Maryland men's lacrosse looks to keep season alive in Big Ten quarterfinals

John Gugs
5 minutes ago
5 min read

#11 Maryland 6-5 (3-2) vs #20 Rutgers 8-6 (1-4)

Where: SECU Stadium

When: Saturday April 25th, 6PM

TV: BTN+

Betting: Maryland -5, O/U 18.5

Maryland men's lacrosse is coming off a brutal 9-8 loss to their arch rivals in Johns Hopkins where they had the potential game tying goal ring off the pipe with just over ten seconds left in the game. This weekend, they will look to bounce back and put their name back in the at-large bid conversation for the NCAA tournament when they take on Rutgers at home in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.

The Terps defeated Rutgers in a 12-2 drubbing just two weeks ago at home. They will look to do more of the same in the rematch and bounce back from last week. Rutgers is led by Brian Brecht who is in his 15th season at Rutgers with a 114-101 record and a 1-15 record vs the Terps where the one win came last season.

On offense, Rutgers pretty much goes where Colin Kurdyla can take them. Kurdyla has 55 points on the season, which is 22 more than Greyson Vorgang who is second with 33 points. If you are able to shut down Kurdyla and keep the ball out of his stick which the Terps did in the first matchup, then Rutgers has a hard time scoring or finding any rhythm on offense. Outside of Kurdyla, only two players have 20 goals or more on the season in Vorgang and Colin Kelly. Also outside of Kurdyla, no one has more than eight assists on the season which has been a big reason for their offensive struggles. Against the Terps two weeks ago, Kurdyla was held to zero points and only took two shots while also committing two turnovers. Peter Laake was the main defender on Kurdyla and he finished the game with two caused turnovers and two ground balls. If Laake and the rest of the defense can repeat that performance, look for it to be another long day for the Rutgers offense on Saturday night.

On defense, like the offense, Rutgers goes where their one star player takes them and that player is goalie Cardin Stoller. Against the Terps, Stoller has 41 saves in three games against the Terps and was the key reason the Terps only scored six goals against Rutgers in the loss last season. In conference play, Stoller had a save percentage of 52% or better except for last week’s game against Penn State. If Stoller is hot, he can keep the Scarlet Knights in any game against any team and was a big reason they upset Johns Hopkins in overtime for their only B1G win this season. If the Terps are able to unleash tons of shots on Stoller and mix up their shot locations like Penn State was able to last game, it could be a long day for the Rutgers defense. However, if the Terps shoot it like they did last week against Hopkins, Stoller could do just enough to keep the game close or even lead Rutgers to another upset win.

Three things to watch out for

Can Rutgers do better at the face-off dot?

In the first matchup, Rutgers went 6/18 from the face-off dot which was a big reason they struggled to ever come back in that game. With the Rutgers offense struggling, the fact that they were constantly losing possessions after goals was not helping their case and was making it even harder for their offense to find a rhythm or manage to cut the Terps lead down. If Henry Dodge and Jonah Carrier are able to do more of the same this Saturday, it will be another long game for Rutgers and their face-off players.

Can Rutgers find any offense outside of Kurdyla?

All season long, every team’s scouting report for Rutgers has been to shut down Kurdyla and you will win. In Rutgers’ losses this season, Kurdyla only averages 1.83 points per game. Meanwhile, in Rutgers’ wins this season, he is averaging 5.5 points per game and he has only recorded less than four points in only one win this season. If Rutgers wants to pull off the upset, they will need their midfield to win their matchups and to find different ways to beat the Terps off ball which has been a struggle for the Terps this season.

How does the goalie battle play out?

Like mentioned before, Stoller is a very good goalie and can keep Rutgers in any game against any team when he is seeing the ball well which the Terps have firsthand knowledge of after last season. Last week was arguably Brian Ruppel’s best game of the season. While he only finished with a 57.1% save percentage, he was saving shots that he was missing earlier in the season and was a big reason the Terps were able to have a comeback effort in the second half. If Ruppel is able to continue his performances that he has had during conference play where he has been above 50% in every game but one, it might not matter how hot Stoller is against the Terps offense and he could carry the Terps to a Big Ten tournament semifinal berth.

IBG prediction: While the Terps did blow Rutgers out just two weeks ago, the Terps have rarely done as well or better when it comes to rematches in the Big Ten tournament. Since their last Big Ten tournament championship in 2022, the Terps have lost to a team they previously beat in the regular season two of the last three seasons. And the one season they did not, it was against Michigan in the championship game which they lost by a worse margin of victory than they did during the regular season. I think defensively, Rutgers will make several adjustments that will help slow the Terps down and their offense will find a way to score more than just two goals this go around. However, this is still a do or die game for both teams. According to Lacrosse Reference, Rutgers is out of the NCAA tournament unless they earn the conference automatic qualifier and win the conference tournament. Meanwhile, with a loss, also according to Lacrosse Reference, the Terps will have a 0% chance at making the NCAA tournament which would end their season. With this being a do or die game for both teams, I believe that the better team and the better roster will be the one to come out on top this weekend and the Terps will advance to the conference semifinals with a 9-6 win over the Scarlet Knights.

The Terps are looking to avoid their first B1G tournament quarterfinal loss since the conference added the quarterfinal round in 2019 as well as avoid their first .500 season since 1993 when they take on Rutgers this Saturday. The game is set to face-off at 6PM and will be airing on BTN+.

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