Brown junior attackman and Tewaaraton Award finalist Dylan Molloy appears "unlikely" to be available to play for the No. 5 seed Bears against No. 1 seed Maryland in Saturday's NCAA tournament semifinal.
During a conference call Tuesday morning, Brown coach Lars Tiffany revealed that Molloy, the Division I leader in goals (60) and assists (54), will probably miss his second consecutive game because of a reported broken right foot.
"Dylan's status is, he has not been on the practice field," Tiffany said. "All he's doing is in the training room. I think it's highly unlikely he's on the field. There's a lot of pain in that foot. So we're going to continue to try to do anything medically rational and reasonable to do to get him on the field, but I don't know. He's still got the scooter, he's still got the crutches. At this point, I think it's unlikely."
The absence of Molloy, who is tied with former UMBC Steve Marohl for the fourth-most points in a season with 114, could be a significant factor in Saturday's contest, scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.
Brown (16-2) has featured the country's most prolific offense at 16.4 goals per game in parge part due to Molloy's talent on that end.
The Terps (16-2) boast the nation's fourth-stingiest defense at 7.7 goals per game, and not having to account for Molloy in their defensive plan this week would be a huge relief.
The Bears still managed 11 goals in a one-goal win against Navy in Saturday's quarterfinal on the strength of four goals and two assists from senior attackman Kylor Bellistri and two goals and one assist each from senior attackmen Henry Blynn and Bailey Tills.
"I think what Brown proved last week is, they are more than just one guy, and they have a lot of really good players," Terps coach John Tillman said during the conference call. "I think what we have to be ready for is three things: if he plays and he's full strength; if he plays and he's limited; or he doesn't play. Those are things that we have to factor in, and we have to plan for all of those."