No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse falls to Michigan, 16-11

Ryan Cohen flipped a pass from behind the metal pipes to Jacob Jackson who had his eyes set on the cage. He stepped into his shot and zipped one past Brian Ruppel.

Michigan won the ensuing faceoff, and Michael Boehm tallied his fourth goal of the game, slipping a shot from the left side past Ruppel who evaded the net in an attempt to pick off a feed from Josh Zawada.

No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse (6-3, 1-1 Big Ten) was stunned by Michigan (5-4, 1-1 Big Ten) on Saturday at SECU Stadium, 16-11. The Wolverines snapped their 10-game losing streak against the Terps, picking up their first win over Maryland in program history.

Michigan also snapped Maryland’s 16-game win streak against regular season conference foes.

The goals by Jackson and Boehm came within 10 seconds of each other. They were also a part of four unanswered goals by the Terps, as Maryland struggled to stop the high powered and quick paced Michigan offense, as it poured on two major scoring runs throughout the game. 

“We try to stay in the fight, battle through adversity as much as possible,” graduate student long stick midfielder John Geppert said. “But I think that’s something we need to work on as a group right now. We’ve seen it happen a few times”

Michigan won the opening face-off but Maryland quickly took possession and junior attacker Daniel Kelly struck first for the Terps.

Michigan responded with a goal of its own by Boehm. Both goals occurred within the first two minutes, setting the scene for a typical conference dogfight.  

The back-and-forth battle continued with a goal by freshman attacker Braden Erksa to re-establish Maryland’s lead, but Michigan was primed to go on a scoring run.

Junior midfielder Isaac Aronson tied the game at two with an unassisted goal and the Wolverines were off to the races. Junior Justin Wietfeldt beat senior Luke Wierman to a ground ball on the ensuing face-off just four seconds later and ripped a shot past Ruppel.

“If they weren’t winning out in the front — which they did a really good job today — they were mucking it up with us,” Geppert said. “And they did a really good job getting to our sticks and keeping the ball active on the ground and beating us to it.

Michigan struck three more times before the end of the first quarter, and it never trailed following the 5-0 run.

“I just thought if we could get one stop, stop the bleeding, get the ball to the offense and get one, [we could] get some momentum going and we’d be in good shape,” graduate student defender Brett Makar said. “But [we] didn’t respond well there and kind of let it snowball a little bit.”

Maryland finally ended the five unanswered goals as seniors Jack Brennan and Daniel Maltz scored 20 seconds apart to start the second quarter. The goals put the Terps in a position to make a comeback despite being down 6-4.

But Maryland’s run didn’t last long as Zawada scored a minute later. 

The Terps responded with a momentum changing goal midway through the second. Junior defender Ajax Zappitello picked up a ground ball after his shot was knocked away and he tapped the ball in from close range.

Senior midfielder Kyle Long aided in Maryland’s comeback efforts, scoring an unassisted goal to put the Terps within one.

But Michigan held onto its advantage, 7-6, heading to the locker room. The Terps surged in the second quarter to close the gap; Ruppel only allowed one goal in the quarter and finished with six saves.

Still, inefficiencies plagued the Terps as they mustered four more shots against junior goalkeeper Shane Carr. Maryland also scooped up six more ground balls, but found itselves down one at the break.

“I just felt like we were a little bit of a step behind today,” coach John Tillman said. “I felt like we were fighting uphill all day.”

Michigan came out of the locker room hot as it connected on three goals in one minute to open the third quarter. Midfielders Peter Thompson and Jackson did the damage, with Jackson scoring twice.

Erksa responded with his second score of the game but the Terps trailed by three, 10-7. 

A defensive battle ensued with over 10 minutes of scoreless action. Boehm finally ended the drought, giving him a hat trick and the Wolverines a four-goal lead. 

Erksa responded again with a goal with just eight seconds to spare in the third quarter. It was another much needed score and Erksa notched a hat trick of his own. 

But Michigan began pouring it on yet again in the fourth quarter, as four unanswered goals by the Wolverines gave them a 15-9 advantage. 

Goals from both sides late didn’t result in a result change, as Michigan pulled off the upset.

“I’m looking forward to Monday already,” Tillman said. “Just because I know it’s back to work. So, one game doesn’t define you, it’s really how you respond to it. And that’s really the most important thing we do as coaches and teachers.”