Hat Trick

The Blast has found a consistent method for success in the early Major Indoor Soccer League season: Get a hat trick, then hunker down on defense late. Friday night against the Philadelphia KiXX, it was forward Machel Millwood's turn to pull off the feat. His third goal of the game midway through the third quarter turned out to be the game-winner as the home team blanked the KiXX in the fourth quarter to come away with a 9-8 win in front of 6,624 at 1st Mariner Arena. The Blast (3-1)

Chris Zielinski scored the go-ahead goal with 7:12 left and Colgate beat sixth-seeded Massachusetts, 13-11, in the first round of the NCAA Division I men's lacrosse tournament Saturday in Amherst, Mass. The loss was the first of the season for the top-ranked Minutemen (15-1). Tewaaraton Award finalist Peter Baum had two goals and an assist for a nation's-best 66 goals and 94 points. No. 3 Duke 12, Syracuse 9: Redshirt senior midfielder Justin Turri had three goals and two assists, and goalie Dan Wigrizer posted 12 saves for the host Blue Devils (14-4)

In a battle of the television behemoths, it came down to Baltimore versus New Jersey. Or was it street thugs versus the mafia? Maybe was just Omar against Tony. In any event, the website Vulture.com has had some fun recently, March Madness style, pitting favorite television shows against each other in a bracket. The goal was to crown the greatest drama of the last 25 years. Shows like "My So-Called Life," "NYPD Blue," "The X-Files," "The West Wing" and "Mad Men" didn't make the ultimate cut. When it came down to the championship, it was an HBO smackdown,"The Wire" battling "The Sopranos.

No. 3 Loyola (13-1) Coming up: Vs. No. 18 Fairfield, today, 6 p.m. Comment: The Greyhounds are 12-2 all time against the Stags. Sophomore attackman Justin Ward's 23 assists are a team best since Shane Koppens recorded 24 in 2008. No. 7 Maryland (9-4) Coming up: At No. 12 Colgate, Saturday, 1 p.m. Comment: The Terps are 1-1 against the Raiders, but Colgate scored a 10-8 victory last spring that forced Maryland to begin the NCAA tournament on the road.

Brooke Matthews (Friends) notched a hat trick as top-ranked Northwestern closed out the road portion of its 2010 season with a 13-6 victory over No. 18 Penn State. Katrina Dowd recorded four goals and added three assists for Northwestern (11-0, 2-0 American Lacrosse Conference). ... Molly Ford ( Notre Dame Prep) had three goals and three assists as No. 14 Georgetown (7-5, 5-0 Big East) withstood a second-half rally to beat host Louisville, 17-13. ... Kim Cudmore (Bel Air)

Men's college lacrosse Cummings' hat trick lifts No. 8 Terps , 12-8 Host Mount St. Mary's (4-8) hung with No. 8 Maryland (8-4) for a quarter before the Terps pulled away in the second quarter and went on to win, 12-8, Wednesday night. Joe Cummings (Loyola) had a hat trick and scored his 100th career point for Maryland. Bryant Schmidt (St. Mary's-Ryken) scored twice for the Mount. Tewaaraton Award: The Tewaaraton Foundation announced that the list of candidates for the annual honor given to the top men's players has been whittled to 25. No. 1 Loyola and No. 13 Johns Hopkins are two of five programs with two representatives on the list.

College field hockey Witmer leads No. 3 UM past Villanova, 6-3 The No. 3 Maryland field hockey team (5-1) held off visiting Villanova, 6-3, on Sunday as sophomore Jill Witmer led the Terrapins' attack in the second half with her first career hat trick to break open a halftime tie. Senior Jemma Buckley had a first-half goal, and junior transfer Nikki Fernandez scored her first goal as a Terrapin. College soccer Hunter's goal gives Mids title at Navy Invitational Freshman midfielder Rachel Hunter scored in the 95th minute to give the Navy women's soccer team a 1-0 overtime victory over visiting Davidson (2-4-1)

Sean Rogers completed his hat trick with the game-winner in overtime as the No.7 Notre Dame men's lacrosse team beat host Hofstra, 6-5, on Saturday at James M. Shuart Stadium. Notre Dame (3-1) trailed 4-3 late in regulation when Jim Marlatt evened the score with 1:02 left. Marlatt had two goals and two assists on the day. Rogers gave the Irish a 5-4 lead with just 12 seconds left in the fourth quarter. His three goals matched a career-high. Rogers also had an assist. Hofstra (2-3)

Jason Feiler's hat trick helped Old Mill nip Glen Burnie/North County, 8-7, in a North County Summer Lacrosse League square-off Sunday.Steve Windsor added two goals for the winners (4-4), while Mike Majoros (four assists), Dave Butterworth and Jim Bender each added a goal. W. T. Door stopped eight enemy shots for the winners.Lauren Reich paced Glen Burnie/North County with three goals, while Justin Thompson contributed two with two assists. Matt Clark (one assist) and Jason Meredith tallied single goals in a losing cause.

Hat tricks are kind of . . . well, old hat for Centennial sophomore striker Michelle Clare.Clare recorded her third hat trick of the season last night and it was more than enough to carry the fourth-seeded Eagles to a 3-1 victory over top-seeded South Carroll in a 3A-4A West regional girls soccer semifinal game at South Carroll.Clare showed a little bit of everything last night, touch, speed, quickness and good anticipation as she sent three shots past the Cavaliers backup goalie Erin Nauyalis, who was starting only her second varsity game.

Miranda Ibello broke a tie at 14 by scoring her second and the game-winning goal with two minutes left as No. 5 Maryvale beat host Archbishop Spalding, 15-14, on Friday. The visiting Lions (8-3) got off to a slow start and fell behind 9-5 at the break. In the second half, Emma Tizard (two goals) won draw controls, and the Lions settled down and ran their offense. Maryvale's Sam Darcangelo finished with five goals. No. 12 Mount de Sales 20, Garrison Forest 10: Gabby Cha scored four goals and Carly Williams had three goals and four assists for the host Sailors (10-4)

Men's college lacrosse Cummings' hat trick lifts No. 8 Terps , 12-8 Host Mount St. Mary's (4-8) hung with No. 8 Maryland (8-4) for a quarter before the Terps pulled away in the second quarter and went on to win, 12-8, Wednesday night. Joe Cummings (Loyola) had a hat trick and scored his 100th career point for Maryland. Bryant Schmidt (St. Mary's-Ryken) scored twice for the Mount. Tewaaraton Award: The Tewaaraton Foundation announced that the list of candidates for the annual honor given to the top men's players has been whittled to 25. No. 1 Loyola and No. 13 Johns Hopkins are two of five programs with two representatives on the list.

No. 12 Mount de Sales' lacrosse team proved how dangerous it can be Wednesday. Carly Williams, who has committed to Old Dominion, scored a game-high five goals and the Sailors upset No. 5 Notre Dame Prep, 17-9. Mount de Sales improved to 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the Interscholastic Athletic Association of Maryland A Conference. The Blazers fell to 8-5, 5-1. The loss ended a three-game winning streak for Notre Dame Prep. No. 1 McDonogh 19, No. 13 Roland Park 4: The host Eagles (8-0)

The No. 7 McDonogh boys lacrosse team did what no other area school had been able to - hand No. 1 Calvert Hall a loss. Brinton Valis dodged and scored a top-shelf goal with 2:55 left in overtime as the host Eagles won, 7-6, on Friday. The Cardinals (7-2) suffered their only other loss March 23 to Pennsylvania powerhouse Conestoga, 11-10. Calvert Hall, led by Ryan Brown with a hat trick, took a 3-1 lead after the first quarter. McDonogh answered with a 3-1 run in the second quarter to tie the score at 4. Calvert Hall took the last lead of regulation, 6-5, with 6:24 remaining.

Women's college lacrosse No. 19 Towson outlasts host Old Dominion, 9-7 Andi Raymond scored four goals to lead No. 19 Towson past host Old Dominion, 9-7, in women's lacrosse Sunday. The Tigers (9-3, 3-0 Colonial Athletic Association) won their third straight game by outscoring the Monarchs 5-3 in the second half. Old Dominion (4-9, 1-2) tied the game at 6 with 17:25 remaining when Emily Austerberry scored her third goal of the game, but Towson took the final lead with a goal from Taylor Moore with 8:20 left.

Steele Stanwick (Loyola) came up big again with three goals and four assists to lead nine Cavaliers in scoring as top-ranked Virginia beat host No. 4 North Carolina, 15-10, on Saturday. With the win, the Cavaliers (10-1, 2-0) clinched at least the second seed in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, which they'll host April 20 and 22. Friday's home game against No. 10 Duke will determine the league tournament's No. 1 seed. Stanwick has 243 career points, moving past Kevin Pehlke (239)

Dan O'Keefe provided the first indication in Friday night's overtime win over the Harrisburg Heat. Last night, rookie Rob Ukrop provided the second one.It was O'Keefe's scoring flurry since returning from a knee injury and Ukrop's return from a broken jaw that prompted coach Kenny Cooper to say before last night's game: "Now that Dan and Rob are back, we can only get better."O'Keefe had his second straight hat trick and fourth of the season and Ukrop had a career-high five points to lead the Spirit to a 24-20 victory over the Canton Invaders last night before 5,559 at the Baltimore Arena.

Women's lacrosse Paton's nine points lead Loyola over Louisville Marlee Paton had four goals and five assists and No. 11 Loyola tied a school record for best start in Big East play with a 17-8 victory over host Louisville. The Greyhounds improved to 8-3, 4-0; the Cardinals fell to 3-7, 1-2. More state women: Kaitlyn Larrimore (North Harford) had a hat trick, but host Mount St. Mary's (4-9, 3-2 Northeast Conference) fell, 12-10, to Bryant (3-8, 2-2)

Salisbury's Jim Berkman became the first coach in any division of NCAA men's lacrosse to earn his 400th career win when the visiting Sea Gulls beat Mary Washington, 16-8, Wednesday. Matt Cannone (two goals, four assists) moved up to No. 2 in career points at Salisbury (12-0, 4-0 Capital Athletic Conference) with 306, trailing Jason Coffman with 451. Erik Krum led the Sea Gulls with seven points and six goals for the game. Goucher 13, Eastern 7: Matt Lynch and Zachary Fratella each had three goals and an assist to power the host Gophers (11-1)