Brown Lacrosse Set to Face Top Seeded Maryland in Final Four
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
Brown Lacrosse Set to Face Top Seeded Maryland in Final Four
Maryland comes in having won 15 straight games and have arguably the best 1-2 punch in the country with the combination of Matt Rambo and Colin Heacock.
"It's definitely going to be a difficult matchup for us. We haven't faced too many teams that have a 1-2 punch like this, literally a 1-2 punch cause they are numbers 1 and 2," said Brown Head coach Lars Tiffany.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTMatt Rambo leads Maryland with 39 goals on the season and posted 6 points in the quarterfinal round against Syracuse. Meanwhile, Colin Heacock has tallied 37 goals on the season.
"We are going to go with our base defense but we have a couple of adjustments ready. I'm expecting to have to use them because these guys are such a great team," Tiffany added.
Maryland will look to use that 1-2 punch to get back to the national championship game for the second straight season.
Brown Without Molloy
As GoLocal reported on Thursday, Brown star Dylan Molloy is unlikely to play in Saturday's game or again this season after breaking his foot against Johns Hopkins.
"It sucks so bad that Molloy won't be able to play. I believe Brown can score on and with anybody with Dylan in the lineup. Without him, I think they can still win but it will be tougher," said Jamie Munro, a Brown lacrosse alum and the founder and CEO of 3D Lacrosse.
The Bears played their last game against Navy without Molloy and won 11-10 to advance.
"It does help a little that we have won a game without him, gives the guys some confidence that the system works, but on the other hand, it helps Maryland too because they don't have to cover him," Tiffany added.
On the season, the Bears averaged 16 goals and 46 shots per game, most of that was with Molloy in the lineup.
"We have to play at our tempo, play our style. The game is going to come down to which style of play is the predominant style of play," Tiffany said.
Tiffany added, "we trust our guys, we believe in ourselves."
Brown vs Maryland
Saturday's game will make the 3rd postseason meeting between the Terps and Bears and the first since 1991. The Terps are 3-0 against Brown in the post season and 15-0 against Brown all-time.
The first meeting ever between the Bears and Terps came in 1964, while the first post season meeting came in 1973.
Game Information
The game will be shown on ESPN 2 with face-off set for 2:30 p.m.
The winner heads to the national championship which will be played on Monday.
See a Position by Position Breakdown of the Matchups in the Slideshow Below.
Breaking Down the Matchup: Brown vs. Maryland
Goaltender
Advantage: Even
The goaltending matchup is even as both goal tenders are the two of the best in the country.
Brown will have Jack Kelly in net who carries a 61.7 save percentage and allows 8.11 goals per game.
Maryland counters with Kyle Bernlohr who carries a 55.2 save percentage and allows 7.63 goals per game.
Face-Off
Advantage: Brown
Brown carries the advantage in the face-off department with Will Gural being their go to guy.
On the season, Gural has won 250 out of 355 face-offs and he has been dominant over the last three games.
Navy: 18 of 25
Johns Hopkins: 20 of 28
Harvard: 19 of 28
For Maryland, their face-off man will be Austin Henningsen who has won 125 out of 203 face-offs so far this season.
Mid-field
Advantage: Maryland
Maryland will have an advantage at the mid-field position in the game as they try to control the tempo of the game and force teams into turnovers. Maryland has forced 204 turnovers so far this season.
Meanwhile, Brown has turned the ball over 294 times so far this year while winning 714 ground balls to this point.
Attack
Advantage: Maryland
It would appear that Brown's Dylan Molloy is not going to play in the game as he is still out with a broken foot. If he does end up playing, his effectiveness will be a big question mark.
With that said, Maryland gets the advantage at the attack position though it is still close, even without Molloy.
However, if Molloy were to play and was anywhere close to 100%, the advantage could shift. Molloy is the best in the country.
The Terrapins are led by Matt Rambo who has netted 39 goals so far this season and scored 6 points in the Terps win over Syracuse. He also leads the team with 63 points. Meanwhile his teammate Colin Heacock has tallied 37 goals.
PHOTO: Maryland Athletics
Man Up
Advantage: Even
The Brown Bears and Maryland Man up teams are even, though without Molloy you could argue it shifts to Maryland's side just slightly.
Brown coverts on the man up 44% of the time, scoring 30 goals on 69 opportunities overall. The Bears will look to Kylor Bellistri to make something happen on the man up situation if Molloy is unable to go.
Meanwhile, Maryland converts on the man up 46% of the time, scoring 16 goals on 25 opportunities. The Terps will look to Matt Rambo and Colin Heacock.
Coaching
Advantage: Brown
Both coaches are at the top of the NCAA coaching totem pole, but Lars Tiffany has got the Bears playing some of the best lacrosse in the history of their program and also some of the fastest. Tiffany built the team to play at a faster pace and it has worked tremendously.
"Both coaches are great coaches but Lars is as good of a game coach as there is," said Jamie Munro, the founder and CEO of 3D Lacrosse.
