St. Vincent Pallotti Grads Switch Roles at McDaniel College

When Mike Marks was a sophomore at St. Vincent Pallotti High in Laurel, he was used as the main faceoff player for the boys lacrosse team. One of his teammates that season was Matt Dean, who at the time was a senior defensive midfielder.

Now, four years later, their roles have been reversed at Division III McDaniel College in Carroll County. Dean, a senior midfielder at McDaniel, has been the main faceoff guy for the Green Terror the past two seasons while Marks is a sophomore defensive midfielder.

"When we were playing in high school, he was just a defensive midfielder," Marks said. "He didn't know anything about faceoffs. At Pallotti, I was the main faceoff guy. When he came to McDaniel he was not playing right away. He started facing off when he had breaks in practice. He got so good at it he broke into the starting lineup. His breakout year was last year."

Dean, who will play his last regular-season game on Saturday at Gettysburg (PA) College, has been successful on 126 of 214 faceoffs this season. He was four of 10 this past Saturday in a 4-3 win over Ursinus. "Matt is very good," said Marks, who backs up Dean on faceoffs.

"He has strong forearms and strong wrists and he is quick off the whistle."

Dean, slated to graduate in May with a degree in business administration, said he started to focus on faceoffs in practice as a freshman at McDaniel since he was not playing a lot.  

"Coach saw that I had the body for it and the build," said Dean, who also played football and basketball at Pallotti. "I see [faceoffs] as a one-on-one battle. That is [the opponent's] job. That is my job. If I win that, I am helping the team. It is like wrestling, one-on-one."

Dean (5-foot-9, 185 pounds) said coaching from assistant Jim Talbert, a faceoff specialist who has worked with Division I players and has coached at Boys' Latin at the high school level, he benefited him the past two years. McDaniel's head coach is Matt Hatton.

Marks is majoring in international relations. He has been to Ireland, Wales and England and has relatives who live in Europe. Marks picked McDaniel over Mary Washington, a Division III program in Fredericksburg, VA.

The Green Terror is 6-7 overall and 3-4 in conference play and will end regular-season play at Gettysburg. With a win, McDaniel will qualify for the four-team post-season tournament in the Centennial Conference.

Marks is from Ellicott City. He had two groundballs on Saturday in the win over Ursinus. Marks has 15 groundballs this year, while Dean is among the team's leaders with 56. Marks, 5-foot-10 and 185 pounds, is studying criminal justice.

Lacrosse notes: Other Pallotti High graduates at the college level include Nate Tharp (Chestnut Hill), Mike Pease (Belmont-Abbey) and sophomore midfielder Taylor Teodosio (Guilford). On the women's side, Shelby Lyles is a freshman at Division I Mount St. Mary's. Tharp, from Laurel, has five goals this season and Teodosio has 14 goals and four assists. Senior defender Pease played in the first 11 games this season, with 10 starts, for a team that ended the year 5-7.