Maryland men’s lacrosse’s transfers thrive in 19-10 win over Loyola (MD)

Franklin Zessis
7 minutes ago
3 min read

Heading into the season, Maryland men’s lacrosse boasted the top transfer class, according to Inside Lacrosse.

No. 1 Maryland backed that ranking on Saturday as its transfers made an immediate impact, scoring nine goals in a dominant 19-10 win over Loyola Maryland at the Jones-Hill House in College Park. The 19 goals were the most the Terps scored since their undefeated 2022 season.

“I think as guys kind of relaxed and got into a flow, the guys were able to get some rhythm and hit some shots,” coach John Tillman said. “Then when the guys you know, kind of got that rhythm, I thought they just did a great job of finishing shots.”

Maryland’s offense struggled for most of the game against Loyola’s defense last season, tallying 18 turnovers and shooting under 26 percent.

While Maryland’s new offensive unit sputtered at times in the opening quarter, its transfer class thrived in the second quarter.

Two of Maryland’s offensive transfers came from Yale, and both were noticeable in the second period. Attacker Leo Johnson opened the scoring for the Terps in the period, giving Maryland its first lead of the game.

Tillman praised the leadership of his new transfers on Wednesday, and it showed on the field after Maryland called a timeout when Loyola took a 4-3 lead in less than two and a half minutes.

Coming out of the timeout, graduate student attacker Eric Spanos immediately found Yale transfer Chris Lyons. The fellow-graduate student cut to his left and rifled a shot past senior goalie Max Watkinson, evening the game at four.

A goal from both Johnson and Lyons heading into the halftime break gave Maryland a 6-4 edge. But coming out of the intermission, an onslaught occurred.

The Terps produced eight third-quarter goals, equalling their total against the Greyhounds last season, which included an overtime period.

Lyons and Johnson were key components to Maryland’s success, as the two registered half of Maryland’s goals. Johnson registered three of the four goals, swelling his total to five — his most since scoring six times against Cornell on May 5, 2023.

Aiding Maryland’s offense was faceoff specialist Henry Dodge. The Vermont transfer was brought in to help a Maryland faceoff unit that ranked fourth out of six Big Ten teams.

In his Terps debut, Dodge was noticeable. The senior rotated with sophomore Jonah Carrier for most of the game and won 12 of his 16 faceoff attempts — equalling Loyola’s game total.

Maryland’s faceoff unit was especially dominant in the third quarter when it won all nine draws in the quarter, giving Maryland a wealth of extra possessions. The extra possessions allowed Maryland to go on a 12-1 run from the 4:36 mark of the second quarter to the end of the third quarter.

“We have tons of confidence in them to help us kind of get a run and keep it going,” Lyons said. “It's allows us to kind of play freely out there and kind of just make plays.”

The Terps exited the third quarter with a 14-5 lead, allowing them to sustain an early fourth quarter push and cruise to a nine-goal victory.

While Lyons and Johnson tallied nine of Maryland’s goals the Terps got goal contributions from seven other players. This bodes well for Maryland as they will now prepare to travel to No. 3 Syracuse on Friday.

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