No. 2 seed Maryland men’s lacrosse advances to Semifinals round with 9-6 win over Georgetown

Photo courtesy of Ian Cox/Maryland Terrapins

With No. 2-seeded Maryland men’s lacrosse ahead by a goal heading into the final eight minutes of its NCAA Tournament quarterfinal matchup against Georgetown, it needed someone to provide a momentary spark. 

Braden Erksa was that player. 

The junior received a pass from Aiden Aitken and slowly advanced towards the front of the cage, before whistling a shot into the back of the net for his second consecutive score.

Behind Erksa’s three-goal performance, the Terps secured a 9-6 victory over Georgetown Sunday afternoon at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, advancing to the program’s ninth semifinal appearance. 

“Just a gritty performance,” head coach John Tillman said. “Not our best, but when we needed to make some plays, we did. So again, a lot to work on, but just happy we have another week together.”

Erksa entered the contest with just four goals in his previous three games. The junior nearly matched that total with a fourth-quarter brace, propelling the Terps to the finish line. While Erksa only fired off four shots in the contest, he was efficient with the looks he got.

Tillman mentioned before the game that he wanted his team to hone in on the first five minutes of the contest. Throughout Georgetown’s five-game winning streak, it has scored 13 goals before the nine-minute mark.

Tillman got the perfect start he was looking for.

Just six seconds after the Terps cleared the ball, they made quick work of the possession. Eric Spanos delivered a pass to Daniel Kelly standing at his traditional left wing position. The fifth-year attacker fired home his shot into the low corner past goalie Anderson Moore.

“We were in the same spot last year, and we didn’t get the job done,” Kelly said. “This is a hungry group that’s going to Boston for a reason. That is to bring that [trophy] back.”

Despite the initial score, Maryland’s defense was the key early on in the contest. Georgetown entered Sunday’s contest, scoring 17.8 goals per game in its previous five games.  But the Hoyas were held in check in the opening quarter.

The Terps forced seven turnovers in the first period and held the Hoyas to just one shot on frame, which Logan McNaney easily dispatched. 

The main reason for Maryland’s strong defense start was its ability to limit attacker Aidan Carroll. The graduate student dominated his last two games, generating 14 goals over that stretch. But the graduate student was held to just one shot in the opening quarter — the lone look coming 39 seconds into the contest. 

Maryland’s defense consistently threw double teams his way, providing plenty of help to force other Hoyas’ players to beat it. The strategy proved effective in the first quarter, generating seven Hoya turnovers.

“We knew we were going to play a lot of defense, but we love it,” long stick midfielder Jack McDonald said.

But Carroll was lethal when he got quality looks. With a sliver of space after his slick dodge move evaded the defender, Carroll rifled a shot past Maryland goalie Logan McNaney. Soon after, the All-American honorable mention was left open on the wing on a defensive blunder, and Carroll made the Terps pay, tying the game at three. The two goals were his only tallies of the game.

Will Schaller was tasked with slowing down one of the top scorers in the country. However, the USA Lacrosse First Team All-American embraced that challenge, using his physicality to push Carroll away from the goal and force the ball out of his stick. Once the ball was swung around, Schaller continued to deny Carroll the ball.

“Maryland’s always been a team that prides itself on being physical,” Tillman said. “We got some big dudes that like to throw their body around.”

For the Terps, it was their usual attacking weapons — Erksa, Eric Spanos and Bryce Ford — who provided the offense in the second quarter, pushing them ahead 5-4 heading into halftime. 

Maryland’s top offensive players continued to shine in the second half, as Erksa scored half of Maryland’s tallies.

As the Terps clung to their narrow lead, they continued to stick to their game plan all season long, working the ball and the shot clock. 

While McNaney wasn’t called upon frequently in Sunday’s contest, the USA Lacrosse All-American second-teamer deflected away any of the high-quality looks sent his way. He finished with 11 saves and a 64.7% save percentage. 

Maryland returns to action on May 24th at 2:30 p.m. with a rematch against No. 6-seed Syracuse in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The Terps defeated the Orange 11-7 earlier this season on home turf.