Last spring, Connor Kelly was a freshman who made appearances in all 19 games for Maryland as a member of the second midfield.

He finished with five goals and three assists, but showcased his ability with a three-goal performance in a 14-7 rout of North Carolina in an NCAA tournament quarterfinal.

This season, the sophomore has already surpassed those numbers with nine goals and eight assists and has moved into the starting lineup for the past six games for the No. 5 Terps (6-2).

Kelly set a career high in points with six on three goals and three assists in Saturday's 11-8 win against No. 17 North Carolina and added one goal and one assist in Tuesday's 13-8 victory at Penn.

Before the Penn game, Kelly was named the Big Ten Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week with Penn State sophomore attackman Ryan Keenan.

Coach John Tillman said last year's experience was instrumental in Kelly's growth.

In Loyola's Huggins, shades of Fletcher:Charley Toomey generally doesn't like to compare defensemen to Joe Fletcher, who set the standard for that position during his time from 2011 to 2014.

But the Loyola Maryland coach couldn't help himself when asked whether giving the responsibility of marking an opponent's top attackman might be daunting for Foster Huggins, a sophomore in his first year as a full-time starter.

“We asked a lot of Joe Fletcher when he was a sophomore,” Toomey said Wednesday. “Our job is to win games and put the kids in place where they have a chance to be successful and this team in a place where it has a chance to be successful.”

Huggins has emerged as the shutdown defenseman for the No. 16 Greyhounds (6-3). He has faced the likes of Virginia junior Ryan Lukacovic (one goal on seven shots), Johns Hopkins senior Ryan Brown (one assist in the final three quarters) and Bucknell sophomore Will Sands (zero points).

Huggins, who leads the defense in caused turnovers with 12 and has scooped up 12 ground balls, is meeting expectations.

Towson coach: 8-1 start was expected: Towson's eight victories in its first nine games match the 1990 squad's 8-1 record and is the best opening in coach Shawn Nadelen's five years there. But don't expect Nadelen to express shock at the program's start.

“That's what we expect,” he said this morning. “We expect to be able to put ourselves in position to win every game. [At] 8-1, obviously, we'd love to be 9-0, but we let one slip away at Hopkins [in a 14-8 loss March 12]. So it's not a surprise to us. We put in a lot of hard work during the year. Our coaches do a great job of preparing the guys for what we want to do on the field as well as what to expect from our opponents. Fortunately for us, we've been able to come away with some wins, and I think we're playing some decent lacrosse now. We know there's definitely room for improvement in a few areas. So we're going to continue to work on that.”

The No. 8 Tigers have victories against No. 16 Loyola Maryland and Ohio State, and Nadelen is hopeful that the nonconference schedule has helped them for the Colonial Athletic Association schedule.

Stevenson ‘sells out': “Selling out” usually has a negative connotation, but that's exactly what coach Paul Cantabene is looking for from his Stevenson program.

In the aftermath of an 11-10 upset of three-time reigning NCAA Division III champion Tufts a week ago, Cantabene said the players must “sell out” to gain victories against elite competition.

On Tuesday morning, Cantabene didn't change his stance.

“I think they understand that's the way we have to play,” he said.

“We're not good enough to win games by giving a half-effort. We've got to give everything that we need. I think we were really close in a lot of games, but these guys sold out and played 60 minutes [against the Jumbos], and it really showed. I think that's what we've got to continue to do. If we play that way, we can beat a lot of teams. If we kind of rest on our laurels and just think that we're good, we're not going to be very good.”

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