Maryland men’s lacrosse entered the final minute of its NCAA tournament first round matchup against Army down two goals. Owen Murphy found Daniel Kelly with 36 seconds remaining, who scored to get the Terps within one.
Luke Wierman won the ensuing face-off, but after a timeout Braden Erksa sailed a shot high and Jack Koras pushed a shot wide. The Black Knights (13-3) held on in the closing seconds, upsetting the No. 4-seed Terps (10-6), 16-15, ending their 2023 season in disappointing fashion.
Maryland suffered its first NCAA tournament first-round exit since 2013. Army will move on to face the winner of No. 5-seed Penn State and Princeton in the quarterfinals in Annapolis on May 21.
“Wish we could continue on with the journey,” coach John Tillman said. “That’s the sad part we won’t have another week together … these guys overcame a lot and very proud of how they ended things.”
Army opened the game on a 3-0 run after winning the game’s first three face-offs, getting a pair of goals early from bench players. Freshman attacker Avi Mehl scored his third career goal and first goal in almost two months, while attacker Ryan Sposito scored his ninth of the season.
After a Maryland timeout, Wierman won his first face-off of the evening and went straight to the net and scored.
Off the restart, junior midfielder Jack Koras came up and fired a shot into the far post to make it 4-2 with 5:06 left in the first quarter.
The face-off match-up was back and forth all night between two of the best face-off men in the country; Wierman won 18 to Will Coletti’s 17.
Army responded with a 3-0 run to end the first quarter. The Black Knights were particularly efficient on the offensive end in the first quarter, shooting nine of their 12 shots on cage as Army scored seven goals in the frame.
Maryland’s offense remained stagnant after the no-show against Michigan in the Big Ten championship. But the Terps started the second quarter on a 5-0 run, including two in the first 45 seconds from Erksa.
The Terps continued the scoring run, getting goals from seniors Ryan Siracusa and Daniel Maltz and redshirt freshman Eric Spanos. The attacker’s goal tied the game at seven with 3:48 left in the first half.
The two sides continued to battle back-and-forth, with freshman midfielder Reese Burek scoring a tough angle shot while on the run. But sophomore Zach Whittier quickly followed up, tying the game again at eight a few minutes before halftime.
The Terps played much better in the second quarter than the initial period, outshooting the Black Knights 16-5, including 10 shots on goal.
But Army showed off its depth throughout, with numerous players scoring — including those who played infrequently. The Black Knights recorded a 65.6 shot on-goal percentage, seeing success against freshman goalkeeper Brian Ruppel, who struggled for the second-straight game.
“We didn’t get off to a great start,” Tillman said. “I feel like we didn’t really set Brian up for success early … I think every goalie is a little bit better when they get a couple of saves under their belt … we don’t get here without him.”
After Army took an 11-9 lead, Maryland responded again with a 3-0 scoring run of its own. Maltz scored his second man-up goal of the night, and graduate student defender Brett Makar scored his second goal in four games after scooping up a ground ball and racing up the field, tying the bout at 11.
With 2:37 left in the third quarter, Erksa sent a side-arm shot into the net, completing the hat trick and giving Maryland its first lead of the night, 12-11.
“The way we battled kind of just summed up what this group did all year, [handling] adversity whether it was injuries, having to plug guys in the lineup,” Makar said. “… Couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”
Kelly tied the game up at 13 after scoring in front of the net, but Army responded with a Dawson Clark man-up goal after Maryland was called for offsides.
Maryland badly needed a turnover, trailing 15-14 with just over a minute left. Ruppel came way out to the sideline trying to get one, but the Terps couldn’t force the turnover, however, as freshman attacker Gunnar Fellows punched the ball into the empty net.
Fellows’ third goal of the game sealed Army’s first NCAA tournament win since 2010, as the defending national champions’ 2023 campaign ended in the first round.
