No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse upset by unranked Michigan, 16-11

No. 2 Maryland males’s lacrosse trailed, 11-8, to start the fourth quarter towards Michigan. The Terps appeared overwhelmed for a lot of the sport, however something might occur with a contemporary quarter-hour on the clock.

Maryland started the quarter on a optimistic word. Senior attackman Daniel Maltz fired a rocket into the again of the online, making the most of the Terps’ man-up alternative.

Nonetheless, issues took a flip for the worst within the coming minutes, as Michigan broke the seal of the Terps’ protection.

Michigan senior midfielder Jacob Jackson regained the Wolverines’ three-goal lead, after which junior attackman Michael Boehm scored on the doorstep of Maryland’s internet and picked up a cross-check penalty towards sophomore defenseman Colin Burlace, leading to a man-up alternative.

The Terps had been utterly deflated after Boehm’s purpose and couldn’t climb out of their four-goal deficit within the remaining 9 minutes of play. Michigan got here into School Park and knocked off the reigning nationwide champions, 16-11, on Saturday, giving Maryland its third lack of the season and first convention defeat since Could 2, 2019.

“Clearly [a] disappointing day, not the consequence we had been hoping for, however hats off to our opponent,” Maryland head coach John Tillman stated. “Simply didn’t really feel like we performed nice in the present day, and clearly as a frontrunner that’s one thing I bought to take accountability for. Didn’t really feel like in any space we had been nice.”

Michigan received the opening faceoff, however a precipitated turnover from senior defensemen Brett Makar gave formative years to the Terps’ offense. Maryland labored the ball across the attacking zone earlier than discovering junior attackman Daniel Kelly, who took one step up and flung the ball into the again of the online from 12 yards out.

Two of the Wolverines’ star attackmen, senior Josh Zawada and Boehm, had been concerned in Michigan’s first purpose of the sport, however the Terps rapidly regained the lead as senior midfielder Kyle Lengthy related with freshman attackman Braden Erksa for a simple rating.

The remainder of the primary quarter was dominated by the Wolverines, although. Maryland seemed overwhelmed.

Michigan scored its second purpose on the 9:49 mark, and its third on the 9:45 when junior Justin Wietfeldt received his first faceoff and instantly attacked the guts of Maryland’s protection.

The Wolverines scored three extra targets earlier than the quarter’s finish, all of which resulted from impeccable ball and participant motion.

Maryland began the second quarter rejuvenated, scoring two unassisted targets inside 25 seconds.

Zawada then tacked on an unassisted purpose of his personal, however Maryland junior defenseman Ajax Zappitello responded together with his first purpose of the season and compelled a timeout with 7:27 remaining within the quarter.

Freshman goalie Mind Ruppel scooped up a floor ball and superior it to Zappitello, who was positioned slightly below midfield. The defenseman stormed into Michigan territory and had no intention of passing up a uncommon offensive alternative.

Zappitello bounced the ball at Michigan junior goalie Shane Carr, who deflected it about 15 toes into the air. Zappitello surveyed the world, situated the ball, gathered the rebound and canned the second-chance alternative to chop Michigan’s result in two.

“That’s positively a momentum play for us,” Makar stated. “Ajax made a giant play there, and we count on these sorts of issues from him.”

Lengthy scored the ultimate purpose of the quarter, and Maryland entered halftime down one.

Michigan made some changes in the course of the intermission and started the third quarter firing on all cylinders. The Wolverines scored on all of their first three pictures and received three of the primary 4 faceoffs.

“We had been simply not, possibly, in the suitable spot or we had been only a step behind on a pair performs, they usually canned these alternatives,” Tillman stated.

Now down by 4, Erksa took it upon himself to cease the bleeding. The freshman spun previous two Michigan defenders, looped across the cage after which fired the ball into the online for his second purpose of the day.

After an thrilling begin to the quarter, neither crew scored over the subsequent 10 minutes as a result of a flurry of missed pictures and turnovers.

Boehm and Erksa tallied their third purpose of the sport earlier than the quarter got here to a detailed, as Maryland remained in a three-goal deficit heading into the ultimate quarter-hour of play.

Maltz opened up the fourth quarter together with his second purpose of the day, however the remainder of the interval was dominated by Michigan, leading to a 16-11 loss for the Terps.

Three issues to know

1. Maryland’s seniors confirmed up. It was senior day for 4 of Maryland’s 10 starters, and all of them made an influence. Maltz, Jack Brennan and Lengthy energized the offense with a mixed 4 targets and two assists, whereas Makar held it down on the defensive finish, scooping up two floor balls and inflicting three turnovers. In a sport the place management and persistence was wanted, the Terps seniors stepped up. Their contributions didn’t result in a win, nonetheless, because the Terps couldn’t sneak previous Michigan.

2. The Terps performed cleaner. Heading into Saturday’s sport, the most important weak point going through Maryland was its inefficiency. The Terps entered holding a .278 shot share and averaged 16.63 turnovers per sport, however solely dedicated 9 turnovers towards Michigan. Whereas Maryland cleaned up a few of its offensive errors, Michigan’s first and third quarter outbursts proved to be an excessive amount of for the Terps to beat.

3. Maryland dropped its first Massive Ten sport since 2019. The Terps shedding in Massive Ten play is an uncommon sight, however Michigan seemed like the higher crew on Saturday. The Wolverines’ protection smothered Maryland’s attackers and their offense got here and went, however bought the job carried out. This marks Michigan’s first Massive Ten win since 2021, placing it one step nearer to its first profitable season in two years.

“I felt like we had been combating uphill all day,” Tillman stated. “Whether or not we received this or misplaced this sport, we’ve a giant sport in Ohio subsequent week.”