The Terps visited Rutgers for some Sunday night lacrosse in what would their final road test of the regular season. The game would be a tight defensive battle up until the very end when the Terps would come away with the 11-8 victory.
Rutgers wound up winning the first face-off to get the first possession of the game. Rutgers would try and attack Brett Makar but he would stand tall and help give Brian Ruppel an easy first save. On the ensuing possession, the Terps would wind up turning it over off a batted pass by Rutgers. Jack McDonald would then cause a turnover of his own to give it right back to the offense. Once again however, the Terps would turn it over off yet another batted pass by Rutgers. The Terps would then force yet another turnover on an over ad back violation by Rutgers. Then on the ensuing possession, Braden Erksa would find Ryan Siracusa on the left wing for the first goal of the game. Rutgers would win the next face-off but would wind up turning it over for their third possession in a row. Both defenses were playing lock down defense forcing a plethora of turnovers and not giving either team many chances to even get shots off. Jack Koras would break the five plus minute long scoring drought off yet another assist from Erksa that would now make it 2-0 for the Terps with just over five minutes left in the first quarter. Luke Wierman would get his first face-off win on the day and on the ensuing possession, the Terps would score their third straight goal by Zach Whittier. And yet again, it was off an assist by Erksa. Wierman would get another face-off win to even it up at two a piece for each team so far in the game, and once again, the Terps would take advantage and score off a goal by Daniel Maltz. This time though it was Jack Brennan that would come away with the assist. Both teams would get one more possession before the end of the first quarter but neither team would add to the scoring. The Terps offense was showing flashes of what it did last year with their ball movement and winning matchups which is something they have missed a lot this season. The Terps defense was back to their usual ways and was playing suffocating defense helping them get the first quarter shut out.
After Wierman won the opening face-off of the second quarter, Koras added his second goal of the game on the Terps first possession of the quarter off an assist from Kyle Long to make it now 5-0 for the Terps. It wasn’t until the 10:32 mark in the second quarter when Rutgers would get their first goal of the game. Maryland would take an 8-4 lead into halftime with complete control over the Scarlet Knights.
Through the first half, Ruppel came away with two saves but that was in big part due to Rutgers only putting six of their shots on goal. The Terps defense caused five turnovers which helped the poor shots from Rutgers. Erksa and Koras led the way offensively with three total points after one half. Koras, Whittier, and Maltz have each scored twice.
To start the second half, Rutgers would win the opening face-off but would turn it over right away to give the Terps the first possession of the second half. The Terps would however give it right back after getting a shot clock violation. Rutgers would put together a long possession after Ruppel would make his third save of the day but would then turn it over and give it right back to the Terps. Erksa would then score off of a roll dodge to get his first goal of the day to make it 9-4. The Terps would then get the ball back to keep building off their lead thanks to another face-off win by Wierman. Rutgers would however get the ball back after a nice save by their goalie but would get a shot clock violation of their own giving it right back to the Terps. Daniel Kelly would score his first goal of the day on the ensuing possession off an assist from Whittier to keep padding their lead making it 10-4. Rutgers would however get a goal back after winning the next face-off. After the goal was scored, Eric Kolar committed a penalty and would give Rutgers the ball right back with a minute long man up opportunity. Ruppel would however stand tall and get the save to give the Terps the ball back and kill the rest of the penalty time. After some back and forth possessions with no scores, Spanos would bull dodge a defender and break his stick which would leave him open for a shot on the left wing in which he would bury and make it 11-5 for the Terps. Wierman would win the ensuing face-off giving the Terps the ball right back. The Terps would get the last possession of the third quarter but we not able to add to their lead keeping the score at 11-5. Rutgers however committed a penalty right before the end of the quarter and the Terps would get the ball to start the fourth quarter with a man up opportunity.
The Terpe would not be able to take advantage of the man up opportunity this time and would turn it over but would get it right back after Rutgers would attempt a shot from behind midfield but Ruppel would win the backup race to give it back to the Terps. After yet another turnover by the Terps, Rutgers would get a goal from one of their long pole defenders off of transition to cut the Terps lead back to five. Both teams would lock down once again and neither offense was able to find any goals again until 4:09 left in the game when Rutgers would once again chip into the Terps lead and make it 11-7. A Wierman turnover gave Rutgers the ball back and they made the Terp pay, trimming the deficit to 11-8 with just under three minutes left in the game.
Makar did commit a penalty, giving Rutgers a minute long man up opportunity but were not able to take advantage and the score would stay 11-8 when the clock would run out. The Terps would end Rutgers 16-game home win streak, the longest current streak in the country.
Ruppel came up huge in the second half finishing the day with 12 saves after just two in the first half. Wierman finished the day going 14-of-21 from the face-off as well. The Terps were led by Erksa offensively after finishing with four total points off a goal and three assists. However, the longest streak in the country of having a player with a hat trick was officially snapped after four players finish with two goals but no one was able to get three. The Terps defense stood tall and won the game after the Terps offense was held scoreless throughout the fourth quarter.
The Terps come back home to finish the regular season against Johns Hopkins in what is arguably the biggest rivalry in college lacrosse. The game is next Saturday at 6pm.
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