Terps

Trespassing. Kidnapping. Assault. That's not a crime blotter. Those are some of the details of the rivalry between Johns Hopkins and Maryland. The Hopkins-Maryland series is the longest-running tradition in lacrosse, but the sides can't even agree on the exact beginning. The school in Baltimore recognizes 1895 as the first meeting, but the institution in College Park doesn't have records before 1924. Both programs have developed rivalries with other opponents. The Blue Jays' annual series with Syracuse is one of the most anticipated, and Princeton and Virginia aren't far behind.

COLLEGE PARK -Hang around Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams long enough, and you begin to understand something: He doesn't mind being in the eye of a storm. In fact, he prides himself on his ability to find calm in the center of chaos. There is no question that this season has been somewhat chaotic for the Terrapins (16-8, 5-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who face another must-win game on the road tonight against No. 13 Clemson (20-4, 6-4). But if you look beyond the recent turmoil, which includes a star player squabbling with fans and the coach publicly feuding with the athletic department, Maryland has won three of its past four games.

The Duke game lasted only about two hours in real time, but it seemed to take forever for Maryland. Best moment for Maryland: Dave Neal hits a three-pointer to put the Terps ahead 3-2 in the first minute. Second-best moment: There wasn't one. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog)

COLLEGE PARK -Two years ago, then-freshman Landon Milbourne watched with amusement as Maryland fans rushed the Comcast Center floor, toppling courtside seats in the process, to celebrate an 89-87 victory over fifth-ranked North Carolina. "It was crazy," Milbourne recalled yesterday. "It's one of those reasons you came to Maryland - so you can play in games like that." As the Terrapins prepared to play third-ranked North Carolina today, the image of fans wildly celebrating was a useful one for them to embrace.

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Instead of going to sleep at a reasonable hour Wednesday night - the eve of his first NCAA tournament appearance in three seasons - Maryland coach Gary Williams decided to watch first-round tournament upsets on ESPN Classic. The first round, he said, is historically one of the toughest, and yesterday was no exception in the Midwest Regional. No. 4 seed Maryland was forced to fight back - just as it has all season - and escaped HSBC Arena with an 82-70 victory over No. 13 seed Davidson, a gritty, undersized team that proved it had every right to be here.

COLLEGE PARK -- After startling home losses to Ohio and American, Maryland got the feel-good rout it had been coveting last night. The 76-46 smackdown of Delaware set things right in Terrapin Nation, if only for a night. This was the sort of game the Terps had expected against nonconference foes this season, a dominating performance keyed by offensive rebounding and pressure defense. The Terps (7-6) out-rebounded the Blue Hens 57-25. Twenty-two of Maryland's rebounds were on the offensive end, and the Terps scored 42 points in the paint compared with 14 for Delaware (4-7)

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Maryland coach Gary Williams and freshman guard Greivis Vasquez - perhaps the two most parallel personalities within the program - handled the Terps' loss to Butler in the second round of the NCAA tournament in a similarly frustrated fashion. Neither will be able to let it go anytime soon. "It's something that I'm going to watch all year," Vasquez said. "I'm going to go farther next year. "I'm the type of guy, I want something better than this," he said. "People are going to say we had a great season, the freshmen did pretty good, put the team in the tournament.

A couple of days after the Terps' latest loss, there's one sentence uttered by Maryland men's basketball coach Gary Williams that just won't go away. "If we continue to play the way we played tonight," Williams told reporters after the Terps' overtime loss to Virginia Tech, "we'll be fine." Georgia Tech @Maryland Tomorrow, 9 p.m., Ch. 54, 1300 AM, 105.7 FM

COLLEGE PARK -- With 2:38 left to play, Maryland junior forward James Gist showed off his school-record 36-inch vertical leap and slammed in an uncontested dunk with both hands and an equally monstrous roar. It was the finale to his career-high 25-point performance on 10-for-11 shooting from the field, leading Maryland to an 80-65 win over Georgia Tech last night at Comcast Center. Gist, who was averaging 11.5 points, was his own inside-out combination last night, soaring over the Yellow Jackets for dunks and blocks, and even adding a three-pointer.

COLLEGE PARK -- If there was one glaring difference between Maryland and Duke heading into yesterday's game at Comcast Center, it was the five seniors in the Terps' rotation compared with the least-experienced team at Duke since World War II. Well aware that time is dwindling to end their college careers on an upswing, Maryland's veterans finally played as if something were on the line and pulled together for a convincing 72-60 win against No. 16 Duke...

Colleges King's 2 goals lift Stevenson in CAC soccer quarterfinal Stevenson junior Tyler King (Calvert Hall) scored twice and sophomore Ryan Flannelly made five saves as the host Mustangs posted their sixth consecutive win with a 3-0 victory in the first round of the Capital Athletic Conference men's soccer championship. The victory sends fourth-seeded Stevenson (11-8) to the semifinals for the second time in the past three years, where it will face top seed and defending champion Salisbury.

DURHAM, N.C. - Maryland, which has suffered a rash of injuries, lost safety Antwine Perez after a tackle at the end of the first quarter. He did not return to the game. Perez lay on the field after making a hit with his head and shoulders on a pass play. Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen walked out to midfield as Perez was being immobilized and taken out on a stretcher. The team announced at halftime Perez was alert and not seriously hurt. The Terps were already playing without starters Nolan Carroll (cornerback)

COLLEGE PARK - -Ugly weather, ugly game, ugly result for the Maryland Terrapins. Barring a miracle finish, they can wave bye-bye to any bowl plans they had, too. Yep, that's how bad things went for the Terps in a disheartening 20-9 homecoming loss to Virginia at Byrd Stadium on Saturday, a loss that left Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen as frustrated as he has ever been in his nine years here. Isn't homecoming supposed to fire up a football team? The coach gives you his best red-meat, Vince Lombardi pep talk.

COLLEGE PARK - - The Maryland Terrapins saw a potential victory washed away Saturday amid cold rain, mist and their usual abundance of perplexing turnovers. Virginia, which managed just nine first downs, claimed a 20-9 victory and was the beneficiary of two Maryland fumbles and two interceptions, including one returned for a pivotal, third-quarter touchdown. The loss dropped the Terps (2-5) to 1-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and diminished their fading hopes of qualifying for a bowl game this season.

College soccer Yates, Herrick lead Terps men to 2-1 win over Georgetown The No. 6 Maryland men's soccer team edged No. 16 Georgetown, 2-1, on Tuesday in Washington. The Terrapins (8-3-1) struck early when Drew Yates scored his third goal of the year in the eighth minute. Yates took a ball off a scramble in the box off his chest and one-timed it with his left foot. Kaoru Forbess helped set up Maryland's second goal four minutes later. He chipped a ball in to Jason Herrick, the Terps' leading goal scorer, in the center of the field, and Herrick put the ball into the outermost corner of the goal past diving Hoyas goalkeeper Mark Wilber.

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - -Maryland fans had been waiting for the debut of freshman Caleb Porzel, a speedy tailback from Good Counsel in Montgomery County. Porzel got his first Maryland carries Saturday night. But he didn't fare any better than the rest of the Terps in a first half dominated by Wake Forest. Porzel lost 3 yards on his first run. Then he was stopped for no gain, then gained 1 yard. In Porzel's defense, there seemed to be few holes to run through. None of the other tailbacks fared much better.

College field hockey Maryland blanks Duke, 3-0, clinches top-2 finish in ACC The No. 1 Maryland field hockey team shut out No. 14 Duke, 3-0, in Durham, N.C., on Saturday afternoon. Maryland moved to 14-0 this season and 4-0 in Atlantic Coast Conference play, while Duke fell to 6-6 overall and 0-4 in the ACC. Freshman Megan Frazer scored twice to put the Terps on top. "The coaching staff is very pleased with the outcome. From a postseason point of view, it gives us an opportunity to have a bye in the ACC tournament, which is exciting," coach Missy Meharg said.

COLLEGE PARK -- Maryland's season seemed to shift course Saturday, as the Terrapins overcame a late turnover and a botched fourth-down decision to upset Clemson with aggressive defense - and a little luck. Maryland's 24-21 win in its first Atlantic Coast Conference game marked the second year in a row that the Terrapins had defeated a potent, favored Tigers team. It would be hard to overstate how badly the Terps (2-3, 1-0 ACC) needed the win, which resulted largely from holding Clemson to 274 yards, the fewest allowed by Maryland this year.

COLLEGE PARK - -Maryland coach Ralph Friedgen lamented the number of mistakes his Terps have made this season. At his news conference Tuesday, Friedgen said Maryland is minus-10 in turnover ratio and has been playing undisciplined football, being penalized 55 yards per game. Then the beleaguered coach, whose Terps are one of only two Maryland teams in the past 12 seasons to start 1-3 , said he is by nature a positive person and has designed a plan to give his team a jump-start. He and his staff are counting turnovers in practice this week, Friedgen said, and are bringing in referees to help eliminate penalties.

COLLEGE PARK - - In October 2008, Clemson and football coach Tommy Bowden parted ways with six games remaining in the season. The Tigers had slipped to 3-3, including a wrenching loss to Maryland, after being ranked in the top 10 in preseason polls. A year later, it's the Terrapins who are stumbling as they prepare for the annual meeting with Clemson on Saturday. But Maryland indicates there is no thought to replacing coach Ralph Friedgen during the season. Maryland plans to assess Friedgen's performance - as it does all its coaches - when the season is over and a thorough examination of the program can be made.