Looking to avoid their first three-game slide in 15 years, Maryland men’s lacrosse mounted a second-half comeback to pick up its fifth ranked win of the season, topping Penn State 13-11 in Happy Valley.
Jack Koras led Maryland in the win with four goals, including his second hat trick of the season, Daniel Maltz netted a pair of late goals, while Luke Wierman went 11-of-13 on faceoffs in the second half.
It was all Penn State to start the game, scoring just 40 seconds into the game and what proved to be the first of six in the first quarter as they exploited Maryland’s short stick defensive midfielders. Eric Malever and Eric Spanos kept the deficit manageable by scoring one goal each in the first quarter, the 11th and 13th of the season for the two. The same problems that resurfaced through the season showed back up on Sunday night with Maryland’s turnovers giving Penn State chances to add to its early lead.
After taking a 6-2 lead into the second quarter, Penn State goalie Jack Fracyon kept up his exceptional play and held Maryland to just two goals the rest of the half thanks to Jack Koras and Braden Erksa. Penn State kept the margin constant, though, taking an 8-4 lead into halftime. Maryland’s offense managed to clean up the turnovers, finishing with a season-low 12 in the win, but Fracyon had six saves in just the second quarter alone to keep the Terps offense off the scoreboard. Goalie Logan McNaney and the Terps’ defense had cleaned things up in the second quarter and they started to slide quicker, limiting Penn State’s open looks at goal while McNaney posted four saves in the second quarter.
It was Maryland who set the tone to begin the second half as Koras would net his second goal of the game and Ryan Siracusa would net his first goal of the game within the first three minutes, cutting the deficit to two. Penn State would get a goal back but short stick defensive midfielder Nick Redd answered with first goal of the season on a fast break opportunity started by long pole defender Ajax Zappitello.
As Penn State stretched its lead back to three, Maryland’s offense began to stall despite moving and passing the ball well without turnovers. That changed in the fourth quarter, though, as Maryland outscored Penn State 6-1 the rest of the way to stage its comeback.
Koras net the first two goals of the quarter before Daniel Maltz followed it up with two goals of his own, giving Maryland its first lead of the day. Erksa and Kelly added two more over the next four minutes, giving Maryland a 13-10 lead with just over six minutes left to go, after the offense threatened the Nittany Lions’ defense down the stretch.
DK beats the shot clock!! Terps have scored six unanswered and lead 13-10!#BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/hW8J4Uy0Xp
— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) April 1, 2024
Penn State ended a 14-minute scoring drought to end Maryland’s six-goal run, cutting the score to 13-11, but that proved to be the last time they found the back of the net as Maryland’s defense stood tall.
This week’s players of the week are Ajax Zappitello, Luke Wierman, and Jack Koras. Zappitello led the way for the Terps tonight with two caused turnovers and also picked up six ground balls. Luke Wierman went 16-of-27 from the face-off which was a massive reason for the Terps’ 6-0 run in the fourth quarter. Koras had four goals on the day including the first two of the Terps 6-0 run in the fourth quarter. Koras also picked up four ground balls including two that were off Wierman’s face off wins.
Maryland will be back in action looking to keep up their winning ways on Saturday, April 6th when they will host Ohio State. The game is set to face off at noon EST and will air on BTN+.
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