With No. 11 Maryland men’s lacrosse staring at a five-goal deficit and struggling to slow down No. 9 Penn State’s high-flying offense, John Tillman knew he needed to make a change.

The Terps’ head coach switched to a zone defense early in the second quarter. That move immediately changed the tide of the game.

Maryland held the nation’s eighth-best offense scoreless for the ensuing 35 minutes, allowing time to slowly climb back. AJ Larkin’s second goal of the game left the Terps down one with seven minutes remaining.

But Penn State ultimately cracked the Terps’ compact defense. Three goals in a three-minute span iced the game and dealt Maryland a 10-6 defeat at the Panzer Stadium. The loss marked its third consecutive year with a defeat in their Big Ten opener.

Brian Ruppel barely had a second to catch his breath early in Saturday’s contest. After practically willing No. 11 Maryland men’s lacrosse to a triple-overtime win last weekend, the senior netminder could only do so much.

Waves of Nittany Lion chances flooded the cage and long defensive possessions left Ruppel exposed in the cage. Ruppel faced five shots in the first five minutes, and Penn State was just getting started.

Maryland allowed a season-high 42 shots, with 21 challenging Ruppel in net. While he tallied 11 stops — his fourth consecutive double-digit save performance — it wasn’t enough to lead his team to victory.

Will Schaller’s injury against Virginia left the Terps in a precarious situation. Without a clear next defensive option, Tillman turned to senior Riley Reese to make his first career start, against a top-10 offense.

It went about as bad as Terps’ fans could’ve expected in the first half. Penn State generated quality chances on nearly every possession, beating defenders with ease. The trio of Peter Laake, Mikey Alexander and Reese struggled to keep pace with the Nittany Lions’ quick ball movement, leaving Ruppel stranded on an island.

While the Big Ten’s leader in saves per game fared well early on — he only allowed two goals in the opening 11 minutes — Penn State’s potent attack struck soon after. The Nittany Lions netted three unanswered goals to close out the first quarter.

Maryland trailed 5-2 after 15 minutes, marking its third quarter this season conceding five scores. It happened just three times all of last year.

After committing a season-high 19 turnovers to close out nonconference play, that wasn’t the main problem on Saturday. The Terps simply couldn’t get possession of the ball to give their defense a chance to recover.

Penn State corralled five straight faceoffs following Henry Dodge’s opening win. That stretch left Maryland’s defense on the field for nearly all of the final four minutes. Even when the Terps gained possession, the offense continued to stall out.

After Penn State produced the first two scores, Erksa stopped the bleeding on a man-up opportunity. Leo Johnson flipped a pass to Erksa standing on the doorstep, and he buried a shot at the near post to put Maryland on the board.

Four minutes later, Johnson got his own goal. The Yale transfer charged from behind the cage and fired a bouncing shot past Penn State goalie Preston Hawkins. But that was Maryland’s last goal for the ensuing 18 minutes.

While Ruppel singlehandedly kept the Terps within striking distance, the offense couldn’t find much success against Hawkins. The redshirt freshman turned in his best performance of the season with 14 saves and a 70% save percentage, outdoing his Nittany Lion counterpart.

1. Eric Spanos held scoreless. After missing the previous three contests, Spanos’ return to the starting lineup was a welcoming sight for fans. But the senior attacker was held off the scoresheet despite firing seven shots. That marked his first scoreless performance since last year’s Big Ten Tournament meeting against Penn State.

2. Maryland lost the faceoff battle. The biggest talking point heading into Saturday’s game was the matchup between two of the nation’s top faceoff units. While Maryland hadn’t lost in that department all season, Reid Gillis and Colby Baldwin controlled the X. The duo won 11 of the 19 bouts, keeping the country’s top faceoff specialist silent.

3. Ranked woes continue. When Tillman crafted one of the hardest nonconference schedules in the country, the hope was to prepare his team for Big Ten play. But the Terps have struggled against ranked opponents this season. Maryland’s 0-4 record in top-20 clashes has dimmed its postseason aspirations.

Maryland baseball found itself with a runner on base against No. 1 UCLA at the top of the seventh inning after Aden Hill singled to right field.

Brayden Martin took the box after him, hitting a fly ball to center field. With no outs, Hill sped toward second base and began rounding the bases.

But UCLA’s center fielder Will Gasparino caught the ball.

Hill couldn’t beat Gasparino’s throw back to first. As the double play took shape, Maryland’s chance of catching up from four runs behind disappeared.

UCLA then blew its lead wide open, scoring six runs in the bottom of the seventh frame to end the game early, 12-2.

In the bottom of the first with runners on the corners and an out, UCLA’s Roman Martin smashed a ground ball down the left field line for an RBI double. He brought home his teammate Roch Cholowsky to take the lead.

Shortly thereafter, Cashel Dugger obliterated Maryland pitcher Lance Williams’ breaking ball, sending it clear over Bud Coombs’ head in right field for a grand slam. With two outs, the Terps suddenly faced their largest first-inning deficit of the season.

Williams managed to escape a second grand-slam set-up unscathed, striking out a batter to finish the inning.

Martin took the batters box in the top of the third after Aden Hill slid into second base in the previous at-bat. The junior utility man knocked an RBI-double along the left field line, allowing Hill to cross home to put the Terps on the board.

In the bottom of the fifth inning, Martin began his own trek around the diamond, reaching first on a fielder’s choice that took Bud Coombs off the bases.

The Bruins loaded the bases, and Williams faced Dean West for the fourth time. After a strike — it followed three straight balls — Williams issued his first walk of the game, bringing home yet another Bruin to increase UCLA’s lead.

Lance Williams’ outing on the mound lasted more than half the game, mildly improving over five innings. In the bottom of the first, the junior gave up 10 bases, five of which came from hitting the batter. Williams began to settle in by the end of the fifth, only allowing one RBI.

The Terps had no problem making it to the bases on Friday, but struggled early to come all the way around the horn. Across five innings, Maryland recorded eight base hits, yet only two runners made it home.

To change that trend, though, Ty Kaunas stepped to the plate in the top of the sixth. The freshman shortstop sent the ball through the 5-6 hole for an RBI single, bringing Paul Jones II home and closing UCLA’s lead to four runs.

Brayden Ryan took over for Williams at the bottom of the sixth, and his tenure on the mound started smoothly. The redshirt junior didn’t allow any runs in the sixth and recorded one strikeout.

After Hill’s base-running mishap in the top of the next inning, though, Ryan didn’t fare much better.

After posting one more strikeout, Ryan let three straight singles pass him by, loading the bases yet again. Just two pitches later, West wore another pitch, allowing Dugger to bank a second run on the day and UCLA’s lead to increase.

Another two-run single one batter later and a hit batter ended Ryan’s day on the mound. Andrew Koshy took over to do damage control, but he hurled a wild pitch of his own for a runner to advance and score.

With two outs left in the inning, UCLA’s Payton Brennan singled through the right side for a two-run RBI, sparking NCAA’s run-rule to end the game early.

1. Bruin batters beware. Maryland’s pitching staff hit eight batters total. Six of the nine UCLA hitters got hit at least once, and two wore a pair of pitches. The Terps almost hit the Bruins with the ball (8) as many times as they hit the ball (9).

2. Scoreboard 180. The last time a UCLA-Maryland game ended early was just one season ago, in 2025. The Terps were on the flip side of the coin though, beating the Bruins, 13-3.

3. Go-to reliever. Koshy has had the most mound appearances for the Terps despite never starting a game, and he’s posted a 5.87 ERA. The junior averages 1.4 allowed runs per game, and he hasn’t allowed a run since March 13.