Another season, another championship trophy in hand.
Maryland has won the Big Ten Tournament four times since they joined the conference, but this was the first time they got the lift the trophy on their home turf. In fact this was the first time any home team has won the Big Ten Tournament. This year, the Terps took home the title by defeating No. 3 Rutgers 17-7 on a rainy night in College Park. With the win, Maryland stayed perfect on the season with a record of 14-0 and will be the top seed in the NCAA Tournament when the field is announced at 9pm on ESPNU.
Maryland dominated in every aspect of the game, bettering the Scarlet Knights in shots (47-35), SOGs (29-18), ground balls (42-26) and face offs (21-7). The most impressive part of their performance was their defense. The Terps held the Rutgers eighth ranked scoring offense to a season-low 7 goals, including a scoreless second quarter, the Scarlet Knights first scoreless quarter this season. The defense also caused 11 turnovers, with Brett Makar, Roman Puglise and Owen Prybylski each causing two.
On the offensive end, the usual suspects shined, with tournament MVP Logan Wisnauskas recording another seven points on four goals and three assists. Anthony DeMaio, who was named to the all-tournament team, recorded his second-straight hat trick with four goals and two assists. Eric Malever and Jack Koras added two goals as well. Jonathan Donville showed up as a distributor, finishing the night with three assists and a goal. Keegan Khan, John Geppert, Jack Brennan and Owen Murphy all finished the night with a goal a piece.
Maryland now turns its attention towards the NCAA Tournament, where they will be the number one seed and host the winner of one of the play-in games. As I have mentioned in the past, this team has the potential to go down not only as the greatest team in program history, but the greatest team in division one history. But as is with any postseason, anything can happen. The Terps will look to try and finish the job, something that they have struggled to do in the past. However, Maryland has not had a team that has looked this dominant for a full season.
The full bracket will be announced tonight at 9pm on ESPNU.