The Terps recovered and advanced to the championship game before losing there to Princeton, but a precedent had been set. When the Retrievers visited Byrd Stadium the following year, the Terps needed a win in order to gain a berth into the playoffs. They never got it, though, because UMBC pulled out a 7-6 win to break the Terps' streak of eight straight appearances in the postseason. Fittingly, it was a season-ending win over UMBC last season that ensured the Terps would return to the tournament. The stakes won't be quite as high Saturday.
Nothing is guaranteed, though.
They've screwed us in the past. Since opening the year with three straight wins over Navy, Mount St. Mary's and Cornell, coach Don Zimmerman's team has lost six of eight games. That slide includes their current three-game losing streak that has featured losses to Towson, Army and Stony Brook. Realistically, if the guys who get on the field first do what they should do, it should be a game where the whole team can get in. We were able to put 15 goals up on them last year.