Maryland men’s lacrosse won the first four face-offs of Saturday’s contest against Michigan. At that point, the bout was tied at two.
But the Wolverines proceeded to rip off a three-goal run, gaining a comfortable lead over the Terps.
Michigan never trailed the rest of the way.
The No. 4-seed Wolverines (9-6) cruised to their first ever Big Ten tournament title, blowing out the No. 3-seed Terps (10-5), 14-5. The loss was Maryland’s most lopsided defeat since 2006.
“I think what’s hard with this group is we’re just young … we just don’t really have that alpha male down there [to settle us down], coach John Tillman said. “I think that’s kind of what happened at both ends today.”
Michigan had been hot for the last several weeks, entering the afternoon on a three-game winning streak. It remained on fire in its biggest game in program history.
Wolverines attacker Michael Boehm struck first, sending a side arm shot into the back of the net. But Maryland responded immediately as freshman attacker Braden Erksa scored after driving to the cage.
The only time the Terps showed strong ball movement was early in the game when Erksa flung the ball around to senior attacker Daniel Maltz, who fed attacker Eric Spanos. The sophomore scored to tie the game at 2-2, but that was the closest the Terps ever got.
Graduate student attacker Bryce Clay scored back-to-back goals — including one with a second left on the shot clock — to give Michigan a 4-2 lead, and Peter Thompson added a goal to complete the Wolverines’ run.
Maryland managed to stop the bleeding, getting a goal back before the end of the first quarter when Spanos scored through a couple of defenders.
Michigan won the ensuing face-off and Terps sophomore midfielder Dante Trader Jr. pushed graduate student face-off specialist Nick Rowlett, giving the Wolverines a 30-second man-up opportunity. They took advantage, as Clay drove to the crease and fired a shot to complete a hat trick in a five-minute span.
After winning seven face-offs in the first quarter, senior Luke Wierman only won three more the rest of the game as Michigan’s face-off duo of Rowlett and junior Justin Wietfeldt combined to win nine of the last 12 face-offs, giving Michigan the extra possessions it needed to grow its lead.
Boehm scored again at the 9:54 mark of the second quarter, sending a bounce shot through Maryland freshman goalkeeper Brian Ruppel’s legs, and followed that goal up with another one four seconds later. The junior finished the game with five goals as the Wolverines closed out the first half on a 4-0 run.
“When you have that [long scoring run] and you can’t stop the bleeding, they continue to gain momentum and it turns into a little bit of an uphill climb,” graduate student defender Brett Makar said.
Erksa struck first in the second-half as he had a direct path to the crease and scored, but that was all the offense Maryland could muster throughout the rest of the game.
Maryland’s accuracy issues remained a problem, as only 19 of its 40 shots were on target.
“When we hesitate or we don’t make the right play or we don’t communicate there’s an opportunity for the opponent,” Tillman said. “Last year we were a team that would pounce on those. This year the guys don’t think as quickly at times.”
Michigan’s freshman goalkeeper Hunter Taylor thwarted the Terps in the second half as they attempted to comeback. Taylor got the start in goal and played his first complete game since the end of February and shined, setting a new career-high with 14 saves.
Maryland will find out its seeding in the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday.
“You’ll definitely see a much more focused and prepared team next week,” Makar said.
