No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse earns second top-five win of season, defeating No. 5 Princeton 13-9

Photo courtesy of Allison Mize/Maryland Terrapins

No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse (4-0) was trailing 4-2 with 7:04 left in the opening quarter and desperately needing a response to pick up its second top-five win of the season. And the Terps got exactly that, halting No. 5 Princeton’s momentum.

After getting into the attacking zone, midfielder Zach Whittier slowed the pace down so Maryland could bring on some fresh legs. Whittier took his defender 1-on-1 and found attacker Matthew Keegan wide open in the corner facing the goal. Keegan unloaded a sidearm shot that hit the top corner of the net.

And the floodgates ensued. The Terps scored six goals and simultaneously held the Tigers’ offense scoreless for 22 minutes. A completely dominant second quarter pushed Maryland out to a lead that it wouldn’t relinquish in its 13-9 win on the road against Princeton (1-1).

“Kind of methodically, it wasn’t one thing, it was a play here and a play there,” head coach John Tillman said. “The defense settled in. As the faceoff guys got better it gave our defense a little more of a break, our offense guys got more rhythm.”

Entering Saturday’s contest, Maryland’s defense has been elite, holding the sixth-best scoring defense in the nation. The Terps allowed seven goals in each of their first three contests and shut down a red-hot Syracuse offense. However, that wasn’t the case against Princeton out of the gates.

The Tigers’ offense came out red-hot, and Maryland had no answers. Princeton routinely used picks to open up its attackers, something that was quite successful. The Terps’ defense was one step behind on every possession.

“We kinda started slow on the defensive end, offensive guys held us through that first quarter,” goalie Logan McNaney said. “We knew coming in this was gonna be a good team … the bottom line is you gotta stay true to who you are, stay with the game plan and you’ll dig yourself out of that hole.”

It was senior attacker Coulter Mackesy who had his way early on. The two-time All-Ivy League honoree picked up where he left off in the season opener. After scoring five goals against Penn State, Mackesy scored two quick goals to help the Tigers open up a 4-2 lead. He finished with three goals.

And Maryland’s faceoff unit didn’t fare much better either. The Terps — who boasted a 59.7 draw control percentage through three games — lost five of the first six faceoffs. These combined struggles helped Princeton score three goals in three minutes.

From that point on, it was all Maryland. But it wasn’t the usual scoring contributors — Eric Spanos and Braden Erksa — who started the comeback. 

Just under three minutes after Keegan’s goal, midfielder Aidan Aitken scored his first collegiate goal. The junior evaded his defender using multiple picks and rifled the shot past goalie Ryan Croddick. The Terps headed into the second quarter knotted at four apiece.

Maryland took full advantage of this momentum. Attacker Daniel Kelly opened the scoring on the Terps’ first possession of the period. After going scoreless for six minutes, Erksa picked up his first goal. Later that quarter, freshman Jack Schultz notched his first career goal and Whittier scored his second of the game.

Throughout this run, goalie Logan McNaney was flawless in the net. He repeatedly made big saves to keep the momentum in the Terps’ favor. McNaney finished with 12 saves.

“He’s the best in the business, he’s unbelievable,” Kelly said. “He leads that group down there, he does a great job. We knew he was going to settle in.”

However, Princeton came out of the break looking like its first-quarter self. Goals from attackers Colin Burns and Nate Kabiri cut Maryland’s advantage to two. That would be the closest it ever got, though.

The Terps had the response. Attacker Bryce Ford got Maryland’s scoring started in the third quarter. Four minutes later, Spanos picked his first goal of the game to restore the Terps’ four-goal advantage, 10-6.

On Maryland’s first possession of the fourth period, Keegan opened up its largest lead of the game with his second goal.

Anytime the Tigers thought they had the momentum, it quickly swung back to the Terps. Three fourth-quarter goals were quickly responded to. 

Maryland used a balanced attack, as eight players found the back of the net. The faceoff unit certainly helped throughout the run. The Terps won 16 of the 26 draw controls.

“We definitely look at this film, kind of clean some things up, but to go on the road and beat a really good team, I’m proud of our guys,” Tillman said.

The Terps will be back in action next Saturday in their biggest game of the season. Maryland will look to avenge last season’s title game loss against No. 1 Notre Dame.