when the Maryland men start fall lacrosse practice tonight, but it could be Gary Gait's team when the Terps play for real next spring. Gait and Slafkosky occupy offices at opposite ends of Cole Field House, and both are eager candidates to succeed Dick Edell, whose tenure at Maryland ended at 18 seasons because of health concerns. Slafkosky, an assistant to Edell for 24 seasons, was named interim coach, but the front-runner for the permanent post is Gait, one of the game's great names and an assistant with the Terps women during their run of seven straight NCAA titles.

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - It was a brand-new entity, but it was old man Paul Gait who yesterday provided Major League Lacrosse with its biggest performance. Gait, 33, burned the Bayhawks for seven goals, and lifted the Long Island Lizards to the inaugural MLL championship with a 15-11 victory before 6,745 at Kennedy Stadium. "This is for all the old guys," Gait said after being named the game's Most Valuable Player. Old, indeed. It had been believed that the former Syracuse University star was on his last legs, that his retirement from the game was imminent.

THE AIR GAIT MOVE came in spring 1988, and not only catapulted Syracuse midfielder Gary Gait from the back of crease to the front of the goal, but also into his unofficial role as lacrosse's top ambassador. It's been a great ride for Gait, a three-time All-American who won three national titles at Syracuse. He has been an All-World selection at the past three world championships and an All-Pro a record-setting 10 straight years in the indoor game. As an assistant coach with the Maryland women's team, he has played an integral part in the Terps' dynasty.

Upsets were not on the menu during a rare staging of four stakes races on yesterday's card at Laurel Park. And for a pair of connections harboring big-time hopes, avoiding a Maryland upset was merely the next step in winter trips to Florida and Gulfstream Park. The 2-year-old Global Gait, a son of Concern trained by Anthony Dutrow, trounced six others to win the $100,000 Maryland Juvenile Championship. It was the third straight win for Global Gait, and it has Dutrow considering the Holy Bull Stakes Jan. 20 at Gulfstream.

In the fable of the tortoise and the hare, the slow and steady turtle eventually catches the speedy rabbit at the finish. Unfortunately for the players of the North Hempstead Lacrosse Club, there was no moral to yesterday's U.S. Men's Club Lacrosse Association championship game, and they were outrun by a quicker and more talented Team Toyota, 21-12. Baltimore-based Team Toyota claimed the first title in the squad's five-year history despite losing its top offensive threat, Casey Powell, in the game's opening minutes.

As anyone who knows cliches knows, it's awfully tough to beat a team three times during a season.The abbreviated National Lacrosse League playoffs begin this weekend -- Philadelphia plays in Toronto tonight and the Thunder plays host to the Rochester Nighthawks tomorrow (7: 30 p.m.) -- and that's the situation the home forces face.The Thunder slugged Rochester, 20-13, to open the season at the Baltimore Arena on Jan. 2 and repeated over the Hawks, 14-11, a couple of weeks ago on the shores of Lake Ontario.

The Thunder's Gary Gait was named the 1998-99 National Lacrosse League Most Valuable Player yesterday, marking the fifth straight season he has won the award in voting by the league's general managers and coaches.Also, the Thunder's Jesse Hubbard was named Rookie of the Year, and Gait and teammate Joe Hiltz were named to the All-Pro first and second teams, respectively.Gait, 32, who led the league this season with 50 goals, recorded his third consecutive scoring title and fifth of his career, finishing with 82 points in 11 games.