Maryland, the real state of lacrosse, drew top seeds on Sunday night as both head coach John Tillman and Cathy Reese prepare for their respective NCAA runs.
One day after defeating Rutgers 17-7 to win the Big Ten Tournament Title, the undefeated men’s team drew the top-overall see as expected. Maryland will host the winner of Vermont/Manhattan on Sunday, May 15 at noon and will be televised on ESPNU. “Psyched to have another week, hopefully, we continue for another week and if we can win on Sunday, go another week and just take it week-by-week,” head coach John Tillman said.
Via release:
Maryland has never faced Manhattan in program history. The Terps have played Vermont twice and won both instances, including a 17-11 win in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. Vermont is led by Chris Feifs, a Maryland midfielder from 2004-07 and twice leading the Terps to the NCAA Semifinals. On Vermont’s staff is Jake Bernhardt, brother of current assistant coach Jesse and former Terps star Jared. Jake was a two-time team captain.
This marks the ninth time the Terps have been the top seed in program history and the first since the team received the No. 1 overall seed in three straight seasons from 2016-18. Maryland was also the top seed in 1972, 1973 (NCAA Champions), 1974, 1976, 1987, 2016, 2017 (NCAA Champions), and 2018.
The Terrapins are making their 44th NCAA Tournament appearance and NCAA-best 19th straight. Maryland also secured its NCAA-best 19th consecutive 10-win season earlier this year.
Maryland swept the Big Ten regular season and conference titles for the second straight season as they completed the effort with a 17-7 drubbing of Rutgers on Saturday night in College Park. The Terps are the undisputed top team in the nation with the nation’s highest-scoring offense and have been ranked top in both ranking polls for over three months now.
Head coach John Tillman sports a 24-9 all-time record in the NCAA Tournament (all at Maryland), which currently ranks seventh all-time among coaches in tournament wins. He is one away from tying former Johns Hopkins leader Dave Pietramala. Additionally, the Terrapins’ 24 NCAA wins since Tillman took over the program in 2011 is the most in the nation, ahead of Duke (20) and Denver (14).
Tillman’s 11 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances is the longest-ever streak for a Maryland coach, increasing his lead over the legendary Bud Beardmore’s nine-tournament streak from 1971-79.
The Terps have been to eight NCAA semifinals in ten full seasons (2011-12, 2014-18, 2021) under head coach John Tillman, including six national title game appearances.
The winner of Maryland’s first round matchup will advance to face the winner of Brown/Virginia in the NCAA Quarterfinals hosted by Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio.
Ticket information for this weekend’s games will be shared once available.
Meanwhile, Maryland women’s lacrosse drew the second-overall seed and receive a bye, awaiting the winner of Duke (15-3) and Johns Hopkins (10-8) on Friday, May 13 at 3:30 PM. Second round is set for Sunday, May 15 at 2:30 PM.
The Terps pulled off an 18-8 win over Rutgers on Sunday to win a fourth consecutive Big Ten Tournament championship. The win on Sunday marks the 300th career win for head coach Cathy Reese, leading the program to a 300-33 record over her 16 year career.
“What a day for the Terps. I am so proud of my group,” said head coach Cathy Reese. “We started a little slow and hesitant all over the field in the first half, credit to Rutgers for coming out strong. I am really pleased with how we came out in the second half. Defensively we were all over the place, we were excellent on the draw control and offensively we shared the ball really well, found some good openings and shot the ball really well in the second half. Congrats to our 2022 Terps for winning the Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Championships which was one of our goals this season. Really, really proud of this group.”
Via release:
Maryland has beaten Johns Hopkins twice this season, 17-6 at Hopkins on April 2 and 14-6 this past weekend in the Big Ten Semifinals. The Terps are 19-10 all-time against Duke and have won five of the last six meetings. Making their 32nd consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, the Terps stand at 17-1 and won both the Big Ten Regular Season and Tournament Championships. The Terps are 10-1 against teams in the tournament field. Maryland leads the nation with 37 NCAA appearances and are also tops in wins (76), final fours (27), championship game appearances (22) and NCAA titles (14). The Terps 32 consecutive appearances (1990-2022, minus 2020 due to COVID-19) is also the longest in the country. Maryland has made the final four 11 times under head coach Cathy Reese (2009-19) and has won four of the last seven national championships (2014, 15, 17, 19).
First and second round games begin on Friday and Sunday, May 13 and 15, respectively, on ESPN Plus. The quarterfinals follow on Thursday, May 19 at noon ET, 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on ESPNU. Championship Weekend at Homewood Field in Baltimore, MD includes the semifinals airing on ESPNU at 3 and 5 p.m., on Friday, May 27, and the title game on Sunday, May 29 at noon on ESPN.