After surviving on the road against fifth-ranked Syracuse, Maryland faced yet another top-15 team with 11th-ranked Princeton in College Park. The Terps jumped out to an early 3-1 lead in the first quarter and they never looked back, dominating en route to a 13-7 win.
Maryland started where they left off at home and came out the gates to a 3-1 lead at the end of the first quarter. Goalie Logan McNaney stood tall in the cage while the Terps’ defense forced consistent turnovers and gave Princeton nothing but empty possessions. Braden Erksa and Eric Spanos provided the spark on the offensive end for the Terps’. Erksa got the scoring going just two minutes into the game off an assist from Eric Malever. Spanos then tallied the next two goals with both being unassisted.
The scoring picked up a notch for the Terps in the second quarter, scoring three straight goals over a 1:10 span with two goals coming from Malever and the third coming from Daniel Maltz. Princeton would finally stop the Terps’ run with a goal, but Spanos and Maltz gave Maryland the momentum right back and would add yet another two goals for the Terps extending their lead out to 8-2 before halftime. Princeton did however get one last possession of offense and they would end up sneaking a goal past McNaney with less than one second left on the clock to cut it to a five-goal Terps lead at halftime to make it 8-3.
In the third quarter, it was Princeton that got the scoring going, cutting the Terps lead to four. Both squads would wind up trading goals in the third quarter scoring just two each with Erksa and Daniel Kelly adding to the Terps total making it 10-5 heading into the fourth quarter. Both goalies were having very solid days so far. Luke Wierman was dominating from the face off all first half long and he kept it up in the second half only allowing two Princeton face off wins through the first three quarters.
To start the fourth quarter, Princeton would get the scoring going yet again cutting the Terps lead back to four. However the Terps and Ryan Siracusa would answer right back to make it an 11-6 ball game and expand the Terps lead back to five with just under 11 minutes to go. After yet another goal from Princeton, Wierman would win the ensuing face off and the Terps would add yet another goal from Maltz to keep it a five goal game. Spanos with just under five minutes to go would then add his fourth goal of the day to extend their lead to six. The Terps defense would stand tall for the rest of the game to hold Princeton scoreless the rest of the way.
Maryland picked up its second home win of the season in dominant fashion to remain undefeated on the season, moving to 4-0.
This week’s players of the game are Wierman and Spanos. Wierman finished the day going 20/23 from the face off with 13 ground balls while Spanos finished with four goals and an assist leading the Terps with five points on the day.
Maryland will be back in action next Sunday when they travel on the road to South Bend, Indiana to take on the top-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. That game is set to face off at 12 PM EST and will air on ESPNU.
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