Play Lacrosse

BaseballCubs: Placed P Kurt Miller (strained rib cage) on 15-day DL.Pirates: Recalled P Marc Wilkins from rehab assignment; activated him from 15-day DL. Optioned P Jason Phillips to Triple-A Nashville.Rangers: Recalled IF Kelly Dransfeldt from Triple-A Oklahoma.Rockies: Purchased contract of C Henry Blanco from Triple-A Colorado Springs.BasketballTimberwolves: Activated F Malik Sealy from injured list. Placed G Dennis Scott on injured list.CollegeUMBC: Received oral commitment from Luke Gilbert (Hereford)

It's official. Mount Hebron's girls lacrosse team is No. 1 in the country.The November/December issue of Lacrosse Magazine, published by US Lacrosse, will be mailed to members next week. In it, the magazine names the Vikings as the country's top girls team of 1999.Mount Hebron finished 20-0 last season and won its third consecutive state championship and seventh in the past eight years. The Vikings have earned 11 Howard County titles in the past 12 years."It's a tremendous accomplishment for a public school to be No. 1 in the country considering that it's known as a private school sport," said Chris Robinson, who was named the Sun's All-Metro Coach of the Year last season.

Ashley Zink's eyes expressed everything the rest of her body could not. Pain. Fear. Exhaustion. Disappointment.As the Roland Park senior lay in a hospital bed in January almost completely paralyzed by Guillain-Barre syndrome and breathing with the help of a respirator, her hazel eyes became the only quick link to her emotions."

Gerry Case should be sprinting past defenders, cranking another blistering shot at the goal for Loyola College. He should be teaching his brother Joey his best one-on-one move in the back yard before returning to school to kick back and relax with some buddies.He should be having the time of his life.Sunday marked the first anniversary of Case's death, and his family, teammates and friends are still attempting to cope with his loss.On March 19 of last year, Case recorded his first collegiate goal and assist, just three weeks after celebrating his 19th birthday.

It has been said many, many times, but the cliche "being in the right place at the right time" is true.Take St. Mary's Matt Treadwell, for example.Treadwell, a 6-foot-10 center, signed a letter of intent Tuesday to accept a full basketball scholarship to Virginia Commonwealth. It all came about because of his exposure in the Rock'n'Rim Tournament in Delaware April 3-5 with the Baltimore Select Team of coach Scotty Bowden.There was only mild interest in Treadwell before the tournament, and his future was unsure.

As the youngest of eight children, Maura Doyle hasn't had much opportunity to be first at anything.Last fall, she got her chance.The Maryvale senior signed early to play lacrosse at Notre Dame and will be the first in her Irish Catholic family to go there -- a dream come true not only for herself but for her father."

COLLEGE PARK -- Two of the most prolific offenses in the nation want to take different approaches to scoring when No. 1 Princeton and No. 5 Syracuse meet in today's first NCAA lacrosse semifinal at Byrd Stadium.The Orangemen (11-3) intend to run, and they'd like to force Princeton into doing the same. The Tigers (12-1) want a slower pace, and whichever team can dictate the tempo probably will be playing again in Monday's final."We'd love a street fight, but I think they're too smart to do that," said Syracuse coach Roy Simmons Jr. "They'll play it like a game of chess.

If you go to an Anne Arundel Community College women's lacrosse game this spring, you might find Angie Burnett at either first or second home, racking up the goals from her attack position.Then again, depending on the opponent and whatever hunch coach Jim Shuck is playing, you might see her on the defensive end instead, shutting down the other team's top scorers.Here's how her season has unfolded so far.In the Pioneers' opener on April 1, she scored three times in an 18-3 rout at Harford CC.Last Tuesday, having switched to a defensive wing, she helped stifle Essex CC, 21-6.

Chesapeake's Kenny Findley, a 6-foot-4, 185-pound three-sport athlete (soccer, basketball and lacrosse), is a legitimate county basketball star but one who knows his limitations.He patiently has waited his turn and become a standout his senior year, but he has not fallen into the trap that many young athletes who taste stardom do. He has a refreshing perspective."I don't handle the ball well enough at 6-4 to play guard at the Division I level," said Findley, who has been one of the county's top-five scorers most of the season and easily one of the best-kept secrets.

*TC Just the thought of helmets flames the sensitivity of those involved in women's lacrosse."This is a women's game, and we resent men coming in and giving opinions on our game. It's not the same game," said Cathy Samaras of Annapolis, who is president of the Chesapeake Women's Lacrosse Association."Ours is a non-contact sport."The crux of the matter is that the women are adamantly opposed to helmets because they feel it would increase aggression and turn it into a contact sport like the boys.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Eight years and 1,850 miles later, Rocco Romero is where he longed to be. Romero took a circuitous route that began in Denver, was routed through Baltimore and Ithaca, N.Y., and has temporarily come to a stop here. The senior midfielder will try to help the Cornell men's lacrosse team capture its first national title since 1977. To do that, the No. 5 seed Big Red (13-3) must beat No. 2 seed and reigning national champion Syracuse (15-2) in the NCAA tournament final today.

Jen Schmidt doesn't show the pain. When the Friends School girls lacrosse team attacks, she flashes for the ball, going as hard and pivoting as quickly as anyone on the field. All the while, her feet and hands hurt, and sometimes her neck and back don't feel so good either. Six minutes into a recent game, the senior left the field to rub Flexall gel on her feet. That takes the edge off the constant pain of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis - a disease that causes inflammation of the joints and prevents many of those afflicted from playing sports.

For 18 years, between ages 5 and 22, I lived in a jersey. Sometimes it was green, sometimes purple; usually it was red. From clinic soccer at Lutherville-Timonium Recreational Council to Division I lacrosse at Stanford, I lived to compete. Now, two years after hanging up my cleats, I am able to step back to examine the game from a different angle. I coach high school JV girls lacrosse and spent this past summer coaching an elite-level club team. My players hailed from eight strong public and private school programs.

Brigitte Strother is Broadneck's go-to player. She compiled 16 goals and four assists last season to earn All-County and second-team All-Metro honors. She's a four-year player and unselfish senior leader who sets the tempo. Last weekend, Strother led the fourth-ranked Bruins (4-0) to two wins in the St. Mary's tournament, scoring three goals in a 4-1 victory over Archbishop Spalding and one in a 2-0 win over the host Saints. Strother also plays lacrosse and is a member of the Student Government Association the and Community Service Committee.

Delaware broke a tie early in the second half by scoring seven straight goals, including two each by Jordan Hall and Curtis Dickson, in a 14-8 upset of second seed and defending champion Virginia in a first-round NCAA men's lacrosse tournament game yesterday in Charlottesville, Va. The Blue Hens (12-5) won their sixth straight game overall and fifth straight on the road. The Cavaliers (12-4) had won their previous eight games. Ben Rubeor (46 goals) and Garrett Billings (21 goals, 22 assists)

A first-year starter as a junior, Gardner came through in the clutch as the Falcons won their state-record 16th state championship. Gardner, who also is on the indoor track and lacrosse teams, delivered the game-winning goals in both state tournament victories. She scored the only goal on a penalty stroke in a 1-0 overtime win over Fallston in the state semis and the second goal (which proved to be the game-winner) in a 3-1 state final win over Bethesda-Chevy Chase. How special was it repeating as state champs and winning a record 16th title?

Boys B.J. Quigley Archbishop Curley, soccer The senior forward scored two consecutive game-winning goals and scored three times overall last week to lead the top-ranked Friars to their first Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference title since 1999. Quigley ends the season with a league-high 27 goals and nine assists, and the Friars finished 21-3. Quigley scored twice in the Friars' 3-1 semifinal victory over John Carroll of Harford County. And in the 1-0 title-game victory over McDonogh, Quigley scored at 28:40 of the first half off a pass from Bash Kamara.

Senior field hockey attackman Meagan Linkous is called a "spitfire" by North Harford coach Lori Mitchell because of the three-year starter's physical style of play. Linkous is a tri-captain this season and was the leading scorer on the team last year. She is also a high-scoring midfielder on the school's lacrosse team. Do you ever dream about winning the county championship? Yes, I do. I really want to win the county or the regionals. I think we just need to come together as a team and everyone needs to want it really bad. We have the potential.

Charlottesville, Va.-- --The scar cuts a wide, grisly swath, covering most of his left forearm, and it marks an indelible reminder Ben Rubeor never tires of contemplating. Having recently turned 20, Rubeor is a kid no longer. He hasn't been, really, since that night in the summer of 2003, when, at 17, he drove too fast with his whole life in front of him and could have lost it all. Every day for Rubeor at the University of Virginia is a great day, whether he is buried in the works of Shakespeare, savoring the scenery on a hiking trail in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains, or ripping another well-placed shot for the nation's best men's lacrosse team.

When Mike Evans was called up to the South River varsity as a freshman, he wanted to make an impression. He did. In his first varsity lacrosse game, he leveled an opponent and was called for a penalty. He has continued to make impressions on people, including the coaching staff at Johns Hopkins. Last fall, Evans, a defenseman, signed with Hopkins to play lacrosse. Eric Chick, an attackman who graduated from South River in 1990, is the only other Seahawk to play lacrosse at Hopkins. Evans is 6 feet 1, 200 pounds and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.5 seconds.