Navy

No. 4 Maryland scored the final three goals of the third quarter to seize control of the game and put away a stubborn Navy team, 11-8, Friday night at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Navy (3-8) had a 6-5 lead early in the third, but Maryland (8-1) scored three goals in the final 13:24 of the quarter, two of them on extra-man situations. Until then, Navy seemed capable of pulling an upset and giving second-year coach Rick Sowell the kind of win that could turn around his struggling program before a crowd of nearly 7,000.

Maryland has won the last three meetings and now enjoys a 53-33-1 advantage in its series with Navy. But prior to those three losses, the Midshipmen had won five of six games against the Terps. No. 4 Maryland (7-1) rebounded from its first loss of the season by outlasting then-No. 13 Virginia, 9-7, last Saturday. According to Tempo Free Lax's website, the Terps rank first in Division I in possession percentage - an indicator aided by the team ranking sixth in the country in faceoff percentage (60.1 percent)

No. 7 Notre Dame made its argument Tuesday for why it still belongs in discussions about the best men's lacrosse team in NCAA Division I. One day removed from falling out of the top spot in The Baltimore Sun's rankings, the Fighting Irish (7-2) rolled to a 17-5 neutral-site victory over a less-experienced Golden Eagles (2-5) squad at Loyola Academy's Hoerster Field in Wilmette, Ill. The Golden Eagles, who started seven underclassmen - including a half-dozen freshmen - kept things close early after a fairly pedestrian first quarter in which both sides tried to control the tempo by being selective on the attacking end. Co-captain Ben Dvorak got Marquette on the scoreboard with 40 seconds left in the opening quarter to tie the score at 1. It didn't stay even for long, however, as Notre Dame's John Scioscia ended the first quarter with the first of his six goals on the day. The score remained that way until near the midway point of the second quarter.

Towson senior goalkeeper Andrew Wascavage (St. Mary's Ryken) received Colonial Athletic Association Co-Player of the Week honors Monday after a 19-save performance in a 7-6 win over then-No. 19 Hofstra on Saturday. It is the first conference honor for Wascavage, who shared the award with Penn State goalie Austin Kaut . Wascavage is ranked in the top five in the nation this week in saves per game (fourth, 13.82) and save percentage (fifth, .608). Other Division I men's honor: Loyola senior defenseman Reid Acton was named Eastern College Athletic Conference Co-Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Greyhounds hold Ohio State to just four goals and 23 shots in a 9-4 win Saturday in Columbus.

Navy's 11-3 loss to No. 16 Colgate in the first game of the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium last Saturday did not officially eliminate the Midshipmen from the Patriot League tournament.But a setback to Lehigh this Saturday just might. A loss to the Mountain Hawks (6-4) would drop Navy (3-6) to 1-4 in the conference. Three teams -- No. 6 Bucknell, Colgate and Lehigh -- are 2-0 in the Patriot League, Army is 1-1 and Holy Cross is 1-2. There are a number of tiebreaker scenarios that will become clearer after this weekend's games, but the conclusion that can be drawn is that the Midshipmen would do themselves a huge favor by beating the Mountain Hawks.

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 Navy defender Emily Mellin , who played in high school at nearby St. Mary's in Annapolis. A team captain, she leads a defense allowing just 7.22 goals per game for the No. 14 and three-time defending Patriot League champion Midshipmen (11-1). In the fall, Mellin served as commander of the 5th Company, one of 30 company commanders in the brigade overseeing 150 midshipmen.

Loyola freshman attackman Zach Herreweyers and junior defenseman Joe Fletcher were named the ECAC Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week, respectively, after helping the Greyhounds to a pair of road victories. It marked the second week in a row that Fletcher received the defensive honor and the second week in a row a Loyola attackman received offensive laurels, following Justin Ward (Old Mill), who was the Co-Offensive Player of the Week. Herreweyers scored a total of seven goals in wins at Georgetown and Michigan, and Fletcher helped the defense hold the Hoyas and Wolverines to a combined 11 goals.

Having grown up in the Bronx, about five miles away from the Carnesecca Arena in Jamaica, Queens, Kentucky sophomore point guard Jennifer O'Neill was looking forward to Sunday's matchup with Navy in the NCAA women's basketball tournament's opening round. 'I was excited to come home and see so many family and friends, but the game was big because it was the NCAA tournament," said O'Neill, who keyed a 13-2 run in the opening minutes of the second half that propelled Kentucky to a 61-41 victory over Navy.

Navy coach Rick Sowell was trying his best not to say it, but his facial expression told the story. When asked why his team struggled again offensively in an 11-3 loss to Colgate in the Konica Minolta Face-Off Classic at M&T Bank Stadium, Sowell said he didn't want to go searching for anything at this point. He didn't have to go far. All he had to do was point to Colgate attackmen Ryan Walsh (four goals, three assists) and Peter Baum (three goals). The Midshipmen (3-6 overall, 1-3 Patriot League)