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were late,” she said. “Carolina did a nice job of moving off ball, too, to make it a little more difficult for us, but we need to make sure that second person gets there. Maybe it will help when our communication gets better. Maybe we’ll be able to get there on time. That was why some of these shots were wide open on Meg T, and that obviously isn’t what we would want to have happen.”
The Terps (2-1) aim to bounce back Wednesday when they host UMBC. They also host Hofstra on Saturday. Penalties perturb Hopkins men: No. 18 Johns Hopkins’ 13-11 loss on Friday to No. 10 North Carolina was exacerbated by three Blue Jays penalties that the Tar Heels converted into man-up goals. But the infractions did not bother coach Dave Pietramala as much as the play of the man-down defense that had killed seven of nine opportunities against Towson and No. 9 Loyola Maryland in the team’s previous two games.
“For us, we have to be more aggressive, and I think we’ve got to do a better job of creating some turnovers or deflections,” he said. “So my disappointment wasn’t really with the number of penalties as much as it was with our man-down play.” Strong up the middle: Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Shane Brennan and senior faceoff specialist Steven Stillwell were crucial in Towson’s near-upset of No. 9 Loyola Maryland on Wednesday. Brennan, starting for ill senior Josh Miller, made a game-high 14 saves. And Stillwell, who had not taken a draw since May 22, 2016, in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal against Loyola, won13 of17 faceoffs and scooped up a game-high eight ground balls. Mount St. Mary’s Barber still out: A projected timeline of senior defenseman Daniel Barber returning to the field for the first time this spring by the time the Mountaineers open Northeast Conference play against Bryant on March 17 has been pushed back after an X-ray earlier in the week revealed that the broken bone in the Edgewater resident and Archbishop Spalding graduate’s right foot is healing slower than anticipated.
“He might not be back,” coach Tom Gravante said, referring to the game against the Bulldogs. “I don’t know. We found out this week, and he’s got a follow-up appointment in two more weeks to see if there’s further healing.”