In a game where neither team looked like the better team in a back-and-forth battle until the end, Maryland did enough to come out on top to open up the 2024 season in a 12-11 double-overtime win over the 20th-ranked Richmond Spiders on Saturday.
Richmond opened the scoring to take an early 5-2 lead, putting Maryland in a rough spot to open the game, before
The first quarter was a rough way to start the season for the Terps. Richmond opened up the scoring and got out to a commanding 5-2 lead before Daniel Kelly scored and cut the Spiders’ lead to two heading into the second quarter. With all the new faces on defense for the Terps, they struggled to find a rhythm on defense early, giving up the five goals early.
“We just had a tough time executing. I thought our defense, honestly, we were a little inconsistent. At times we played good defense, and at times maybe we had some breakdowns,” head coach John Tillman said postgame.
On offense, the Terps were all out of sorts as well coughing up the ball and not getting many good possessions. Jack Koras, Daniel Maltz, and Kelly were the three scorers for the Terps in the opening quarter with Jack Brennan and Koras picking up an assist each.
Maryland came out firing to open the second quarter, going on a 4-0 run with the first three coming in the first three minutes of the quarter. Braden Erksa netted two of the goals during the Terps’ 4-0 run while Eric Spanos and Ajax Zappitello also added to the score column. Koras assisted Spanos on his goal while the other three during the run came unassisted. The Terps’ defense was able to hunker down and cause chaos in the second quarter, not allowing another goal until 3:22 left in the quarter which was a big reason the Terps took a 7-6 lead into halftime.
Erksa tallied his third goal of the game to open the second half, giving him a hat trick on the day. Richmond, however, would respond with two goals to tie the game up at eight a piece. Ryan Siracusa and Eric Malever both scored an unassisted goal to give the Terps a two goal lead back, however, Richmond would erase that lead yet again and tie it up early in the fourth quarter.
Both teams went cold offensively the rest of the way with each team scoring only once in the final 12 minutes of regulation. With it being the first game of the season, it was a great test for both squads in preparing for close games but neither team was ever able to pull ahead thanks to the stifling defense by both the Terps and Spiders. In the first overtime, the Terps and Spiders were trading possessions but neither team was able to get many shots off due to turning it over. It was not until late in overtime when the Spiders would get a shot off but veteran goalie Logan McNaney came up clutch with the save to send it to double overtime.
In the second overtime, the Terps got the ball first and never looked back. After winding the shot clock down for a bit, Siracusa found Owen Murphy for a long-range shot that hit the back of the net and sent the Terps home with a win.
OWEN MURPHY FOR THE WIN!!! #BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/Ob3QF47b20
— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) February 3, 2024
Maryland will have to improve on quite a bit of things if they want to make it far this season. Richmond is a tough team but it will only get tougher with the schedule the Terps have.
Maryland will host Loyola (MD) next Saturday, Feb. 10, at 12 PM. The Greyhounds are coming off an eight-point win over tenth-ranked Georgetown.
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