Two Games

Navy's women's basketball team split its final two games last week, losing to Army for the second straight year, 69-51, before defeating Longwood for the third time this season, 74-62.Against Army, the Cadets shut down the Mids' three-point game, holding Navy to just 1-of-8 from three-point range.Junior forward Angie Dobbs led Navy with 20 points, but didn't score a three-pointer for the first time this season. Army held a four-point lead at the half, but opened the second stanza with a 12-4 run.The Mids took it to Longwood early, opening with a 7-0 run and then extending a 17-14 lead to 27-17.

Senior Zach Palmer returned to No. 13 Johns Hopkins after sitting out two games with an undisclosed injury and finished with zero points on four shots in Saturday's 8-4 loss to then-No. 7 Loyola. But rather than take up his usual spot on attack with sophomore Wells Stanwick and junior Brandon Benn, Palmer ran with seniors John Ranagan and John Greeley as members of the second midfield. Senior John Kaestner made his third consecutive start with Stanwick and Benn for the Blue Jays (8-5)

Coppin State point guard Larry Yarbray, who was suspended after missing three practices last week, returned to practice yesterday but will miss the Eagles' next two games.Coach Fang Mitchell said the senior guard cited "personal problems" for leaving the team after Coppin won its season opener against Winthrop on Nov. 26. Yarbray played only 19 minutes in that game. He was pulled out after the first minute of the second half.Yarbray spoke to Mitchell yesterday afternoon, then was given a three-game suspension that included the loss to Maine on Tuesday.

Last Sunday's 12-11 loss to Robert Morris saddled Mount St. Mary's with a winless record in the Northeast Conference and a spring without a berth in the league tournament. The Mountaineers (4-9 overall and 0-3 in the conference) could end the regular season with victories over Bryant (5-8, 3-0) this Saturday and Wagner (1-10, 0-3) on April 27, but they would be unable to vault over the Colonials (6-5, 2-1), Quinnipiac (5-6, 2-1) and Sacred Heart (2-9, 2-1) as all three of those teams own the head-to-head tiebreaker over Mount St. Mary's.

Cal Ripken has two games remaining in a season of streaks that could produce a total of seven all-time defensive records.With only three errors in 159 games, Ripken is on the verge of breaking two marks set last year by Toronto's Tony Fernandez. Fernandez committed only six errors for a .992 fielding percentage -- both of which represent major-league records for a shortstop.Ripken currently is fielding .996 and, at his current pace (4.25 chances per game), has the luxury of being able to make two errors and still break both of Fernandez's records.

Last season, Washington goalie Jim Carey experienced accomplishment overload. For the Capitals, he was Mr. Clutch.Called up from the minors, he went on an immediate six-game unbeaten streak and followed it with an 18-6-3 record that included four shutouts and a 2.13 goals-against average.He started this season in the same fashion. He was 4-0 with his first shutout before the NHL season was two weeks old.But Washington's past two games against the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings have brought another experience.

North Carroll's power game was challenged by Liberty's resilience last night in Hampstead and no one was surprised the match was extended to five games.In the end, it was No. 10 North Carroll -- behind the hitting of senior Carisa Kreichauf and the all-around play of fellow senior Lisa Beverly -- who outlasted the visiting Lions.The Panthers (5-2) came back to win the last two games to come away with the win. The scores were 15-11, 5-15, 13-15, 15-12 and 15-7."[Liberty's] a very good defensive team and they just don't die," said North Carroll coach Lloyd Ford.

PHILADELPHIA -- Barring an unforeseen circumstance, which translates to an offensive malfunction by the Toronto Blue Jays, Paul Molitor will not start World Series games 4 and 5.After much deliberation, that was the decision reached yesterday by manager Cito Gaston. Less than two hours before the scheduled start of Game 3 last night, Gaston revealed that Molitor would replace John Olerud at first base against Philadelphia Phillies left-hander Danny Jackson.But, at the same time, Gaston dropped something of a bombshell by saying that "Paul probably will sit the next two games."

River Hill opened its season last night against visiting Glenelg like the defending county champion it is. The Hawks earned the first 14 points of the match and easily won the first two games. Then came the third game. "We fell completely as a team," said River Hill junior outside hitter Megan Mitchell. Whatever magic River Hill had in the first two games, No. 11 Glenelg caught it, used it and handedly won the next two to tie the match. No. 5 River Hill never blinked in the final game.

In winning the first two games of last night's volleyball match at Dulaney, Catonsville never lost momentum but for a few points. When Dulaney's Marah Schmitz started serving in the third game, however, the momentum shifted across the net in a big way. Schmitz served three aces on her jump serve to spark a nine-point run that gave the Lions new life and a quick victory in the pivotal middle game. While No. 13 Catonsville seized the momentum in spurts through the rest of the match, they never managed to capture it for long enough as the No. 10 Lions rallied for a 22-25, 19-25, 25-14, 25-21, 15-8 victory in a Baltimore County non-division match.

The Notre Dame Prep Girls Lacrosse Tournament wasn't set up to crown an overall winner, but the Century players certainly left Towson on Saturday afternoon feeling like champions. In the second annual three-team, round-robin event, the No. 10 Knights came way with wins over No. 3 Notre Dame Prep, 12-9, and No. 4 South River, 17-5. Playing their second and third ranked opponents in eight days, the Knights wanted to make up for an 11-7 loss to then-No. 10 C. Milton Wright on March 23. In that game, they fell behind, 4-0, when the Mustangs started off with four extra-man goals in two minutes and Century never caught up. This time, the Knights, the defending Class 3A-2A state champions, used their own extra-man goals to get the jump on the Seahawks in the final game of the tournament.

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.

After eight contests in which Towson couldn't find a primary faceoff specialist, the team may have found a long-term solution in a freshman who uses a long pole. Long-stick midfielder Patrick Conroy has assumed the role in the Tigers' last two games. He won 7-of-13 draws (53.8 percent) in the team's 12-9 victory over UMBC a week ago and then 8-of-15 faceoffs (53.3 percent) in a 7-6 overtime decision against Colonial Athletic Association rival Delaware Friday night. Coach Shawn Nadelen said Conroy was part of the faceoff unit during fall workouts, but was forced to sit out the first six games of the season while recovering from an unspecified illness.

No. 9 Tufts and No. 2 Stevenson have split the last two meetings. The 2010 national champion Jumbos outlasted a 1-hour, 45-minute lightning delay and the Mustangs to escape with a 14-13 win in 2011. Last year, Stevenson returned the favor with a 9-5 victory. Tufts (1-2) dropped the first two games of the season, but lodged an 18-14 upset of then-No. 4 Stevens Tech last Saturday as the team welcomed back 27 players who were serving a two-game suspension for assailing a women's volleyball game with sexist and racist comments.

UMBC has split its last two contests, and the starting goalkeeper for both games has been sophomore Wes DiRito. DiRito was on the losing end of a 13-7 setback to Johns Hopkins on March 8, but the Odenton native who graduated from DeMatha earned his first career victory as the Retrievers battered High Point, 16-11, last Saturday. DiRito succeeded senior Adam Cohen, who started the first four contests of the season en route to a 13.33 goals-against average and a .412 save percentage.

Both teams enter this contest on opposing trends. Denison, which is ranked No. 12 in the latest United States Intercollegiate Lacrosse Association poll, has won two consecutive games since falling, 8-7, to Washington & Lee on Feb. 24. The Big Red (3-1), which has won the past two North Coast Atlantic Conference championships, advanced to last year's NCAA tournament quarterfinal round and tied a school record with 15 wins. St. Mary's has dropped two contests last week after a 2-1 start.

The Ravens nearly won their season opener at the Cincinnati Bengals after turning the ball over for three quarters. They nearly lost Sunday to the New York Jets after dominating for three quarters. So, how should the Ravens feel about themselves at 1-1? "This group has taught me about staying very focused on the task at hand, which is the next game," coach Brian Billick said. "But you also have to appreciate the game you just won. We're not going to lose sight of that, either. "I like that the players have that businesslike attitude that we didn't finish the game as well as we should have, but I don't want that to mute their passion and excitement for what was a very good win."

PHILADELPHIA -- Empty every elementary schoolyard in this city during recess, gather up the kids under the roof of the Spectrum and you have a pretty good idea what the Blast-Kixx game was like yesterday. Loud.On those rare occasions when the play on the field wasn't explosive and frenzied during Philly's 22-17 victory, it certainly was in the stands as the 14,128 onlookers squealed with delight throughout. It served the home team well as it won its first game against the Blast in four tries.