Maryland could do no wrong this afternoon in D.C.. It was a dominant performance from the Terps who left no doubt who the best team in the country is, defeating the former ACC rival 23-12 in the nation’s capital. Maryland took the lead 8 seconds into the game and never gave it up. The stars for each team showed up and did what they usually do, with Connor Shellenberger, Matt Moore and Logan Wisnauskas each finishing with 3 goals and 2 assists. However, the role and complimentary players for the Terps ended up being the difference. Luke Wierman dominated at the faceoff X, winning 24-36 (66.7%) against the combination of Petey LaSalla and Gable Braun.
Keegan Khan, who had 5 goals so far this season, stole the show with 4 goals and 3 assists, most of which were not easy, as the Virginia defense was physical all day. However, Maryland’s offense matched their physicality, bullying their way to the cage multiple times.
Another player who shined was Owen Murphy who scored three times and added an assist. In total there were seven Terps with multiple goals, eleven who scored and fourteen with a point. Two of the goal scorers were defenseman Matt Rahill who scored on a 2/3 field shot when the Cavaliers were in a full field ride, leaving the goal wide open. The other was defenseman Brett Makar, who was the trailer on a face break and scored his first career goal.
This was a statement game for Maryland. Leading up to the game, it was season as Maryland and Virginia, then everyone else in division one college lacrosse. With this performance, they separated themselves from the rest of the pack. Now conference play begins starting with Penn State, who are 2-6 but have beaten #5 Yale and lost to #6 Penn and #4 Cornell by one goal each. That game will be played in State College on March 27th at 7:00pm and will be on BTN.