Grant Catalino

Freshman attackman Ryan Young had four assists for the second time this season to lead No. 5 Maryland past visiting Air Force, 16-4, yesterday at Ludwig Field. The Falcons (1-4) took a 1-0 lead on Griffin Nevitt's unassisted goal at the 11:09 mark of the first quarter. Maryland (5-2) responded with goals by Grant Catalino (two goals), Brian Farrell (Boys' Latin) and Dan Groot. Air Force scored twice in the closing minute of the first quarter before Maryland's Will Dalton (two goals) scored with 15 seconds left to give the Terps a 4-3 advantage and start a 13-0 scoring run. Maryland junior Jason Carter made a career-best nine saves.

This is the 87th meeting between these in-state rivals with Maryland owning a 52-33-1 advantage. But Navy has won five of the last eight contests in this series. The No. 11 Terps (5-3) have dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season, but it's the 10th time in the last 11 years. The No. 17 Midshipmen (5-4) had a four-game winning streak snapped in Friday night's 9-4 loss to No. 9 Lehigh. Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Byrd Stadium in College Park on Friday night.

Maryland junior attackman Grant Catalino , who scored a career-best five goals, including the game-winner, in Maryland's 11-10 overtime victory against Duke in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium, was named the ACC Co-Player of the Week. More men's honors: Loyola senior attacker Collin Finnerty was named the Eastern College Athletic Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week after scoring a career-high five goals in a 14-8 victory at Bellarmine on Wednesday and adding three against Notre Dame in the Face-Off Classic against Notre Dame.

For the third consecutive outing, Maryland junior faceoff specialist Curtis Holmes' struggles were apparent. After losing 11-of-13 draws to Georgetown redshirt sophomore Tyler Knarr and 10-of-18 to Duke senior C.J. Costabile, Holmes dropped 13-of-17 faceoffs to sophomore Phil Poe in the No. 5 Terps' stunning 8-7 loss to UMBC Tuesday night at UMBC Stadium in Catonsville. Holmes' success on draws has dropped from 64.2 percent (43-of-67) to 55.9 percent (47-of-84), but even though freshman Bobby Gribbin took the first two faceoffs of his career against the Retrievers, coach John Tillman refused to waver in his support of Holmes, who ranked seventh in the country with a 62.6 success rate.

MEN Grant Catalino, Maryland Senior, Webster, N.Y., attackman Catalino sparked the No. 6 Terps (10-3) to two wins and the school's first Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship since 2005. He scored the game-winning goal to help Maryland, the tournament's No. 3 seed, edge then-No. 7 North Carolina, 7-6, in the semifinal round Friday. And then he scored three goals in the team's 11-9 victory over then-No. 6 Duke, the top seed, in the title game.

- The Towson men's lacrosse team executed a near-perfect defensive plan, handcuffing No. 6 Maryland's potent attack and midfield. The only problem was that the Tigers couldn't account for the Terps' second midfield line. That unit of sophomores Michael Shakespeare and Drew Snider and freshman John Haus each scored twice and powered Maryland to a 12-8 victory at Byrd Stadium on Saturday. Sophomore attackman Joe Cummings led the Terps - who improved to 4-0 for the first time since 2004 - in scoring with two goals and one assist.

The Maryland men's lacrosse team owned or at least equaled Virginia's efforts in the final three quarters of Saturday night's contest. Now if there was something the Terps could have done about the first quarter. The No. 1 Cavaliers scored the game's first six goals and won the first seven faceoffs, and that was enough for the visitors to leave Byrd Stadium with an 11-10 victory before 7,639. The Terps, who have lost two straight games after opening the season with six consecutive wins and are 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, trailed by as many six goals in the third quarter.

Wherever he goes, Maryland senior attackman Ryan Young is reminded of his mother. Maria Young died on April 17 after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer. A quick trip to a local convenience store in College Park recalled the bottles of water and sports drinks that Maria Young devoured during her stay at a hospital near the family's home in Manhassett, N.Y. An encounter with a cardinal while leaving a class brought back the memory of a framed drawing of the bird above Maria Young's hospital bed. But rather than depress him, Ryan Young said those prompts have revived the cherished moments he spent with his mother before her death.

Saturday, M&T Bank Stadium Army (5-6, 1-3 Patriot) vs. No. 12 Navy (8-3, 3-2) Time: 11:30 a.m. TV/Radio: ESPNU/1430 AM Outlook: The Black Knights are below .500 at this stage of the season for the first time since 1995, but four of their losses have been by one goal and three came in overtime. Attackmen Jason Peyer (26 goals and 12 assists) and Jeremy Boltus (20, 16) power an offense that has outscored its opponents 58-35 in the first half this season. Sophomore Tom Palesky ranks sixth in the nation with a .623 save percentage, but coach Joe Alberici is concerned that the first-year starter has seen too many high-quality shots.

— If third-ranked Maryland was out to prove its lack of a post-ACC tournament hangover Saturday, mission accomplished. Looking as sharp as they have all season, the host Terrapins bounced back from last weekend's loss to Virginia with a dominant performance against Fairfield, scoring the game's first eight goals and holding the Stags without so much as a shot for the first 11:21 in a 17-4 victory. "We really wanted to boost our confidence again," sophomore Joe Cummings said.

No one can accuse ESPN analyst Mark Dixon of being limited strictly to the men's game as he will call Wednesday night's women's contest between Towson and No. 20 Johns Hopkins, which will air Wednesday at 5 p.m. on ESPNU. The former Johns Hopkins midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via his account @dixonlacrosse, will contribute to the network's coverage of No. 11 Syracuse at No. 2 Johns Hopkins March 17, but he shared his thoughts on the college lacrosse season thus far. What's the significance of No. 1 Virginia's 14-10 victory over [No. 11]

When the Maryland and Virginia men's lacrosse teams pack up their equipment and leave M&T Bank Stadium on Monday evening, only one will have left its baggage behind. The NCAA tournament final between the unseeded Terps and the seventh-seeded Cavaliers pits a pair of Atlantic Coast Conference rivals eager to conclude their arduous seasons on a winning note. "It's not every year that a senior class gets the opportunity to play on Memorial Day weekend for the championship," Maryland senior attackman Grant Catalino said.

There will be a new men's lacrosse champion this year, and Maryland is eager to fill that role. The unseeded Terps took another step toward that possibility by defeating fifth-seeded and Atlantic Coast Conference rival Duke, 9-4, in their NCAA tournament semifinal at M&T Bank Stadium Saturday night. An announced 45,039 -- the sixth-best attendance for the semifinals -- witnessed Maryland (13-4) hit, poke and check the Blue Devils while applying a stranglehold on an offense that had entered the contest as the fifth-most prolific unit in the country.

No. 7 seed Virginia vs. No. 6 seed Denver Saturday, 4 p.m. VIRGINIA (11-5) Coach: Dom Starsia Leading scorer: Junior attackman Steele Stanwick (29 goals, 35 assists) Goalie: Senior Adam Ghitelman (9.81 goals-against average, .532 save percentage) DENVER (15-2) Coach: Bill Tierney Leading scorer: Junior attackman Mark Matthews (45 goals, 24 assists) Goalie: Freshman Jamie Faus (8.22 GAA, .570 save percentage)

Men's college lacrosse Stevenson's Dailey named nation's top D-III player Stevenson senior Jimmy Dailey (Winters Mill) was chosen as the Division III Outstanding Player of the Year on Wednesday by the United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association. Mustangs senior Evan Douglass was named Outstanding Defensive Player, and Salisbury senior Johnny Rodriguez (Mount St. Joseph) was named Goalkeeper of the Year. Dailey leads Division III with 118 points and 58 assists, both school records.

Unless they are dominating, faceoff specialists get no publicity. In the case of Maryland's Curtis Holmes , he has been so spectacular that he is getting everyone's attention. On a team where there is no legitimate superstar and whose play is defined by a physical, grind-it-out style, it seems only fitting that Maryland's Most Valuable Player in the postseason is a 5-foot-9, 170-pound faceoff specialist. The Terps have a good shooter in Grant Catalino, a strong feeder in Ryan Young and a physical defense paced by seniors Max Schmidt, Ryder Bohlander and Brett Schmidt, but most of the conversation after unseeded Maryland's stunning 6-5 win over No. 1 Syracuse Sunday centered around Holmes.

This is the 87th meeting between these in-state rivals with Maryland owning a 52-33-1 advantage. But Navy has won five of the last eight contests in this series. The No. 11 Terps (5-3) have dropped back-to-back games for the first time this season, but it's the 10th time in the last 11 years. The No. 17 Midshipmen (5-4) had a four-game winning streak snapped in Friday night's 9-4 loss to No. 9 Lehigh. Here are a few factors that could play a role in the outcome at Byrd Stadium in College Park on Friday night.

— A day that began in celebratory fashion for No. 6 Maryland Saturday quickly turned into a game of survival. The host Terrapins took the field on Senior Day against No. 14 Colgate without their top two scorers, then stammered their way through the first half, falling behind by four goals. Despite a late rally, the newly minted Atlantic Coast Conference champions couldn't complete the comeback, allowing goals in the final 2:12 to Ben McCabe and Peter Baum in a 10-8 loss that suddenly puts what looked to be a sure NCAA tournament home game next week in doubt.

Maryland senior attackman Grant Catalino and junior midfielder Joe Cummings are expected to play without any reservations against top-seeded Syracuse in the NCAA tournament quarterfinals on Sunday. Cummings, who missed the team's regular-season finale against Colgate due to an injured right arm, did not start against the Tar Heels, but he did score a goal. Terps coach John Tillman said Cummings could return to the starting lineup at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., but there's also a chance that the first midfield of juniors Jake Bernhardt and Drew Snider and sophomore John Haus could remain together.

A week after the bracket for the NCAA tournament was revealed, the first-round outcomes appeared to validate the selection committee's seeding decisions. Seven of the eight seeded teams emerged victorious this past weekend, and Maryland's 13-6 rout of No. 8 seed North Carolina isn't considered an upset in many corners. But four of the favorites found themselves trailing in the first quarter or at halftime. No. 6 Denver fell into a 7-5 hole against Villanova at intermission; Bucknell led No. 7 seed Virginia 4-1 by the end of the first quarter; and Hartford and Hofstra took leads of 3-1 and 2-0 against No. 2 seed Cornell and No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins, respectively.