Brown Lax Coach Tiffany Calls Molloy's Chances of Playing Saturday "Unrealistic"
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
Brown Lax Coach Tiffany Calls Molloy's Chances of Playing Saturday "Unrealistic"
"It doesn't look good, doesn't look like he will play again this season. He's been trying, he's been in the pool and doing everything he can do. But with his game being built on being physical and putting his body into players, it just seems unrealistic," Brown Head Coach Lars Tiffany told GoLocal on Wednesday.
Molloy missed the Bears last game against Navy in the NCAA Quarterfinal in which Brown won 11-10 at Brown Stadium.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST"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.
Brown faces Maryland at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday with the winner going to the National Championship game o Monday.
Dylan Molloy
Molloy leads the nation in total points (114), goals (60), and assists (54) and is Brown's first ever Tewaaraton finalist.
He led the bears to a school record 15 wins and the Ivy League regular season championship after Brown went 6-0 in conference play.
Molloy's 114 points season ranks him 4th all-time in NCAA history.
Molloy won his 2nd consecutive Ivy League Player of the Year award and is the 6th player in the NCAA to post at least 50 goals and 50 assists.
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.
