MARYLAND vs. AlBANY - GAME OF THE WEEK

12:00 - College Park, MD (watch on Big Ten Network)

In one of the biggest regular season match-ups in recent memory, #1 Albany travels to College Park to take on #2 Maryland.

The Great Danes are led by two attackmen who can light up the stat sheet, Senior Connor Fields and Freshman Tehoka Nanticoke. The two combined for 20 points on Tuesday's dominant win over UMass, and according to AnalyticsLacrosse.com they account for over 80% of the Great Danes scoring this season.

On the other side, Maryland's offense has been a little more balanced, but the centerpiece is without a doubt senior midfielder Connor Kelly. Kelly had one of the best performances of the season this past Saturday when he racked up 10 points against a tough Notre Dame defense in a 12-10 win. He had 7 assists, which was 4 short of his entire total for 2017 (when he was a 1st Team All American).

This game will probably come down to the last possession, which means we should see a great battle at the face-off X. Albany's TD Ierlan has been doing his best Trevor Baptiste impression this season, winning 91% of his draws. That includes a perfect 24-for-24 (!) performance on Saturday against Cornell. Maryland's Justin Shockey will have his hands full, but the freshman should be confident after a dominant 15-for-22 showing against Notre Dame. Look to Maryland's entire face-off unit, including All-American LSM Matt Neufeldt, to try to limit Ierlan and make it a 3-on-3 ground ball.

Coach Doss's Prediction: 13-12 Maryland in OT



Coach Hopper's Prediction: 16-11 Albany