Fluid ball movement aided No. 10 Maryland men’s lacrosse in strong start vs. Delaware

Franklin Zessis
Mar 12
2 min read

Amid No. 10 Maryland men’s lacrosse's three-game losing streak, coach John Tillman criticized the offense for a lack of ball movement during stretches of game time.

Tillman stressed that keeping the ball in one portion of the field allows it to die and makes it easier for the defense to defend.

While Tillman said Maryland’s offense still fell into that habit at times against Delaware, the Terps strong start highlighted incremental progress in the team’s offensive cohesion.

“I do think we started the game pretty well,” Tillman said. “I thought we got a little bit stagnant at times. So that's … the challenge for us, trying to play 60 good minutes.”

Delaware started the game by doing something unexpected to Maryland. starting goalie Colton Silverstein.

The sophomore had appeared in just two other games this season, collecting roughly 15 minutes of combined game time and making three saves on four shots. Silverstein stopped the first shot against Maryland’s offense. But the Terps quickly rebounded, scoring on each of their next five shots.

One of the driving factors for Maryland’s sustained success was its utilization of the X position. The Terps frequently started their rotations from behind the net, allowing them to draw a short stick defender to the ball carrier and create an easier shot attempt.

That play was highlighted on the Terps’ second goal, as a rotation between Braden Erksa and Chris Lyons drew a short stick defender behind the cage and allowed Lyons to sprint up the right side of the field and bounce a shot past Silverstein.

The Terps' ball movement allowed several scorers to become involved in the offense, most notably Erksa. The senior was one of several Maryland players who struggled to produce during Maryland’s three-game skid, notching just four points over that span.

Against Delaware, Erksa matched that total in less than 26 minutes of game time. Erksa thrived in the opening four minutes, recording points on three of Maryland’s first four goals.

The last two tallies epitomized Maryland’s strong ball movement as both Erksa and junior midfielder Elijah Stobaugh scored on wide-open shooting lanes.

But Maryland’s offense stalled after a timeout by Delaware with 11:06 remaining in the first quarter, recording double the amount of turnovers as it did goals the rest of the half.

“That's something we talked about at halftime,” Tillman said. “Ten turnovers; that's not going to win you a lot of games.”

Maryland finished the game with a season-high 19 turnovers, which Tillman partly attributed to Maryland's offense becoming “stagnant at times." Tillman said the solution is to continue emulating pressure drills and stickwork in practice so those skills and decision-making translate to the game.

While Maryland did beat Delaware with 19 turnovers, it will be an area the Terps will have to minimize as they prepare for Virginia on Saturday.

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