Following the Hoyas’ 12-3 drubbing by Duke on March 26 – their second loss of the season – faceoff specialist Andy Corno appeared to be struggling through his senior year.

Corno sustained a groin injury in a come-from-behind win over Delaware on March 16 which plagued him for several weeks afterward.

The injury followed what had been a rocky start to the season. A 13-6 season-opening loss to Maryland on Feb. 26 saw Corno ejected during the third quarter, and he subsequently sat out the following week.

After the Duke game, teammate and co-captain Brodie Merrill said Corno was embarrassed about the Maryland incident, adding that his team was now “at a crossroads.”

As it turns out, the Hoyas bounced back, defeating Navy the next week and taking five of seven games to close out the season. For the ninth consecutive year, Georgetown landed an NCAA tournament berth.

And through the luck of the seeding process, all the Hoyas needed was a first-round win over Army to be guaranteed a shot against either Penn State or Maryland – two teams who had beaten them earlier this year. They did that last Sunday, romping past the Black Knights, 16-6, behind three goals from freshman Brendan Cannon.

After the victory, Corno admitted he was looking forward to the quarterfinal matchup with the Terrapins, who were 14-10 victors over the Nittany Lions last Saturday.

“I’d love to face that team again,” he said, after taking a career-best 15-of-16 faceoff opportunities against Army. “I think we’re blessed to have the opportunity to get a little bit of revenge.”

The senior faceoff specialist will face a challenge this Sunday against Maryland junior David Tamberrino, who won nine-of-13 faceoff attempts during the second half against Penn State. The Terps, down 6-5 at halftime, responded with a 7-2 run in the third quarter to ward off the pesky Nittany Lions – thanks mostly to three extra-man opportunities and Tamberrino’s success at the “X.”

As a team, Maryland has won 54 percent of faceoffs on the season, compared to 60 percent for Georgetown. But in the Hoyas’ season-opening loss, the Terps held Corno to just five wins on 13 faceoff attempts.

Maryland Head Coach Dave Cottle said that controlling faceoffs would give his team an advantage in possession, which played a key factor in his team’s February victory over Georgetown. The Terps scored all 13 goals on 26 shots. With 43 shots, the Hoyas barely earned six goals.

“We don’t want to give up easy goals,” Cottle said. “We’re just hoping to survive the faceoffs.”

Maryland sophomore goalie Harry Alford also played a huge role in the two teams’ first meeting, holding his ground and recording 25 saves. Alford reached the 20-save mark again during a 9-4 victory over North Carolina late in March.

Georgetown’s offensive unit, led by senior Nick Miaritis, who has 21 goals on the season, and sophomore Trevor Casey and junior Pete Cannon, with 20 goals each, will have to be patient in order to penetrate the Terps’ defense, which allows 7.7 goals per game.

“We have to survive their pressure,” Cottle said. “The teams that can’t run by them get eaten alive. If we can’t do that, we’re going to have a long day on offense.”

Meanwhile the Hoyas will be hard-pressed to overcome the pressure of history. Georgetown has lost in the quarterfinal round each of the last three years – in 2002 to Princeton, 2003 to Virginia and one year ago to Syracuse.

In last year’s quarterfinals, the Hoyas played the Orange down to the wire. Five seconds short of overtime, Georgetown surrendered the game-winning goal, and the team’s hopes at only the second semifinal berth in school history vanished instantly. Syracuse advanced to the final four for the 22nd consecutive season, eventually defeating Navy for the national championship.

For Maryland, it is the third consecutive appearance in the elite eight. The Terps reached the final four in 2003 only to lose to Virginia, 14-4.

Maryland also won this year’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, defeating Virginia 8-7 in overtime before knocking off Duke in the title game. The ACC championship propelled Maryland to a four-game winning streak to close out the year.

The Terps (10-5, 1-2 ACC) are 4-0 all-time against the Hoyas (10-4, 3-2 ECAC). The two squads first met in 1997 during Georgetown’s first-ever NCAA tournament appearance, with aryland taking a 14-10 victory. The programs have met each of the past three seasons, with the Terps winning all three matches.

The quarterfinal contest will air live from Princeton, N.J., on Sunday on ESPNU and in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area on Comcast SportsNet.

Opening faceoff is slated for noon. The game will be followed immediately by the fourth and final quarterfinal match, Cornell (11-2, 6-0 Ivy) against second-seeded Duke (15-2, 3-0 ACC).