Terps win big in Big Ten opener
Fast start helps Maryland win 2nd straight over ranked foe
COLLEGE PARK — After barely outlasting the Michigan men’s lacrosse team last spring, Maryland ensured a repeat of those nerves did not happen in the Big Ten opener for both sides.
The No. 9 Terps scored five consecutive goals to post a season-high seven in the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 15-8 victory over the No. 19 Wolverines before an announced 2,914 at Maryland Stadium on Saturday.
Maryland (6-2, 1-0 Big Ten) has won back-to-back games after dropping two straight. And Saturday’s outcome was remarkably similar to a 15-7 win over then-No. 14 North Carolina on March 25, when the Terps sprinted to a 6-2 lead after the first quarter.
The offense broke a 2-2 tie with Michigan (8-2, 0-1) with a 5-0 run that gave Maryland a 7-2 lead after the first 15 minutes. It was a welcomed departure from last season, when the Terps required a game-saving save from goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr and a goal from midfielder Bryan Cole with 43 seconds left in regulation to escape Ann Arbor, Mich., with an 8-7 win.
“I was proud of the guys to come out so fast,” Terps coach John Tillman said. “To score seven goals in the first quarter to kind of get us going I thought was great. Obviously, I’d like to finish the game a little bit better. So we have things to work on.”
Three Terps finished with three goals and one assist. They were senior attackman Dylan Maltz, who also scored a game-high three goals against the Tar Heels, junior midfielder Connor Kelly and freshman midfielder Jared Bernhardt. Bernhardt, who has at least one point in all eight games he has played, said the opportunities were there for him to attack the cage.
“I was trying to press my matchup,” said Bernhardt, one of five Terps with at least 13 goals and 19 points this season. “I was getting short-sticked. Obviously, high school is different. Obviously, I wanted to come out there and be a little bit more aggressive and try to make them slide and make them play me. Obviously, it just worked out today.”
Maryland opened the game with goals from senior attackman Colin Heacock (Boys’ Latin) and Maltz within a 70-second span. But the Wolverines tied the score at 2 on goals from sophomore attackmen Rocco Sutherland and Brent Noseworthy within 66 seconds of each other.
The Terps then scored five times in the final 4:44 of the first quarter. Michigan Maryland Goals: Mi—Noseworthy 3, Schlosser 2, Bogle, King, Sutherland; Ma— Bernhardt 3, Kelly 3, Maltz 3, Rambo 2, Chisolm, Heacock, Rotanz, Wilson. Assists: Mi—Curran 2, Sutherland; Ma—Rambo 2, Bernhardt, Chisolm, Kelly, Maltz. Saves: Mi—Heidt 7, Zonino 2; MA—Morris 12, Brosh.