Green Terror

Thursday's entry is the fourth installment of a series taking a look at each of the eight Division III programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. The Sun's lacrosse preview is slated to be published on Friday, Feb. 8. This is McDaniel's turn. Overview: The Green Terror bounced back from a 6-9 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the Centennial Conference in 2011 to go 11-7 and 5-3, respectively, last season. That was good enough to send the program to its third conference tournament in the last four years, but McDaniel failed to get out of the semifinal round, losing to Washington College.

Colleges Ex-Raven Testaverde chosen for football HOF The National Football Foundation announced that former Ravens quarterback Vinny Testaverde will be a member of the 2013 College Football Hall of Fame Class. Testaverde starred at Miami from 1982 to 1986. The entire class will be unveiled today during a news conference at the NASDAQ OMX MarketSite in New York's Times Square at 11:30 a.m. The Football Bowl Subdivision Class will be inducted at the NFF awards dinner Dec. 10 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York.

Beginning in the fall, McDaniel College will have a new Green Terror mascot. The school announced Tuesday the creation of a "new visual identity" for its athletic program, which also includes a new logo, starting with the 2012-13 academic year. Each of McDaniel's 24 varsity sports will also have a sport-specific logo, according to a news release from the college. A committee of student-athletes, coaches, faculty and alumni worked closely with Francis Santaquilani and FS Design of Chattanooga, Tenn., to create the new Green Terror identity through a process that started in September 2011, the college said.

No. 10 Washington College took the uncertainty out of its postseason plans by walloping Swarthmore, 16-5, Wednesday night and clinching a spot in the Centennial Conference tournament. The same cannot be said for the team's opponent in the tournament. How No. 19 Gettysburg fares against McDaniel on Saturday will determine whether the Shoremen (12-3 overall and 5-3 in the league) get the No. 3 or No. 4 seed. If the Green Terror (5-10, 2-5) upset the Bullets (8-6, 4-3), Washington would earn the third seed and meet Franklin & Marshall (10-4, 6-1)

Western Maryland College second-year coach Tim Keating had a dream of the Bair Stadium scoreboard lighted up like a pinball machine. He jokingly admits he isn't sure whether the home or away team had more points.It's understandable.An offense that had little problem scoring in Keating's inaugural 3-5-1 1993 season has junior quarterback Brian Van Deusen back, along with his top two receivers and much of the line. The defense has only two starters back, one of whom is switching positions.The game plan is simple: "We're going to have to control the ball on offense with 5- and 10-yard gains and keep our guys on the field with 10-play drives," Keating said.

Just how much did senior point guard Pat Young mean to this season's Western Maryland men's basketball team?In the team's first playoff appearance in 15 years on Wednesday, the Green Terror had a one-point lead over host Muhlenberg early in the second half when Young went out with a severe cut to his finger.When he returned six minutes later, the Mules were in the middle of a 28-8 run.Young, who earned All-Centennial Conference honorable-mention status, didn't take another shot after returning and the Mules, winners of the conference's East Division, advanced with a 78-54 win.Sophomore Daeviid St. Rose, a second-team All-CC forward, was the only member of the Green Terror in double figures with 15 points.

The Western Maryland baseball team will be gunning for a school-record eighth straight win today when it takes on visiting Gettysburg.The game will complete a home-and-home series that began Tuesday with a 12-11 win by the Green Terror in a 10-inning thriller at Gettysburg.Western Maryland (9-3, 3-0 in the Centennial Conference) rallied from a 7-1 deficit in the sixth and had one-run leads after the seventh and eighth before Gettysburg sent the game into extra innings.The Bullets (3-16, 1-4)

The Western Maryland College football team has a big task ahead Saturday afternoon when it travels to Carlisle, Pa., to take on the seven-time defending Centennial Conference champion Dickinson Red Devils.The last time the Green Terror left the Dickinson campus victorious was in 1983 with a 35-14 win. The Red Devils since have won five straight at home against the Green Terror.A bye last Saturday gave Western Maryland (3-1-1 overall, 2-0-1 in the CC) an extra week to prepare, while Dickinson (4-1, 2-0)

Western Maryland College didn't bring home any Centennial Conference championships this spring, but it did have plenty of success when the All-CC teams came out yesterday.Three Green Terror student-athletes were named Player of the Year in their respective sports. Senior catcher Jen Prowinski in softball, senior shortstop Brian Van Deusen in baseball, and senior attacker Dean Coccia in men's lacrosse all took top honors.Prowinski, a repeat first-team selection, hit .448 in the conference with 20 RBIs.

It was a very successful season for the majority of the Western Maryland College spring teams.Sophomore Julie Cox (Liberty) put an exclamation point on the season by leading the women's track and field team to their first-ever conference championship on Sunday. The Green Terror finished tied with host Gettysburg with 136 points in the inaugural Centennial Conference Championships.As has been the case all season, Cox was brilliant over the weekend. She was named Outstanding Female Performer after winning the 100- and 400-meter hurdles, placing second in the 100 -- and shot put, and taking third in the long jump.

  With first place on the line, Penn State (9-3, 4-0 Colonial Athletic Association) used a 6-1 run to take a four-goal lead in the third quarter that it would not relinquish en route to a 10-8 win over visiting Towson on Saturday. The Tigers (7-6, 3-1) entered the match on a four-game winning streak but couldn't hold off a five-goal effort by the Nittany Lions' TJ Sanders. UMBC 13, Stony Brook 12: The Retrievers (5-6, 2-1 America East) rallied to overtake the Seawolves (6-6, 1-2)

  With the game tied at 10 with 20:27 to play, the Loyola offense sputtered when it was needed most as Georgetown (8-2, 3-0 Big East) ended the game on a 4-1 run to pull out a 14-11 win in women's lacrosse Saturday. Annie Thomas paced the Greyhounds (5-6, 2-1) with four goals. Sophia Thomas led Georgetown with four. No. 4 Florida 19, No. 19 Johns Hopkins 9: Kitty Cullen scored five goals as the host Gators (14-1, 2-1 American Lacrosse Conference) beat the Blue Jays (7-5, 1-2)

For years, McDaniel had the enviable comfort level of knowing that when the score was tight, the offense could turn to Gibbs Preston and then D.J. Rickels to take charge on attack. With Rickels graduating after last season, a void opened on attack. Sophomore Pat Bivons (10 goals and seven assists) and senior Pat Woglom (13, 1) have tried to fill the role, but coach Matt Hatton said the team is still looking for that go-to leader. “I don't know if it's necessary, but it's nice to have someone behind the goal or goal-line extended that wants the ball in his stick in critical situations,” he said Thursday morning.

The No. 10 Salisbury men's lacrosse team got back on track Wednesday against host McDaniel. The Sea Gulls (3-2) opened the first quarter with a 4-0 run and held the Green Terror (0-3) to one goal per quarter the rest of the way to win, 16-3. Eric Kluge had three goals for Salisbury as 12 Sea Gulls scored. Tyler Smith and Adam Stork each scored twice and had an assist for the Sea Gulls. Smith netted his first goal of the season to open the scoring, the first of eight unanswered goals to start the contest.

Thursday's entry is the fourth installment of a series taking a look at each of the eight Division III programs in this state according to their order of finish from last season. The Sun's lacrosse preview is slated to be published on Friday, Feb. 8. This is McDaniel's turn. Overview: The Green Terror bounced back from a 6-9 overall record and a 3-5 mark in the Centennial Conference in 2011 to go 11-7 and 5-3, respectively, last season. That was good enough to send the program to its third conference tournament in the last four years, but McDaniel failed to get out of the semifinal round, losing to Washington College.

Morgan State junior guard Justin Black nearly produced a tripledouble while leading the Bears over host Liberty, 67-62, in a nonconference game Thursday night in Lynchburg, Va. Black finished with nine points, 12 rebounds and nine assists as the Bears, in the midst of a seven-game road swing, improved to 2-3. The game had 16 lead changes and was tied eight times. Neither team enjoyed a lead larger than seven points until Morgan State went ahead by nine with 1:10 remaining. Anthony Hubbard finished with 16 points to lead Morgan State, and Dewayne Jackson added 11 points, five rebounds and five steals.

The Western Maryland College football team will travel to Ursinus in dire need of a win after dropping its second straight game Saturday against Gettysburg.There are plenty of ties that link Western Maryland and its Centennial Conference rival Ursinus.Green Terror coach Tim Keating and Ursinus coach Steve Gilbert worked together as assistant coaches at Penn. Two of Keating's assistants -- Paul Guenther and Matt Kennedy -- played at Ursinus.All the reunion stuff will have to wait until after the game with the Green Terror needing to win and Ursinus looking to make it two straight conference wins after impressively knocking off Franklin & Marshall.

The Western Maryland College men's basketball team ended an eight-game slide against Johns Hopkins on Wednesday with a 73-58 win at the Gill Center.Tomorrow afternoon at Catholic, Western Maryland will work on turning around another slump -- winning on the road.The Green Terror is 1-7 on the road this season, allowing 92.5 points and scoring 65.5 points a game away from the Gill Center. Overall this season, the Green Terror has yielded an average of 85.4 points and scored 79.2 points.The 1984-85 team was the last to finish .500 on the road.

McDaniel College was touted on two national "lists" this past week - one relating to the overall college experience on the Westminster campus, and the other connected to the Green Terror's atmosphere for sporting events. The college was named in the guide, "Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges," a book by education journalist Hilary Masell Oswald that updates a 2006 edition by the late Loren Pope, who had been an education editor at the New York Times . The book profiles 40 colleges that, it says, excel at developing potential, values and initiative in a wide range of students.

McDaniel College may be tucked away in Westminster but boy does the school know how to party. Don't take our word for it -- this is coming directly from Southern Living. The magazine just placed McDaniel on its list of the country's best tailgating schools. And don't take it only from Southern Living. The Weather Channel also ranked McDaniel a heady No. 6 on its best tailgating list. (Who knew the Weather Channel was paying attention to tailgates?) Tailgating is serious business in schools across the country.