COLLEGE PARK -- Gregg Edell saved his best game of the season for yesterday, much to the displeasure of his father, Maryland coach Dick Edell.
Gregg Edell had two goals and an assist as Dartmouth stayed close with the No. 6 Terrapins for three quarters before falling, 9-4, in front of 348 at Byrd Stadium. In the first game Dick Edell has coached against his son, Maryland (5-1) needed a 4-0 run over the final 25 1/2 minutes to put away the Big Green (1-2).
"With all the playoff games and rivalry games in the course of 32 years, I've done all the things a coach can do. But this is one experience I've never had before," Dick Edell said. "Realistically, we want to win and be a better team to take on North Carolina [on Saturday]. But his mother will be happy."
And Dick Edell had fun with the situation.
He poked fun at his son, saying he would embarrass him by putting a short-stick defender on him and assign the close defensemen for the better scorers. He then joked with his team about cutting the food per diem in half for anyone who let his son score.
By game's end, the veteran coach walked down the line, shaking hands with all the Dartmouth players before seeing his son at the very end. That's when the Edells shared a memorable hug.
"It was definitely a new experience," said Gregg, a junior attackman and a Glenelg High School graduate. "It kind of went unspoken for a while. We joked about the game more than anything. It was good and something I've been looking forward to for a long time."
Yet the game supplied little humor for Dick Edell.
His son assisted Ross Johnson and then scored midway through the first quarter to get Dartmouth within 3-2.
Maryland later grabbed its largest lead of the first half at 5-2 on defenseman Chris Lamy's short-handed goal with 9: 13 left before halftime. Four minutes after that, however, Gregg Edell sent a shot into the upper right corner of the goal, causing his father to shake his head.
The Big Green didn't stop there, cutting the deficit to 5-4 just 2: 19 into the third quarter, when Dave Maher converted a cross-crease pass from Connor Price. The Terrapins retaliated two minutes later, as Craig Hochstadt's first career goal began a game-ending 4-0 run.
Maryland seemed to take a step backward offensively yesterday with its top feeder, Marcus LaChapelle, out with severe shin splints. Edell said keeping LaChapelle out yesterday was to rest him for Saturday's North Carolina game, but didn't want to use his absence as an excuse since he still had the services of two second-team All-Americans in attackman Scott Hochstadt and midfielder Brian Zeller.
NOTE: Freshman Craig Hochstadt, who was arrested last month after a campus parking pass was discovered stolen in a car registered in his name, was cleared of all criminal charges Monday.
Pub Date: 3/24/99