One week after their upset loss to Army in the first round of the NCAA tournament, Maryland was well represented in Inside Lacrosse’s All-American teams with Brett Makar, Ajax Zappitello, Luke Wierman, John Geppert, and Dante Trader all selected
Makar was the lone first team All-American for the Terps this season after having five last season. Makar finished the season with an impressive 2 caused turnovers and 48 ground balls picked up. This season, Makar also added two goals in transition to his name which was a career-high for him. Makar week in week out was the guy that would cover every opponent’s main offensive guy, and would shut them out most of the time. Makar’s impressive season earned him the third overall selection in this year’s PLL college draft. Makar finishes his career as a two-time first-team media All-American for Inside Lacrosse and the first-ever two-time Big Ten defensive player of the year.
Despite missing four games to injury late in the season, Zappitello earned a second-team All-American nod. Zappitello finished the season with 21 caused turnovers and 29 ground balls picked up. Along with his caused turnovers and ground balls, Zappitello was a threat in transition adding two goals and two assists to his name. This was Zappitello’s second season in a row earning All-American honors after being an Inside Lacrosse media third team All-American last season. Zappitello will look to add to his already long list of accolades next season as well as be the main guy on defense next season with Makar heading to the PLL.
Wierman and Geppert were both named third team All-Americans this season. Wierman finished his senior campaign going 61% from the face-off as well as adding two goals, three assists, and 136 ground balls picked up. This is Wierman’s second straight season earning All-American honors after being a first teamer last season. While not being as dominant as last season, Wierman still was one of the top guys in the country from the face-off and was a weapon the Terps heavily relied on this season. Wierman will be back next season where he will look to break the all-time face-off wins record at Maryland. Geppert finished his season with seven caused turnovers and four ground balls picked up as well as two goals and four assists to his name despite battling a lower body injury half the season. Geppert finished his career with ten goals, eight assists, 136 ground balls, and 47 caused turnovers. Geppert was picked up as an undrafted free agent with the Chrome Lacrosse Club of the PLL where he will join Terps defensive coordinator Jesse Bernhardt.
Trader was the lone Terps to be an honorable mention All-American this season. After taking last season off to focus on football, Trader came back to the sport of lacrosse and joined the team as a short stick defensive midfielder. Trader totaled 14 caused turnovers and 18 ground balls this season on the defensive side of the field. In the few chances he had on the offensive side of the field and in transition, Trader also added five goals and two assists to his name. Trader came to Maryland originally as an offensive midfielder, but due to their lack of depth and the similarities between playing safety in football, it was an effortless transition for Trader this season switching to defense. Trader was a two-time Big Ten player of the week this season. Next season, Trader will be eligible for the NFL draft so it is up in the air if he will be on the lacrosse team again next season.
Next season, the Terps will be bringing back Logan McNaney who was a former All-American goalie and Eric Malever after both missed the season with torn ACLs. With just three starters moving on to the PLL, the Terps will look to come back with a very experienced group and fight to get back on top and win another national championship.
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