Terps go wireto-wire to win
Showdown with No. 1 Notre Dame on deck
COLLEGE PARK — No one can accuse Maryland men’s lacrosse of looking ahead to a matchup at No. 1 and reigning NCAA champion Notre Dame.
The No. 4 Terps scored the game’s first three goals and never trailed en route to walloping No. 11 Princeton, 13-7, on Saturday afternoon before an announced 3,675 at SECU Stadium.
Maryland improved to 4-0 for the sixth time in the past eight seasons. The team has defeated four ranked opponents in No. 20 Richmond (12-11 in overtime Feb. 3), No. 20 Loyola Maryland (11-4 on Feb. 10), No. 5 Syracuse (13-12 in overtime Feb. 17) and now Princeton and will have eight days to prepare for a game against the Fighting Irish (2-0) on March 3.
“The schedule didn’t make it easy on the guys, but with our guys, that’s kind of what we sold them on, that coming here, you’re going to play a really tough schedule,” coach John Tillman said. “I do think there’s something to realizing [that] when you start watching the other team and see how good they are, I think you just get more focused at practice and practices are more competitive.”
The Terps’ primary catalyst on offense was junior midfielder Eric Spanos, who scored three of his game-high-tying four goals in the first half and added an assist. Senior attackman Eric Malever racked up two goals and three assists, and senior attackman Daniel Maltz found the net three times.
Spanos scored twice in a 2:33 span as part of Maryland’s game-opening 3-0 run but declined to take too much credit for his outburst.
“I think if anyone, any guy on the team scores two quick goals, that’s just something we can build off of,” said Spanos, who reached personal bests in goals and points (five). “As a whole offense, it just kind of instills confidence in everyone that no matter who your matchup is, you can do something special out there.”
With 11 points on seven goals and four assists, Spanos is already halfway to his 22-point campaign from a year ago. His early eruption delighted Tillman.
“So psyched for him,” he said. “Just watching film from last year and his development in the last 12 months, his confidence has been great to see.”
The offense got plenty of chances to graduate student Luke Wierman and his faceoff unit. He won 20 of 23 faceoffs against a Tigers three-man rotation for his ninth career game of at least 20 draws and tied his all-time high of 13 ground balls.
“I thought the wings did exceptional,” Wierman said of his teammates. “We knew their poles were going to get really involved, and they did a great job of just keeping them off of us.”
Still, the Terps have a few areas to address. After racing to an 8-3 advantage at halftime, they scored just twice in the third quarter and three times in the fourth. Princeton senior goalkeeper Michael Gianforcaro made a game-high 20 saves.
Tillman sounded fully aware that Maryland must be more efficient to knock off an opponent as deep and talented as Notre Dame is.
“To beat a team as good as them, you’ve got to play a good 60 minutes — or a close to as good 60 minutes at this time of the year as possible — because they’re great everywhere,” he said. “I haven’t watched them yet this year, but I know who’s coming back and some of the guys they brought in and how good of a coaching staff that is.”
No. 16 Florida women 13, No. 5 Maryland 12 (OT)
Emily Heller made her first — and only goal — of the game count when she scored with 4:59 left in overtime to propel the visiting Gators to their first win of the season.
The graduate student midfielder drove from the left point to the top of the slot before unleashing a laser to the top right corner of the net to help Florida (1-2) overcome opening losses to No. 9 Loyola Maryland (18-10 on Feb. 10) and No. 8 North Carolina (19-10 on Feb. 17).
“I just saw a wide-open lane, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to take it now.’ So I just went for it,” said Heller, who had missed her first four shots before scoring the game-winner. “I’m still in shock. I just kind of blacked out and just took it. I wanted the ball. I’m just so hyped for the team. We had so many people stepping up, it was huge.”
The Terps limited the Gators’ top three scorers, senior attackers Maggi Hall (Bel Air) and Danielle Pavinelli and Heller, to three goals on 18 shots and one assist. But Florida got timely contributions from graduate student midfielder Paisley Eagan (four goals), sophomore attacker Gianna Monaco (two goals and two assists) and senior midfielder Madison Waters (three goals) to overcome a 7-2 deficit at halftime and outscore Maryland, 11-5, in the final 31:01 of regulation and overtime.
The Terps lost starting defender Brianna Lamoureux late in the second quarter after the graduate student picked up her second yellow card of the game, resulting in an immediate disqualification. Lamoureaux’s absence impacted the defense, according to graduate student goalkeeper Emily Sterling, who finished with 11 saves.
“We kind of went astray from our game plan and just kind of went into a little bit of a panic mode,” the Bel Air native and John Carroll graduate said. “Definitely losing Bri in the early second quarter was tough. She’s usually a 60-minute player for us. I think that kind of shocked us a little bit, and we were back on our heels, and we went just a little bit individual.”
The Gators also took advantage of some inspired play on draws and in the net. Senior attacker Liz Harrison controlled a game-high 10 draws and helped the team win all five draws of the fourth quarter and the draw to open overtime.
And coach Amanda O’Leary’s decision to send in freshman goalkeeper Georgia Hoey to replace starter Elyse Finnelle after Maryland took a 7-2 advantage with 10:52 left in the second quarter paid off. Hoey made seven saves compared with just two for Finnelle and shut out the Terps over the final 7:56.
“All you’re looking for is a little spark maybe for the defense, and I think she came in and provided that spark,” O’Leary said of Hoey. “She came in and made some huge saves for us.”
Senior attacker Eloise Clevenger, a Woodstock native and Marriotts Ridge graduate, paced Maryland with game highs in both assists (four) and points (seven), and graduate student attacker Libby May, a Sparks native and Hereford graduate, chipped in two goals and one assist. But the offense converted only one of five free-position shots and went 0-for-3 on extra-player opportunities.
Despite two of the Terps’ next three games involving No. 10 Denver on March 2 and No. 3 James Madison on March 10, coach Cathy Reese cautioned against making any snap judgments about the team after four games.
“This is lacrosse in February. We are not playing nearly where we think we’re going to be playing as we go through the season,” she said. “But there are opportunities for us to learn and see and play against different teams and see what we need to do to do better and grow as a team.”