Team Defense

This season, the hallmark of both Centennial and Mount Hebron has been great coaching that stresses defense.The difference in last night's Class 3A East Region semifinal, won by Centennial, 55-18, was that Eagles coach Dave Greenberg has had three years to build a program. And Mount Hebron's Scott Robinson, who used to be the Vikings' boys coach, was starting almost from scratch with his girls team this season.Seventh-ranked Centennial (19-4) will play at J. M. Bennett of Wicomico County at 7 p.m. tomorrow for the region championship.

Ohio State's Greg Dutton did not get to watch the entirety of Cornell's 16-8 upset of sixth-seeded Maryland in a NCAA tournament first-round game last Sunday. But the junior goalkeeper watched the film, and fifth-year senior attackman Rob Pannell's four-goal, three-assist performance was no less impressive a day or two after the fact. “Rob Pannell is a great player, and he's been a great player there for four years,” said Dutton, a Timonium native and Calvert Hall graduate. “He's probably one of the best players to ever play Division I lacrosse.

When Stevenson lost a starting defenseman in senior Kyle Fendlay for personal reasons prior to the beginning of the current season, the thought was that the unit might suffer a little bit. But that hasn't been the case thanks to the emergence of sophomore Callum Robinson. As the No. 3 Mustangs prepare to meet Tuesday night a Roanoke squad that upended No. 7 Lynchburg, 9-8, last Saturday, Robinson, 21, leads the No. 3 Mustangs (11-1) in caused turnovers with 17, ranks third in ground balls with 36, and has scored two goals.

While Maryland's prolific attack has drawn nearly all the limelight generated by a 19-0 season and an all-but-certain No. 1 seed when the NCAA tournament field is announced Sunday night, the defense can take a lot of credit for that big, fat zero in the loss column, especially after last weekend's Atlantic Coast Conference championship. Terps defenders Iliana Sanza, Melissa Diepold, Kristen McAfee, Shanna Brady, Megan Douty and Alice Mercer held North Carolina to one goal in a nearly 28-minute span through the middle of Sunday's ACC title game as Maryland turned a 3-2 deficit into a 12-4 lead.

Cole Field House highlight 10: Games remaining Dec. 28, 1974: UCLA, on its way to a 10th national title in coach John Wooden's final season, edges the Terps, 81-75. Cole finale: March 3 vs. Virginia He said it "We got to the Final Four by play ing good team defense. That's how we're going to win a championship." Juan Dixon, Terps guard

Team defense and goaltending are the principal ingredients in the Washington Capitals' recent success, according to coach Terry Murray.The Capitals put a five-game winning streak, their longest since they won eight in a row in March 1989 on the way to a Patrick Division championship, on the line against the Buffalo Sabres at the Capital Centre tomorrow night. Washington has allowed only seven goals in the past five games.The Capitals, who have played seven of their past eight games on the road, have won eight of the past 10 to climb from fifth to second in the division.

The Mount Hebron girls basketball team is 13-0 this season, and there's no question what the starting point is to the team's success - stifling team defense. The No. 10 Vikings were at their harassing best on their home court last night against No. 5 and defending Class 2A state champ Atholton, limiting the Raiders to 10 points in the first half on their way to a surprisingly comfortable 48-28 win in Howard County play. Senior forward Deanna Dydynski and junior guard Brittany Bowen led the offense with 14 points each, but the defensive numbers stood out the most.

At midseason, it is clear that the Spirit is becoming an extension of coach Dave MacWilliams.The Spirit is more aggressive than it was at the start, more tenacious, more willing to play team defense. When he was a player, MacWilliams was the embodiment of those soccer qualities.As his team plunges into the second half of its National Professional Soccer League season with tonight's road game against the Buffalo Blizzard, MacWilliams says he has seen marked improvement during the past three months.

Any schoolchild can grasp the Spirit's formula for success: Restrict the opponent to 10 or fewer points and you usually win.The Spirit has gone 11-4 this season when it has abided by the formula and 9-16 when it hasn't.Obviously, then, the Spirit's intention when it entertains the Philadelphia Kixx tonight in the opener of a best-of-three series in the first round of the National Professional Soccer League playoffs will be to hold the visitors to 10 or fewer points."That's always our goal," said Joe Mallia, who will become the first goalie other than the injured Cris Vaccaro to start a playoff game for the Spirit.

The St. Mary's boys lacrosse team has established itself as one of the Maryland Scholastic Association A Conference powers over the past decade, but Saints coach Jim Moorhead has always had to live with the fact that his team had never won the conference title.That all changed last night at UMBC as the defense-minded and fifth-ranked Saints captured their first conference crown with a 5-1 upset of No. 1 Loyola."No one expected us to win this," said Moorhead. "No one expected us to beat St. Paul's and no one expected us to beat Loyola, but our coaching staff believed strongly that we had the capability of beating these guys and proving that we're No. 1."

Loyola junior defenseman Joe Fletcher and Johns Hopkins senior defenseman Tucker Durkin do not know each other personally. But they can still appreciate each other's skills from afar. "He's probably one of the best defenders I've seen play," Fletcher said of Durkin. "The style he has, he's very physical and aggressive, but he's also controlled. I've been watching him as he's developed. Just the way he plays and the way he does things, he has a good balance between being aggressive and being smart.

When Stevenson lost a starting defenseman in senior Kyle Fendlay for personal reasons prior to the beginning of the current season, the thought was that the unit might suffer a little bit. But that hasn't been the case thanks to the emergence of sophomore Callum Robinson. As the No. 3 Mustangs prepare to meet Tuesday night a Roanoke squad that upended No. 7 Lynchburg, 9-8, last Saturday, Robinson, 21, leads the No. 3 Mustangs (11-1) in caused turnovers with 17, ranks third in ground balls with 36, and has scored two goals.

No. 5 Maryland maintains a 45-43 lead in the series with its Atlantic Coast Conference rival, but No. 13 Virginia has won seven of the past eight meetings. The Terps (6-1 overall and 1-1 in the conference) entered the week ranked second in Division I in scoring (14.0 goals per game), but have averaged just nine goals in their past two contests. The Cavaliers (5-4) have lost three straight games for the first time since 2004 and four of the past five. This is Virginia's first game in the ACC this season.

Sam Evans, Loyola, DL, senior Malik Jones, Dunbar, DL, senior Frank Kozlowski, North Harford, DL, senior Moise Larose, Wilde Lake, DL, senior Mike Williams, Archbishop Spalding, DL, senior Garrett Epple, Calvert Hall, LB, senior Stephan Osong, River Hill, LB, senior Carey Wells-Jowers, Mount St. Joseph, LB, senior Kennedy Frazier, Calvert Hall, DB, senior Michael Jones, Milford Mill, DB, senior DeAndre' Lane, Catonsville,...

The South Carroll boys basketball team takes few secrets to the hardwood. The Cavaliers' clear priority is playing strong team defense and boxing out for rebounds, and they're confident all the other stuff will work out. The formula worked again Friday night against Century, as South Carroll wrapped up a second straight Carroll County championship with a dominating 57-31 home win in Winfield. Junior center Gavin McTavish scored 19 points, and senior guards Dan Mullen and Ethan McBryde each added 10 as the Cavaliers improved to 17-4 overall and 13-1 in county play.

Player, School, Position, Grade Seth Beckman, Fallston, Lineman, Sr. Chance Bell, Edgewood, Lineman, Sr. Terrell Boothe, Havre de Grace, Linebacker, Sr. Matt Buettner, Bel Air, Linebacker, Sr. Tyler Campbell, North Harford, Defensive Back, Jr. Sean Cannon, North Harford, Linebacker, Sr. Cameron Doe, Havre de Grace, Defensive Back, Jr. Chad Hall, Patterson Mill, Linebacker, Sr. Steve Henson, Bel Air,...

The 26 best lacrosse players in the world casually walked into their first U.S. national team meeting, only to receive a startling introduction to coach Bill Tierney.He told them to sit down and explained in detail how to do line drills. Tierney then charged over to the blackboard and distinctly des- cribed how many players he wanted in each stretching line.Welcome to Lacrosse 101 by Tierney, a strict philosophy that has guided Princeton to five NCAA championships in seven years -- during what many refer to as an age of parity -- and landed him as coach of the U.S. national team.

Loyola junior defenseman Joe Fletcher and Johns Hopkins senior defenseman Tucker Durkin do not know each other personally. But they can still appreciate each other's skills from afar. "He's probably one of the best defenders I've seen play," Fletcher said of Durkin. "The style he has, he's very physical and aggressive, but he's also controlled. I've been watching him as he's developed. Just the way he plays and the way he does things, he has a good balance between being aggressive and being smart.