It was early March --- and a few games into a season-long juggling of goalies --- when Maryland coach Dave Cottle said he was looking for either sophomore Brian Phipps or junior Jason Carter to work their save percentage above 60 percent before he settled on a guy.

Phipps (64.9 percent) has, his latest effort six saves and two goals allowed in yesterday's 10-7 victory over Denver in the NCAA tournament. Carter, at 56.1 percent, has not.

The goalie rotation, however, continues. If all goes according to pattern, Phipps will start next weekend's quarterfinal and Carter will probably take over in the second half.

This is the first time in Cottle's 26-year career he has regularly played two goalies each game. Deep down, it's probably not a stretch to think he would have hoped he wouldn't still be doing this in the postseason. Coaches, after all, like it when they have one less thing to worry about, even if they'll conjure something else to be anxious about to fill the void.

But at goalie --- like at quarterback in football --- an extra wrench is thrown into the equation.

That's because there is a built-in inevitable question each game. Why did you make a switch? If you didn't, why not? If one of them lays an egg in the postseason, those questions get amplified.

Since in raw numbers there is a not statistically irrelevant difference between Phipps and Carter, it seemed reasonable to break down the numbers a little more. Here's how they've fared in nine games against teams with .500 or better records:

Carter: 58 saves, 40 goals allowed, .592 save percentage

Phipps: 37 saves, 28 goals allowed, .569 save percentage.

(By comparison, Carter's save percentage against the Terps' six sub-.500 opponents was .509; Phipps' was a whopping .755).

It should be noted Carter didn't play against Penn and only logged a quarter against Mount St. Mary's. Phipps didn't play against Johns Hopkins and barely played in the regular season meeting with Virginia. That just might account for some of the overall discrepancy.

Cottle may yet face questions about his goalies next weekend. It helps that the Terps' have already played to their seed, and it would help more if they managed to keep the quarterfinal against Virginia or UMBC to a point where the score doesn't stretch too far into double digits.

His decision to continue rotating goalies, however, is supported by the numbers.

--- Patrick Stevens