With an undefeated regular season under its belt, No. 1 Maryland men’s lacrosse is chasing more than just a title

It’s been years since males’s school lacrosse noticed an undefeated champion.

Virginia was the final crew to go unbeaten, and it did so in 2006. That crew is taken into account by many to be probably the greatest within the historical past of the game, and Virginia’s 2021 squad was confronted with the chance to knock off the undefeated Maryland Terrapins, who stood only one win away from ending their season as nationwide champions.

The Cavaliers jumped out to a lead, however the Terps fought again. After a objective from Anthony DeMaio introduced Maryland inside one with simply 10.8 seconds remaining, the sport rested on a single faceoff.

Luke Wierman, who had been substituted in as Maryland’s high faceoff choice when the crew fell behind, wrestled the ball free. He scooped it up, rushed towards the objective and fired a shot that promised to maintain the Terps’ excellent season alive. The ball sailed by means of the air and hit one thing, nevertheless it wasn’t the again of the online. It was the physique of Virginia goalie Alex Rode, and the ball was shortly picked up by a defenseman and flung to the opposite aspect of the sector.

Virginia’s bench emptied, and its crew dogpiled in celebration of their second consecutive nationwide championship. Maryland’s gamers crumpled to the bottom in dismay, and tears flowed from many who got here to the conclusion that that they had fallen simply wanting the last word prize.

“If you finish the season like that, you will have that bitter style in your mouth,” Brett Makar, a defenseman who returned for his senior season this yr after shedding within the nationwide championship recreation as a junior, mentioned. “You’re gonna be actually trying ahead to getting that subsequent recreation below your belt and… ultimately getting again to the purpose the place [you] have been.”

Regardless of their historic success, the Terps have at instances appeared cursed in nationwide championship video games. Maryland has made a whopping 15 title video games, nevertheless it has solely gained three. Regardless that the Terps have the best general profitable share of any program, 42 years separated their 1975 and 2017 nationwide championships. Some followers have raised questions on why that’s. Is it simply unhealthy luck? Is one thing improper?

This yr’s crew is trying to treatment these worries. They lately completed this system’s second consecutive undefeated common season, this time with a fully-loaded non-conference schedule and a powerful Massive Ten slate. Because the polls at present stand, Maryland has wins in opposition to 5 top-10 opponents: Rutgers, Virginia, Notre Dame, Princeton and Ohio State.

And to be clear, this crew hasn’t simply gained all their video games. They’ve dominated virtually all of their opponents. The Terps completed the common season with a scoring margin of +109, profitable by a median of over 9 targets per recreation. During the last seven video games of the season, that quantity was a median margin of victory of 11.1 targets.

Maryland was not often challenged within the Massive Ten portion of its schedule, however the hardest take a look at got here on Apr. 16 in opposition to Ohio State. The Terps have been down by 4 targets at one level within the second quarter and trailed within the third, however they completed the sport on a 10-2 run to seal a seven-goal victory.

Whereas the Ohio State recreation proved that Maryland isn’t invincible, it additionally proved how dynamic and unstoppable they are often. There’s a saying that nice groups have to have the ability to win ugly. Maryland didn’t simply win ugly, it gained by seven. The flexibility to play poorly and nonetheless simply come out on high is why the Terps are within the place they at present are.

“At instances it’s been straightforward, at instances it’s been sloppy and we’ve gotten away with it,” graduate midfielder Roman Puglise mentioned after the sport. “We wanted a little bit take a look at.”

Maybe the principle cause why Maryland has been so arduous to play in opposition to is the truth that it has a plethora of expertise at seemingly each place. The Massive Ten, thought-about by many to be the second-strongest convention within the nation this season, launched their yearly convention honors for males’s lacrosse on Wednesday, and the Terps almost swept the accessible awards.

Fifth-year attacker Logan Wisnauskas was named Massive Ten Offensive Participant of the 12 months, Makar was named Massive Ten Defensive Participant of the 12 months, Wierman was named Massive Ten Specialist of the 12 months and head coach John Tillman was a unanimous alternative for Massive Ten Coach of the 12 months.

The one award {that a} Maryland participant didn’t win was Massive Ten Freshman of the 12 months, and that may be attributed to the shortage of accessible enjoying time for youthful gamers as a result of their skilled roster.

5 different gamers additionally earned All-Massive Ten honors, reaching the utmost of eight gamers a single crew is allowed. There’s little question that different Terps have been deserving as effectively.

With all that success comes the burden of excessive expectations, although, and Tillman has tried to keep away from any distractions and hold his crew centered on the duty at hand.

“After the Loyola recreation, I purchased three packages of rat poison and put them in our locker room,” he mentioned, referencing a viral press convention second the place Alabama soccer head coach Nick Saban blamed reporters for distracting his crew with reward.

The crew has purchased into the narrative, unfazed by exterior strain. After Maryland’s recreation in opposition to Rutgers on Apr. 10, Tillman turned to Wisnauskas, who had simply set this system’s all-time factors report.

“Do you will have social media?” Tillman requested.

“Not for the time being, no,” Wisnauskas responded with a straight face.

“What number of youngsters don’t have social media?” Tillman chuckled.

Skilled leaders like Wisnauskas have stored this crew grounded and on monitor. It will be straightforward for them to purchase into the hype and strut right into a recreation banking on their expertise to get the job finished, however the Terps have entered every recreation trying extra decided than the final.

Subsequent week, Maryland will go for its second straight Massive Ten Match title, internet hosting the semifinals and championship recreation at Capital One Subject at Maryland Stadium. There, they are going to get their first probability to play a crew for the second time this season, giving the crew perception into what different coaches would possibly attempt to exploit the second time round.

Regardless that the pursuit of convention championships is a crucial one, the Terps are virtually assuredly going to be the No. 1 general seed within the NCAA event no matter what occurs within the Massive Ten Match.

With the Closing 4 returning to East Hartford, Connecticut, this yr, the trail is obvious for the Terps to avenge final yr’s heartbreak and flip the script on the identical discipline they suffered that agonizing loss to Virginia a yr in the past.

As all followers know, nevertheless, nothing is assured in sports activities. Maryland males’s lacrosse has confirmed time and time once more that it takes extra than simply having an important crew to win a championship. It additionally takes luck, and typically you’re simply unfortunate.

Nevertheless, there’s little question that this yr’s crew is particular. If the Terps run the desk and are the final crew standing on Memorial Day, they gained’t simply be nationwide champions. The lacrosse neighborhood can have no alternative however to think about them among the many biggest groups the game has ever seen.

Because the season continues, the end line inches nearer and nearer. However there’s nonetheless a variety of work to be finished. The truth, as unfair as it could be, is that this crew gained’t be remembered by what they achieved in February, March or April. It’s about whether or not or not they will string collectively 4 straight wins in Might and lay declare to some {hardware} on Memorial Day.

“It’s simply [about] getting higher every week,” DeMaio mentioned after Maryland’s 11-goal win over Virginia this season. “It’s not about being the perfect in March. You’ve bought to be the perfect down the stretch in Might.”

Because the late nice Kobe Bryant famously mentioned when his Los Angeles Lakers took a 2-0 lead within the NBA Finals, “What’s there to be blissful about? [The] job’s not completed.”