Go Big Red!: Maryland Men's Lacrosse Concludes A Perfect 10-0 Regular Season

 

Maryland first played lacrosse with Johns Hopkins in 1895. It's been the biggest rivalry in the game almost from the beginning and the Terps' 14-13 victory today simply added more fuel to the fire. They now move on the "May Madness," when college lacrosse teams across the country play in a number of conference championships that will determine who plays in the NCAA Men's National Championship games over Memorial Day weekend. Go here for more schedule information and brackets as they are announced.  ESPN will provide coverage of the bracket selections and games beginning May 9.

So what is this game about? Lacrosse is an ancient American sport, dating from about 1000 C.E. In it's early days, the game had a religious significance. Sides could consist of as many as a few thousand players and the losing side sometimes paid with their lives. Fast forward to today and you could say the game still has that religious fervor if you live from Maryland to New England, that part of the country where three- year-old boys get little lacrosse sticks for Christmas. These days, the teams are a bit smaller - ten players to a side - and there's almost always some bloodshed of the non-fatal variety. For the who, how, what and why of the game, visit uslacrosse.org  the home of the game's national governing body.

An Indian Ball-Play            George Catlin, American, 1846-50

The game is furious and fast and it continues to be the fastest growing sport in the United States, even eclipsing the growth of soccer. Just a generation ago, the game at the college level was a virtually exclusive sport heavily anchored in the Ivy League and the Northeast. Today there are more than sixty Division I teams found on the East and West Coasts and at the flagship universities in the flyover country. Each year that number grows by two or three teams. Expansion in other college divisions and at the middle and high school levels is much greater. 

I'd say there is an outstanding future in store for lacrosse. That said, I hope there's also an outstanding future for Maryland lacrosse through May. And there's always next year too!

GO BIG RED!

Sources

Photos and Illustrations:
Catlin painting, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington;