The experience of going to the University of Maryland and playing lacrosse for Coach Dick Edell was a chance of a lifetime. My time on the field, the friends that I made, and the wonderful coaches that guided and inspired me, helped to make me the person that I am today.

After playing just one year of varsity lacrosse in high school, I had to make a decision as to which college I would attend. It was my desire to play lacrosse in college, but I was not being heavily recruited by many schools. The only scholarship offers given to me were from Michigan State and Butler, two schools halfway across the country. Because it was important for me to be close to my family and have the opportunity to attend my father’s football games, I wanted to stay closer to home. [Andrew’s father, Gordy Combs, is the head football coach at Towson -Ed]

After talking to my high school coach, Rick Brocato, I decided to walk on at Maryland. Besides Coach Brocato and my family, a lot of people did not believe that this was the right decision. In fact, I was even told by people in the administration at my high school that I would never play at Maryland. I had some doubts too, but it was a challenge I was willing to tackle.

When I arrived in College Park in the fall of 1996, I was rudely introduced to Division 1 lacrosse with 7AM practices 5 days a week. I can still remember walking across campus at 6 AM with my roommate, Casey Connor, and wondering if I made the right decision. Practice was very tough, and I struggled a lot early on.

When I looked at the depth chart and saw about 10 attackmen in front of me, it seemed I would never get a chance. There were some very talented attackmen on that team including Matt Hahn, Scott Hochstadt, Andrew Whipple, Maury LaPointe, and others.

Coach Edell and I talked and decided that it would be best if I redshirted. I was assigned #21, Frank Urso’s retired number which I wore that year. I figured that since I wasn’t going to be playing anyway, wearing a retired jersey wasn’t that bad of an idea even if Frank Urso is a Lacrosse Hall of Famer. So I spent the rest of my freshman year watching both games and practices. There were so many guys on the team that some days I would just do conditioning (which I worked at very hard) and shoot at a trashcan with my buddy Marcus LaChapelle.

That year I learned a lot and the team made it to the National Championship game where we were beaten by Princeton. I enjoyed my first year being away from home, and I always had my older sister, my second mother Meredith, there to make sure I did not get into trouble.

I expected about the same amount of playing time in my second year because we had our whole attack coming back. However, to my surprise, the year was different. My hard work was starting to pay off a bit. Now I got to dress for games, and even got to play some. I also switched my number to 14. As with the year before, we had a very successful season. We won the ACC Championship. The year’s highlight for me was playing in the semifinal game of the NCAA tournament (we were blowing out Loyola), and then playing in the championship against Princeton (we were getting beaten badly). I was getting used to the Terps going to the NCAA Finals each year, and I took for granted this would continue. Little did I know that I would not get back there in my playing career.

Along with lacrosse, I was enjoying everything that College Park had to offer. Besides lacrosse players, I became friends with many football and basketball players. There was a strong comradery between us and we looked after one another.

Beginning the summer after my sophomore year, I lived in College Park all year long. When school was not in session, I worked at the Campus Recreation Center. There I met many great people that influenced me in a very positive way. As my third season started at Maryland, I was finally ready to earn a starting spot, but things did not go as well as I planned for both me and the team. We did not have a good record and therefore, did not make the playoffs. This was the first Terp team to miss the playoffs in ten years. I learned some very valuable lessons that year. I thought I wasn’t playing as much as I should be, but the coaches disagreed. At that point in my career, doubts crept back in. I wondered if I wasn’t good enough. I even contemplated transferring to a different school, but I loved everything else about Maryland so much that even when the team was not doing well I wanted to stick around.

I remember sitting with “Big Man”, as the players called Coach Edell, and asking if I would ever play. He said he didn’t know. It was then that I set the goal to start the upcoming season and began to train harder than ever. Even my biggest supporter, my mother, was impressed and surprised by my determination. She later told me that she didn’t think I would start that year.

My junior year had one big development at the start. My baby sister Kendall Ann came to College Park as a freshman. It was different with Kendall Ann around. My older sister Meredith had graduated, and Kendall Ann and I had lots of fun—sometimes too much fun. We were glad Meredith was not around to find out about everything we did. Kendall Ann was only at Maryland one year before she transferred, but we had a blast going to school together then.

Lacrosse, on the other hand, was still a bit of a struggle. In the Fall and even the start of the Spring, I was still the fourth and fifth atttackman and was not playing as much as I wanted. I saw guys younger than me playing more which was frustrating. The single thing that really helped me the most was that I had a great strength and conditioning coach, Craig Fitzgerald. He pushed me to my best physical shape ever, and it helped. Craig never let me quit on a rep in the weight room and always was encouraging to me. He pushed me to achieve my best and was always supportive. I think it was this hard work with him that helped me earn a starting position.

There was an intrasquad scrimmage a couple of days before our first game, and I scored the winning goal. It was a garbage goal on a broken play, but it was enough to push me to where I had always wanted to be—a starter. My hard work and perseverance had really started to pay off. I was very excited to be a starter and the season turned out great as we made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA playoffs. Although we lost to Princeton in that game, we had a lot of fun getting there. After the game ended, it suddenly hit me: I would only have one more year at Maryland.

I did everything I could to get ready for my senior year. The one vacation from working out that I took was a trip to Maui to support the basketball team. Some of the basketball players were my best friends. Matt Hahn, who I played lacrosse with, was also a guard on the basketball team. Matt ended up being my best man when I got married to my wife Ashley, a field hockey player at Maryland.

After the amazing trip, it was back to hitting the weight room. Just when winter work outs were getting tough, motivation came. Face Off Yearbook released its preseason All-American’s list. There were 37 attackmen on the list, and I wasn’t one of them. Not being recognized gave me more motivation to go out my senior year and prove everyone wrong. I was a starter at Maryland, but now I wanted to be an All American.

My senior year was one of the most memorable times in my life. We went to Denver to play in the Pioneer Face Off Classic and Disney World to play the in ACC Championship. Although we lost to Duke in the ACC Championship game, we still had a lot of fun there. We were able to enjoy the company of our teammates and families in the park. It was another great experience. The end of both my senior year and my career as a Terp came with a loss in the quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament at the hands of the Towson University Tigers, whose coach I knew very well. It was a very tough day for me. My career was over… or so I thought at the time.

Not long after the year ended, I was fortunate enough to be hired by Tony Seaman at Towson. I had known and respected Coach Seaman for a long time since he was a colleague of my father’s. Getting hired at Towson was great. Now I was working with both Coach Seaman and in the same department as my father. My office is even next door to my father's office at Towson.

I took the lessons that I learned about hard work at Maryland with me to Towson. Playing for coach Edell taught me a lot and was a great experience. There are many things that I learned from him about lacrosse and also about life. He didn’t always tell me what I wanted to hear, but he did always say what I needed to hear. The Big Man, Coach Edell, and also Assistant Coach Dave Slafkowski were great role models and now that I’m currently a coach, I use many of the same tactics that they did.

To this day I am very thankful for all of the wonderful experiences that the University of Maryland provided me. I matured as a player, had a lot of fun, and made lasting friendships. I am proud to say that I am a Terp, but I did not get there alone. My family and coaches made it possible for me to achieve.

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Andrew “Buggs” Combs graduated from the University of Maryland with a degree in communications. He was a First Team All-ACC selection and a Second Team All-American as a Senior when he led Maryland in scoring with 50 goals and 6 assists.

Since he graduated, Andrew has been an assistant coach at Towson and a professional lacrosse player in the MLL. He played for the Baltimore Bayhawks in ’03 and ’04, the Rochester Rattlers in ’05, and the Los Angeles Riptide in ’06.

Andrew also works with Adrenaline Lacrosse Company and Shoot 2 Score, a shooting school.