Maryland finished February with a perfect record, but on Sunday afternoon, they were outmanned and outmatched as Notre Dame pulled out a 14-9 win in South Bend. The game started as a slow defensive battle until Daniel Maltz drew first blood roughly six minutes in. Notre Dame responded quickly with its own three-goal run and never looked back. Notre Dame would get another goal with just over a minute to go in the first quarter making it 4-1 Irish early. Eric Malever, who posted his third career ha trick, would then score a goal with 25 seconds left in the quarter to cut the Irish lead to 4-2 heading into the second quarter. That run extended into the second quarter as Notre Dame took a 9-5 lead over Maryland at halftime with Jack Koras, Ryan Siracusa, and Malever all finding the back of the net. Still, Maryland's defense simply wasn't able to stop the Irish in the first half. Notre Dame was able to blow by defenders and consistently cause slides, and they found the open guys right on the doorstep where it was simply too hard for goalie Logan McNaney to get the saves needed to keep the Terps in the game. The turnover battle was a clear key to the game, but that was one Maryland lost largely due to 13 first-half errors, with many coming on failed clears, making it easy for Notre Dame to capitalize at home. Maryland's defense would begin to hit its stride in the second half and was able to start getting stops on Notre Dame, but the offense couldn't match the intensity. Maryland's offense was simply never able to really get things going, though Koras scored his second of the day and recorded his 16th multi-point game in the loss. Notre Dame extended its lead into the fourth as Maryland's offense started to get into a bit of a groove, but it was too little too late as Notre Dame’s offense continued to score at will. Eric Spanos had two goals for the Terps while Malever added another giving him a hat trick on the day, however, Notre Dame once again answered after each goal keeping the lead at five until the very end. Maryland's first loss of the season proves to be a learning lesson for head coach John Tillman's squad, as well as Luke Wierman. While the veteran became the program's all-time faceoff winner to add to his 715 in his career, his 12-of-24 mark on faceoffs marked his lowest win rate since he became the number one face-off taker for the Terps. Heading into today, Maryland had a successful clear percentage of 92%, yet finished just 75% on Sunday. That will be a telling trend for Maryland if it wants to hang with the nation's elite in 2024. Maryland will have a short week this week due to Sunday's travel as they look to bounce back when they host the Brown Bears next Saturday. The game is set to faceoff at 12 PM EST and will air on BTN+. Related Links
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