Midfield

The road to the final four has led Loyola, Maryland, Duke and Notre Dame to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. But their midfields could drive them to a coveted national title. Each of those four programs boasts a productive but distinct midfield. Loyola has the top playmaking unit. Maryland's is the most diverse. Duke features the postseason's most potent unit, and Notre Dame's is the deepest. Here is a look at the four different midfields. Loyola's playmakers Everyone knows about junior attackman and Tewaaraton Award finalist Mike Sawyer (51 goals and eight assists)

John Haus hasn't heard from his younger brother this week. Of course, the Maryland men's lacrosse midfielder hasn't exactly tried to reach out to him either. No hard feelings. It's just the nature of sports. "It's game week," said Will Haus, a freshman starting on Duke's defensive midfield, "so there's not much talking going on. " John's Terps will face Will's Blue Devils in the semifinals of the NCAA tournament Saturday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

One of the bright spots in Navy's season-opening 14-7 victory over VMI on Saturday was the play of the starting attack. Sophomores Sam Jones and Tucker Hull and senior Taylor Reynolds combined for 12 goals and six assists. Jones, an Annapolis native and Severna Park graduate who was named Monday the Patriot League Offensive Player of the Week, paced the offense with five goals and four assists, while Hull chipped in four goals and two assists. But while the attack took center stage, the starting midfield of senior Nikk Davis, junior Bryce Dabbs and sophomore Pat Durkin struggled.

When Salisbury and SUNY-Cortland meet Sunday in an NCAA tournament Division III final at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., it's arguable that anyone on the field will be as emotional as Sam Bradman. The senior midfielder is always excited when he steps onto the field for a game, but in recent years, he has been able to tone it down and save his energy for scoring goals and making plays. But Bradman is still vulnerable to letting his emotions get the best of him. In Sunday's 7-2 victory over Stevenson in the semifinal round, Bradman was flagged for a one-minute unsportsmanlike conduct penalty after scoring a goal to give the Sea Gulls a 3-0 lead with 6:59 left in the third quarter.

By now, many folks in the lacrosse community have already written off Stony Brook as a major player in the NCAA tournament after the Seawolves won the America East tournament crown despite a sub-.500 overall record (7-9). Plus, they must take on No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins at Homewood Field in Baltimore Sunday afternoon. That's not the approach Blue Jays coach Dave Pietramala is taking, especially with Stony Brook's first midfield. Junior Jeff Tundo and seniors Robbie Campbell and Russ Bonnano rank 2-3-4 on that offense in points with 42, 38 and 32, respectively.

As a freshman, JoJo Marasco found a spot on the midfield, squeezing out nine goals and eight assists in 10 games. As a sophomore, he flourished as a starting attackman, registering 23 goals and 18 assists. This season, as a junior, Marasco has returned to the midfield, where he ranks second on No. 7 Syracuse in assists (five) and third in points (nine). It's a role that he is re-familiarizing himself with. “It's been an experience, and I'm embracing it,” said Marasco, an honorable-mention All American last year.

Bryce Dabbs and Drew Snider don't really know each other. But if the midfielders for the Navy and Maryland men's lacrosse teams had a chance to sit and talk, they might be surprised at how similar their journeys have been. Dabbs, a junior for the Midshipmen, played sparingly as a freshman and then had his sophomore year wiped out after being ruled academically ineligible. Snider, a senior for the Terps , was almost cut as a freshman. When No. 17 Navy (5-4) and No. 11 Maryland (5-3)

There are no magic potions, fountains of youth or short cuts for veteran Baltimore Blast midfielder Mike Stankovic.Stankovic has used year-round conditioning to extend his Major Soccer League career at a high level into the 1990s.It's been eight years since Stankovic, 35, and Stan Stamenkovic were helping the Blast win its only league championship.Stamenkovic, only nine months older than Stankovic, long since has retired to his home of Titova, Yugoslavia. Stamenkovic made a one-year comeback with the Blast in 1987-88, but didn't perform up to his normal standards and retired for good at the end of the year.

Blast coach Kenny Cooper isn't defensive about his defense going into tomorrow night's home game against the Kansas City Comets."I think, initially, Kansas City adjusted to the changes in the league better than we did," said Cooper, whose team is giving up an average of 7.5 goals a game compared to the Comets' 3.7. "The Comets, obviously, have played tighter defense than we have. But I also think the last two games show we're playing better, especially in the midfield."The Blast defense has shifted gears.

South Carroll's Gene Brown, who has coached for 15 years, says it has been quite some time since he has had a squad with so much depth at midfield.That doesn't bode well for the rest of the county, considering the Cavaliers have gone 17-1 in county play during the 1990s.The South Carroll dominance goes back much further than three years, and early indications are that this year will be no exception.Brown has as many as eight quality midfielders, led by returning senior starters Brad Blizzard and Travis Mansfield.

ESPN analyst Paul Carcaterra was the sideline reporter for unseeded Maryland's 11-5 stunner against No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins on Saturday. On Monday, he offered what he liked and what he didn't like in the Terps' victory in the NCAA tournament's quarterfinal round. Wednesday feature Carcaterra's assessment of No. 1 seed Loyola's 10-9 decision against unseeded Denver, but here is what he thought of Maryland's win. What Carcaterra liked: “I liked the way that they really initiated the offense from the midfield - not only from up top, but also from behind.

Each week, The Baltimore Sun publishes a Q&A with an area college lacrosse player to help you become more acquainted with the player and his/her team. Today's guest is Maryland senior attacker Kristy Black , a Glenelg graduate. Black is one of the key cogs in a balanced Terrapins attack, ranking fourth on the team in scoring with 37 goals and 21 assists. She still holds several state tournament scoring records from her days as an All-Metro midfielder at Glenelg. She and the No. 3 seed Terps will play in their fourth straight NCAA semifinal when they meet Northwestern on Friday at 8 p.m. in Stony Brook, N.Y. Why did you choose to play at Maryland?

As part of ESPN's coverage of the NCAA tournament's quarterfinal round this past weekend, Paul Carcaterra was the sideline reporter for all four contests. The former Syracuse All-American midfielder, who can be followed on Twitter via @paulcarcaterra, provided his thoughts on the most stunning result in the quarterfinals, the hottest team in the Final Four and the race for the Tewaaraton Award. Which was more exciting: the first round or the quarterfinal round? I thought both rounds wre entertaining and provided fans with different styles in lacrosse.

The road to the final four has led Loyola, Maryland, Duke and Notre Dame to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. But their midfields could drive them to a coveted national title. Each of those four programs boasts a productive but distinct midfield. Loyola has the top playmaking unit. Maryland's is the most diverse. Duke features the postseason's most potent unit, and Notre Dame's is the deepest. Here is a look at the four different midfields. Loyola's playmakers Everyone knows about junior attackman and Tewaaraton Award finalist Mike Sawyer (51 goals and eight assists)

These two in-state rivals will meet for the 109th game all-time and the 13th time in the NCAA tournament. Johns Hopkins won nine of the 12 tournament contests, but Maryland, which defeated the Blue Jays, 9-6, on April 14, can take comfort in the knowledge that the regular-season winner is 7-5 when the sides meet again in the tournament. No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins (12-3) is 21-9 in the NCAA tournament under coach Dave Pietramala and seeking its first berth in the Final Four since 2008.

An ESPN analyst can only be in so many places in a limited time. But while Mark Dixon wasn't on hand to see Maryland's 10-9 upset of No. 7 seed Lehigh in the NCAA tournament on Sunday night, he did watch the game on television with great interest. On Monday, he offered what he liked and what he didn't like in the Terps' victory in the opening round. Tuesday featured Dixon's assessment of No. 1 seed Loyola's 17-5 thrashing of Canisius, and Wednesday profiled his evaluation of No. 2 seed Johns Hopkins' 19-9 rout of Stony Brook.

Liberty third-year coach Jim Langrall made a promise to his star attacker Ross Yastrzemsky."I told Ross we'd find someone to help him carry the scoring load this season," Langrall said. "We just can't afford to be a one-man team up front."Yastrzemsky led the county in scoring last season with 20 goals and 29 assists as the Lions finished 9-3 overall and 4-2 in the county.John Monar, who finished just behind Yastrzemsky last season with 29 goals and 19 assists, has since graduated and Langrall is relying on a new face or two to pick up the scoring void.

Underdog Wilde Lake (12-3) is betting that an improved attitude can win it the state Class 1A/2A state title Saturday at Arundel High."It's amazing how much more focused we've been in the past few gamesnow that's something's on the line," said Wildecats coach Rick Wilson.Favored Hammond (14-1) is banking on a prolific offense that has scored a school-record 67 goals, and a stingy defense that has allowed just 13 goals. The Bears also have two All-Americans -- striker Samantha Andersch and sweeper Jackie Rieschick.

With his eye-opening 22-of-30 performance in Denver's 16-14 upset of No. 8 seed North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA tournament last Saturday, Pioneers junior Chase Carraro ranks fifth in Division I with a 62.9 faceoff percentage. But as important as faceoffs are to determining possession, it's what Denver does after the faceoffs that has caught the attention of No. 1 seed Loyola, which will face the Pioneers in a quarterfinal contest at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis this Saturday.