Maryland Men's Lacrosse: NCAA Quarterfinals, Georgetown awaits, six All-Americans

henrylilienfeld
21 hours ago
4 min read

The Maryland men's lacrosse team looked every bit like a national title contender on Sunday, riding a dominant performance from senior attackman Eric Spanos to a 13-5 NCAA Tournament first-round victory over Air Force at SECU Stadium on Sunday.

How We Got Here

Spanos scored a career-high six goals – tying the second-most in a tournament game in program history – and reignited the Terps’ offense after a sluggish start to May. With the win, No. 2-seed Maryland improved to 12-3 and punched its ticket to the NCAA quarterfinals for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons.

“We just found a flow,” Spanos said. “It’s meaningful… the last game in our stadium. I just wanted to help the team win in any way I could.”

Maryland got on the board early with back-to-back strikes from Daniel Kelly and Spanos, but a 10-minute delay for technical difficulties briefly derailed the tempo. Air Force held long possessions and closed to within 2-1, threatening to make it a grind-it-out type of game.

But Spanos changed the tone with a momentum-swinging second goal, bulldozing past a short-stick defender to fire up the Terps and the crowd. From that moment on, Maryland poured in eight unanswered goals across the second, third, and early fourth quarters.

Spanos notched a first-quarter hat trick and added three more in the second half, capping his career day with a signature score late in the third to give Maryland a 12-2 lead. He became just the third Terp to score six goals in an NCAA tournament game, joining Jared Bernhardt (2021) and Bob Boniello (1979).

Alongside Spanos, Kelly added two goals, while Braden Erksa, Bryce Ford, Zach Whittier, Matthew Keegan, and Noah Armitage each found the net. Erksa and Whittier also contributed two assists apiece.

On the other end, Maryland’s defense smothered Air Force. First-team All-American Will Schaller held All-American attackman Josh Yago to just two points – tying his season low – while Maryland limited the Falcons to 23:10 of scoreless play during a key stretch.

Goalkeeper Logan McNaney – already Maryland’s all-time saves leader – recorded 10 stops in his 13th double-digit save performance of the year.

“Shea [Keethler] gave us a huge lift at the faceoff dot today,” Tillman said. Keethler won 8 of 9 faceoffs, part of a 14-for-22 effort overall that helped Maryland control tempo and possession throughout.

Quarterfinal Showdown: Georgetown Awaits

Maryland will face Georgetown on Saturday, May 18 at Navy-Marine Corps Stadium in Annapolis (streamed on ESPNU). The Hoyas enter the matchup on the heels of a 16-12 upset over No. 7 Duke, snapping the Blue Devils' streak of first-round victories dating back to 2016.

Fifth-year attackman Aidan Carroll took over the game with an eight-point performance – six goals and two assists – scoring six straight at one point to break the game open. Freshman face-off specialist Ross Prince dominated the X, winning 68% of draws to fuel Georgetown’s methodical second-half run. This will be a key point of emphasis and a big challenge for Maryland.

The Hoyas controlled possession and dictated tempo, using long offensive sets and physical defense to contain Duke and pull away late. Now headed to their third straight quarterfinal appearance, Georgetown will arrive in Annapolis with some steam.

The Terps will look to replicate Sunday’s formula: early control, defensive tenacity, and another clinical outing from their attacking trio. Georgetown boasts a deep midfield and veteran leadership, making this an evenly matched quarterfinal with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Sunday’s win marked Maryland’s 33rd first-round NCAA Tournament victory (33-7 all-time) after extending its nation-leading tournament appearance streak to 22 consecutive years.

For Tillman’s squad, the path to another Final Four runs through Annapolis. If Spanos, Kelly, and Erksa can find rhythm together – and McNaney stays sharp in net – the Terps may soon be playing on Memorial Day Weekend once again.

Six Terps earn Inside Lacrosse All-Americans honors

Days after being named All-Americans by USA Lacrosse, Maryland placed the same six on Inside Lacrosse’s All-American teams released Wednesday morning with Will Schaller leading the way as the lone Terp named a first-team selection to both teams. Eric Kolar was one of two Terps on the second team alongside Logan McNaney, while Jack McDonald earned a third team selection and Eric Spanos and Matthew Keegan drawing honorable mentions.

It's the latest honor for Schaller, who leads the team with 22 caused turnovers and was named 2025 Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year. McNaney, who was selected 11th overall by Denver in the 2025 PLL Draft, set the all-time saves record (743) to close out the regular season while Spanos is coming off a career-high six goals, the first Terp to do so in in an NCAA Tournament game since Jared Bernhardt in 2021. Kolar is coming off his first career All-American selection while Keegan sits fourth on the team with 21 goals. McDonald, who came off the board five picks after McNaney and will head to the Carolina Chaos, leads Maryland with 45 ground balls and sits second with 13 caused turnovers.

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