Maryland on the mend
Maryland’s defense is tied with Rutgers as the second-stingiest unit in Division I, surrendering just 6.1 goals per game thus far despite the absence of senior Dan Burns.
Burns, widely regarded as one of the top short-stick defensive midfielders in the country, is inching closer to making his 2011 debut on Saturday when the No. 6 Terps welcome No. 7 North Carolina to Byrd Stadium in College Park.
“I’m pretty optimistic that he could be out there on Saturday, but I don’t know what his conditioning situation is,” coach John Tillman said Thursday, confirming a Lacrosse Magazine report about Burns’ potential return. “But we’re certainly excited about trying to get him out there. If everything looks good tomorrow, we’ll give him a go. If he’s not quite ready, we’ll wait another week. But I’m excited for him.”
Burns could further solidify an already-tough Maryland defense, but Tillman didn’t object to the idea of limiting Burns’ minutes.
“I think we’d be smart about it,” Tillman said. “The key for him is he’s got to be able to do everything. We may not play him the whole game, but he’s got to be able to do everything. If he couldn’t backpedal or if he couldn’t move well laterally, it wouldn’t be worth our while playing a team like Carolina. He’s got to be better than the other guys. And we feel like he’s pretty much getting there.”
Tillman sounded a little less optimistic about senior attackman Travis Reed, who has missed back-to-back starts since injuring his left shoulder in the team’s 8-4 win against Towson on March 12.
“We’ll see,” Tillman said of Reed, who returned to practice this week. “He said he felt much, much better today. So we’ll see how he goes tomorrow. He said within the last two weeks, he’s made a ton of progress. I know he was really, really down two weeks ago, so we’ll see. We’ll see what he can do tomorrow and see if he can dress. If he can dress, throw the ball around, and everything looks good, we’ll certainly throw him in there. … He’s got to prove to us that he’s got the range of motion and strength. We’re not going to put him in a spot where he could hurt himself.”
