Career-best performance by Eric Spanos leads Maryland men’s lacrosse past Michigan

Franklin Zessis
Mar 28
3 min read

Eric Spanos struggled in his last game.

No. 12 Maryland men’s lacrosse’s leading point scorer from the 2025 season recorded six shots on goal in his return from injury, but was held goalless. In Saturday’s contest, it took Spanos just 5:21 of game time to score.

Spanos continued to thrive the rest of the afternoon, tallying a career-best eight goals en route to a 14-8 win against Michigan at U-M Lacrosse Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich. The win marks Maryland’s first win against Michigan since 2022.

“I know he was disappointed [after last game],” coach John Tillman said. “Sometimes it takes a little time to get some of that rust off, but he was definitely huge for us today.”

Despite being held scoreless for just the seventh time in his career, Tillman said on Wednesday that Spanos “looked fine” and “ran well." The graduate student did most of his damage in the second quarter, scoring from various spots on the field.

One of those spots came from the side of the net as Spanos used varied high and low shot placements to avoid the stick of any Michigan long pole. When Spanos drew a mismatch against a short stick, he used quick dodges to generate space for short-side shots against Michigan goalie Hunter Taylor.

But Spanos scored from other areas of the field, capitalizing in transition on a miscue by Taylor during a Michigan (3-7, 0-2 Big Ten) clear attempt and using an off-ball screen to sneak from the outside into the middle of Michigan’s defense.

The result was a four-goal second period for Spanos — single-handedly outscoring the Wolverines 4-2 in the quarter.

Spanos continued to thrive in the following quarter. The attacker opened the scoring for the Terps (4-4, 1-1 Big Ten) on their third possession, rifling another short-side shot past Taylor and into the upper half of the net. The goal marked Maryland’s fifth consecutive goal by Spanos and tied a career best.

But Spanos was not done. When the Wolverines went on a 3-0 run to cut the lead to one score, Spanos continued to add to Maryland’s total.

Just 35 seconds after attacker Leo Johnson ended Michigan’s run, Spanos notched a single-game career-best seventh goal on a low shot from the right wing with 8.3 seconds left in the quarter. The goal put Maryland up 11-8 and silenced a boisterous Michigan crowd.

“Those were huge,” Tillman said. “To go from … a one-goal game, and now we're up three going into the fourth, [it’s] a big difference.”

The goal killed any momentum the Wolverines gained from their previous run, allowing Maryland’s defense to take over and shut out Michigan for the entire fourth quarter.

The strong play allowed Maryland’s offense to cruise in the final quarter, as Spanos’ eighth goal of the contest and tallies from Chris Lyons and Braden Erska put the game out of reach.

Spanos’ breakout performance is a strong sign not only for him but for the rest of the Maryland offense. The Terps scored 14 goals — the most since their 19-goal season opener against Loyola. The showing bodes well for a unit that will see a significantly better defense when it hosts No. 8 Ohio State — the Big Ten’s best scoring defense.

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