Wrapping up Maryland-Syracuse

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. --- Syracuse's 11-6 quarterfinal defeat of Maryland was one of those games where the score pretty much entirely told the story.

The Orange flexed a capable offense, but probably not as much as they could have.

Maryland simply couldn't score --- and with 26 shots, the Terrapins didn't have many opportunities.

Coach Dave Cottle pointed to Maryland's inability to generate offensive chances during the unsightliest portion of an unsightly game --- the first 10 minutes of the third quarter. And that surely made a difference.

But there were a lot of offensive options silenced in this one. Will Yeatman managed nothing. Neither did Travis Reed nor Dan Groot. The second and third midfields, so effective of late, didn't manage a point.

The obvious storyline was Brian Phipps' ACL tear in the first quarter. But neither he nor Jason Carter could have done much to have made this outcome any better for the Terps.

(Carter, by the way, was probably the Terps' best clearing threat in the second half, taking it more than two-thirds of the field on two occasions).

In any case, Maryland wraps up its season 10-7 --- a program record for losses. It also gives the Terps a three-year final four drought, their longest since missing four straight from 1999 to 2002.

--- Patrick Stevens