With Spanos wearing #1, Maryland men's lacrosse anchored by veterans in 2026

John Gugs
9 hours ago
4 min read

As we turn into 2026, that just means the college lacrosse season is less than one month away. The Terps have had a new person don the historic #1 jersey for four years in a row, and with last Logan McNaney graduating after wearing it last season, it will be the fifth year in a row someone new wears the #1 as the program announced graduate Eric Spanos will done the honor.

The 6-foot-5 220 pound grad student has been a staple for the Terps offense since 2023. In his three years of playing time, Spanos has totaled 79 goals and 37 assists for 116 points, which is second on the team in that span. Spanos is a versatile offensive player because you can have him at attack or he can come out of the box as a midfielder and he will produce just as much from either spot. In 2025, Spanos led the team in scoring with 36 goals and 19 assists for 55 points, which were all career highs. In 2025, Spanos was named a USILA honorable mention All-American and was named first team All-Big Ten as well as to the NCAA All-Tournament team. While the #1 jersey has not been worn by an offensive player since 2022 when Logan Wisnauskas was given the honor, Spanos is a very much worthy player to bring the jersey back to the offensive side of the field.

Spanos wasn't the only candidate, though, with others like Will Schaller and Braden Erksa in the mix.

After only starting eight games in 2023 and 2024 combined, Schaller was an unknown heading into the 2025 season to people outside of College Park. However, that did not last long at all. Schaller became a household name early on last season after dominating his matchup against Joey Spallina in week three. Last season, Schaller totaled 23 caused turnovers and 31 ground balls on his way to winning the Big Ten defensive player of the year award. Schaller was also named a USILA first team All-American and was also named to the NCAA All-Tournament team. Schaller would be the third defender in four years to wear the #1 jersey along with Brett Makar and Ajax Zappitello who Schaller will likely be joining in the PLL after this season.

Erksa exploded in his first year with the program, leading the team with 26 goals and 22 assists in 2023 making him the first Terp to win the Big Ten freshman of the year award. Erksa leads the team with 83 goals and 54 assists for 137 points since he arrived on campus. Last season, Erksa scored a career high 33 goals for the Terps while also adding 15 assists, tying his career high of 48 total points on the season. While he has not been the main offensive threat since his freshman season, Erksa has still been a key component and leader of the Terps offense which will be looking to make its third straight national championship appearance. Like Spanos, Erksa is someone that you can stick at attack or have come out of the box to try to get a more favorable matchup. And with his speed and quickness, Erksa looked his best last season when he was coming out of the box which he could very likely do this season as well with all the new faces joining the offense. Erska would be the first offensive player to wear the jersey since Wisnauskas in 2022.

AJ Larkin originally arrived at College Park in 2022 as a five star close defender, however, after redshirting in 2023, Larkin switched to long stick midfielder and won a spot in the rotation along with Jack McDonald and Nick Alviti. Larkin put together a solid season in his first year at a new position but exploded onto the national scene in last season when he became a starter. In 2025, Larkin totaled ten caused turnovers, 39 ground balls, four goals, and two assists. Larkin was a key part in the Terps championship game run, also earning him a NCAA All-Tournament team nod. Larkin would be the first player with eligibility left after the to wear the #1 jersey since Jared Bernhardt first earned the honor in 2019 and would be the first long stick midfielder to wear the #1 jersey as well. With Jack McDonald graduated, Larkin will be the top LSM for the Terps this season and will look to build on the strong season he had in 2025.

Eric Kolar in his fourth year with the program has been a staple at the short stick defensive midfielder position since arriving on campus. Missing just three games in his career, Kolar has been a top four SSDM in every game he has played. Through the first three years of Kolar’s career, he has totalled 17 caused turnovers, 31 ground balls, and has also been a threat in transition scoring four goals and getting an assist for his career. In 2025, Kolar was a second team USILA All-American and was a third team USA Lacrosse All-American helping lead the defense to another national title appearance including getting two caused turnovers in the national title game. Although Kolar does not fill up the stat sheet, he is an unsung hero and leader of the defense and has been the last two seasons with the Terps.

With a preseason scrimmage against Georgetown wrapped up over the weekend, Maryland will open the 2026 season at Richmond this Saturday, Jan. 31.

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