Terps Squash the Spiders in 15-4 Win in Season Opener

In their first regular season game of the 2023 season, Maryland handled Richmond in a dominating 15-4 win.

The Terps got the season going by winning the opening face-off by Luke Wierman. After a possession for both teams, John Geppert got the scoring going off a fast break opportunity. The Terps went on to score two more thanks to Owen Murphy and Braden Erksa. After falling behind 3-0, Richmond was able to get their first goal of the game with 10:02 left in the first quarter. After the early goals, both teams’ defenses settled in and created havoc, though both teams were creating decent chances at goal but the goalies were making very good stops.

Dante Trader made his Maryland debut as short stick defensive middie (SSDM) for the Terps and handled it well through the first 15 minutes of play. Richmond began grinding out long possessions on offense to try and wear down the Terps’ defense and keep it out of the Terps offense’s hands, but once the Terps got the ball back, Owen Murphy scored his second of the game with just under a minute left in the first quarter. After 15 minutes of play, the Terps were up 4-1 in a game that could easily be tied up with how many chances the Spiders weren’t able to put into the back of the net.

Richmond won the opening face-off of the second quarter but was not able to score on their first possession after their first shot rang off the pipe. Daniel Maltz got the scoring going in the second quarter for his first of the game to make it 5-1 Terps. Erksa, who also tallied an assist in his collegiate debut, scored his second of the day coming off a dodge from behind the cage (X). Erksa’s second goal was the third Terps goal that was initiated from X. Murphy scored his third on the day to make it a first-half hat trick for him. Right after a face-off win by Wierman, Eric Spanos scored his first of the day off an assist by Jack Koras to make it 8-1 with 1:50 left in the first half. Terps ended the first half on a 5-0 run to take an 8-1 lead into halftime. Maryland’s defense started the second quarter how they ended the first quarter and just never game up as plenty of forced turnovers led to easy clears for Maryland’s defense. Terps goalie Logan McNaney had a stellar first half with 9 saved after facing 22 shots from the Spiders.

The Terps won the opening face-off of the second half but wound up turning it over right away. But thanks to another save by McNaney, the Terps kept the Spiders at just one goal. Coming off the save, Daniel Kelly scored his first goal of the season to add to the Terps lead. A couple of minutes later after another nice save by McNaney, Kyle Long added to the Terps’ lead for his first goal of the game. Terps were having trouble keeping the ball after winning face-offs through the beginning of the second half. The Terps’ defense kept up the pressure forcing a turnover and on the fast break Geppert took it all the way before dumping it off to Murphy who would shoot and score his fourth of the day. Right off the face-off win, the Terps added another goal by long stick midfielder (LSM) Jack McDonald to extend the Terps lead to 11 with 3:39 left in the third quarter. Just a minute and a half later, Kelly assisted Ryan Siracusa right in front of the goal for another Terps goal to make it 13-1. The Terps would ride that lead right into the end of the third quarter after a short from Koras went off the pipe to end the quarter.

Richmond put in a new goalie to start the fourth quarter, but to start off gameplay in the fourth he was having as much luck as the Spiders starter as Maltz scored another goal for the Terps. Off a Terps turnover on a clear, the Spiders took advantage and scored their second goal of the day. The Terps then started to get their backups in on offense to give some younger guys playing time. Off yet another turnover from the Terps on their clear, the Spiders took advantage once again to make it 14-3. After the Spiders’ third goal, the Terps pulled McNaney and gave graduate transfer Teddy Dolan some playing time as well. Juco transfer Cayden Onagi scored his first goal of the day right off the face-off following consecutive Richmond goals to make it 15-3 for the Terps. The Spiders would get one more goal on the Terps’ backups to end the game. The Terps starting their season where they left off last season once against dominating their opponent in an 11-point win.

McNaney and Murphy kicked off their 2023 campaign with stellar performances as they were among the ten different Terps to register at least one goal en route to a Maryland win. Murphy finished with four goals and McNaney finished with 12 saves. Wierman with no surprise won the matchup at face-off winning 59% of them going 10/17.

The Terps will look to keep their 19-game winning streak going next week Saturday, February 11th, when they take on their in-state rivals Loyola Greyhounds at Loyola at 1pm.