Regular Season

The No. 4 Loyola boys lacrosse team is on to something special in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs. More proof came in Tuesday's semifinal against No. 2 McDonogh. The Dons, who were seeded sixth, won the faceoff battle, executed on attack and kept the second-seeded Eagles in check to come away with a 13-4 win at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Devin McNamara (two goals, five assists), Kevin Jackson (three goals, one assist) and Alex Roesner (four goals)

Buck Showalter's first glimpse of closer Jim Johnson inside the Orioles clubhouse moments after his remarkable consecutive-save streak came to an sudden end Tuesday night was the sight of Johnson working up a sweat on the exercise bike in the training room. “He's grinding out on a bicycle,” the Orioles manager said, “Getting ready for [Wednesday].” Johnson's franchise-record streak of 35 consecutive converted regular-season save opportunities was snapped Tuesday night as the San Diego Padres rallied for two runs in the ninth off Johnson for a 3-2 win over the Orioles in front of an announced 19,096 at Camden Yards.

Glenelg Country School hosted Friends Tuesday afternoon under threatening skies in what amounted to the 'B' Conference title match. Both teams entered the match with 5-0 records, but Friends came out on top, 5-0, to finish the season 6-0 and win the 2011 girls tennis conference title. At No. 2 Singles Allie Duncan played a close first set, but ultimately fell, 6-4, 6-1. At No. 2 Doubles, Katie Modrow and Nikki Reisher matched their opponents shot-for-shot, but lost in two close sets by the score of 6-4, 6-4. The other three positions were all able to at least take a set from their opponents.

The No. 4 Loyola boys lacrosse team is on to something special in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs. More proof came in Tuesday's semifinal against No. 2 McDonogh. The Dons, who were seeded sixth, won the faceoff battle, executed on attack and kept the second-seeded Eagles in check to come away with a 13-4 win at Johnny Unitas Stadium. Devin McNamara (two goals, five assists), Kevin Jackson (three goals, one assist) and Alex Roesner (four goals)

The button on my shirt reads, "Poo on Playoffs."It is a good weekend to wear it.Everywhere this weekend, -- and I do mean everywhere, from Manhattan to Missoula, Montana -- college basketball teams are playing conference tournaments.The ACC is in Charlotte. The Big East is in New Yawk. The Big Eight is in Kansas City.There are tournaments in Dallas, Dayton and Nashville. In Laramie, Wyoming. De Land, Florida.Detroit.Long Beach.Riyadh. (Just kidding.)Earlier, there were tournaments in Richmond, Albany, Norfolk.

COLLEGE PARK -- Many considered the Maryland volleyball team a one-season wonder.After last year's Atlantic Coast Conference championship and record-setting season, few believed that the Terrapins could repeat that success.Maryland wasn't ranked in the national preseason poll. The Terps were predicted to finish fourth in the conference by the ACC coaches.Even Maryland coach Janice Kruger admitted being slightly skeptical.The Terps answered their critics by going 25-0 to become only the eighth team in NCAA volleyball to complete an undefeated regular season.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Although the preseason is essentially meaningless, the Ravens' exhibition schedule could influence the start of their regular season. The Ravens face an unfavorable three-game road stretch this summer, playing their final two preseason games away from home and their regular-season opener on the road. In the schedule announced yesterday at the NFL owners meetings, the Ravens wrap up the preseason at the Minnesota Vikings and at the Washington Redskins. Because the Orioles are playing at home on the NFL's kickoff weekend, the Ravens will start the regular season on the road.

ABOUT 24 HOURS before tip-off of Maryland's season opener, the coach is on the other end of the telephone line. You know it's a special time of the year when Gary Williams' normally challenging persona has been supplanted by one that's almost downright chipper. "I still get excited," Williams said. "It's the regular season. The team realizes that this counts. A lot of people are going to watch this game. They want to see us play well. "I like that pressure. The real basketball people start comparing teams.

While it might be tough to imagine heading out to a local farm for an armful of fresh vegetables when it's still chilly, it's almost that time of year. Harford County farms are gearing up for growing season, and that means it's time to sign up for a Community Supported Agriculture program. CSAs, if you don't know, are programs run by (usually) small farms that allow nearby residents to buy a share of their growing season crops. The result: An upfront fee gets you a weekly trip to the farm for a load of produce from about May through October or even November.

Blues: St. Louis is 5-0-1 against the Kings including the regular season and has won 11 of 14 counting its stretch drive.Pub Date: 4/26/98

No. 12 Salisbury's 7-4 upset of No. 8 Washington and Lee in the second round of the NCAA tournament last Saturday was immensely gratifying to the reigning national champion for two reasons. The Sea Gulls earned their 15th consecutive appearance in the quarterfinals since the tournament added a round prior to the quarterfinals for the 1998 tournament, and they made amends after dropping a 7-6 double-overtime decision to the Generals on Feb. 20. “It was nice to win the game because it obviously gets us to the quarterfinals,” coach Jim Berkman said Monday morning.

Johns Hopkins-bound Shack Stanwick had five points (two goals, three assists) and No. 1 Boys' Latin completed a perfect regular season in boys lacrosse Tuesday with a 13-8 win over No. 5 St.Paul's. The Lakers finish the regular season with an overall record of 18-0 and a 9-0 mark in the Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association AConference. The last time Boys' Latin had a perfect season was 2006; there have been only five undefeated teams in the MIAA since plastic sticks were introduced into the sport.

McDonogh senior goalie Nick Doyle was playing in his final lacrosse game at home Tuesday against rival Gilman with the winner receiving a prized first-round bye in the upcoming Maryland Interscholastic Athletic Association A Conference playoffs. It was pouring for much of the game and his area in front of the cage was mostly mud. Doyle showed it was nothing he couldn't handle. He finished with 14 saves, blanked the visitors for a pivotal 20-minute stretch that included the entire third quarter and helped lead No. 2 McDonogh to a 10-6 over the No. 3 Greyhounds in the regular season finale for both teams.

Sunday afternoon, Ravens coach John Harbaugh was asked if he planned to bring in another punter to press incumbent Sam Koch, who has been Baltimore's primary punter since the Ravens drafted him back in 2006. Harbaugh defended Koch, saying it would be “ pretty tough to find competition ” for Koch and also kicker Justin Tucker. After all, the Ravens had one of the NFL's best special teams units after a subpar 2011 season. "There aren't too many guys that want to come here and kick or punt,” Harbaugh said.

Now that Salisbury secured one of the few coveted at-large berths in the NCAA tournament, Jim Berkman feels secure enough to stand on a limb and proclaim that the team can win the national championship for the third consecutive year and the 11th time in the program's history. Sounds crazy? Maybe, but aside from SUNY-Cortland, the top seed in the North region, and Dickinson, the top seed in the South, no other team in the field has less than two losses. “The crazy thing about this is, I really believe that we can still win the whole tournament,” the Sea Gulls coach said Monday morning.

The Maryland men's lacrosse team didn't doubt that it belonged in the NCAA tournament. What was in question was whether the Terps had done enough to warrant one of the tournament's eight seeds and a home game in the first round next weekend. No. 11 Maryland responded with a convincing affirmative, beating Colgate, 18-6, before an announced crowd of 1,949 at Byrd Stadium here Saturday. The Terps wrapped up the regular season with a 10-3 record and snapped a two-game skid to the Raiders.

The Bel Air Boys 11U basketball team won the Harford County 11-12 Travel Championship. The boys had a great season, finishing first place in the regular season and winning the 11U Harford County Travel tournament exhibiting sportsmanship and teamwork.

SEPT. 16 CHARGERS @PATRIOTS Last season: Patriots won, 24-21, in AFC divisional playoff game NOV. 4 PATRIOTS@COLTS Last season: Colts won, 27-20, in regular season and 38-34 in AFC championship game NOV. 11 COLTS@CHARGERS Last season: Did not play NOV. 25 RAVENS@CHARGERS Last season: Ravens won, 16-13, in regular season DEC. 3 PATRIOTS@RAVENS Last season: Did not play DEC. 9 COLTS@RAVENS Last season: Colts won, 15-6, in AFC divisional playoff game ...

Ben McCarty (South Carroll) scored a career-best six goals to lead Towson to an 11-8 victory over Drexel in a Colonial Athletic Association men's lacrosse semifinal Wednesday night at the Penn State Lacrosse Field. The Tigers (9-7) face the host, top-seeded and No. 9 Penn State, in Friday's championship at 3 p.m. McCarty's six goals led all scorers. Andrew Hodgson scored twice and Justin Mabus had three assists. Andrew Wascavage made 14 saves for Towson. Robert Church led Drexel (11-4)

Wednesday night's road contest against Centennial Conference foe Swarthmore is no longer an ordinary game for Washington College, which needs the victory to clinch a berth in the conference tournament. A win over the Garnet would give the No. 10 Shoremen (11-3 overall and 4-3 in the league) at least the No. 4 seed in the Centennial Conference tournament. If No. 19 Gettysburg (8-5, 4-2) was to lose to Franklin & Marshall (9-4, 5-1) and McDaniel (5-10, 2-5), Washington would move up to the No. 3 seed.