One of collegiate men’s lacrosse’s biggest rivalries returns to College Park this weekend when No. 3 Maryland men’s lacrosse (8-3, 3-1 B1G) faces No. 7 Johns Hopkins (10-4, 3-1 B1G) Saturday night.
The schools have faced off at least once every year since 1924, except for the 1944 and 1945 seasons because of World War II and the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
As a Washington D.C. native, Maryland graduate student long-stick midfielder John Geppert has been deeply connected to the rivalry, even before college when he attended games as a fan.
“I have played in this game almost a dozen times,” Geppert said. “The state of Maryland I think is the first thing that makes it so special. The whole state cares about lacrosse so much and being in the hotbed in Baltimore. We might not be in the hotbed but we play for the state, the state cares about us, we are the state university so you get a bit of everything in the rivalry.”
Last year’s rivalry games were lopsided, with the Terps securing their largest scoring margin ever when they won by 15 in the first matchup, 22-7. The two squads faced each other again in the Big Ten Tournament, where Maryland won 16-11.
This year’s rivalry game features high stakes with the No. 1-seed in the Big Ten Tournament on the line. Maryland can earn the No. 1-seed in the Big Ten Tournament with a win, while Johns Hopkins clinches the No. 1-seed if it defeats the Terps and No. 5 Penn State falls to No. 11 Rutgers.
“I think it’s our equivalent of Army-Navy in football, Auburn-Alabama, that kind of thing,” coach John Tillman said. “… But rivalries are only if there’s two teams that are successful.”
The Terps are coming off a big victory over Rutgers and are peaking at the right time. They have strung together five-straight quarters of solid lacrosse, dating back to the third quarter of their overtime victory over Ohio State.
Maryland showed its offensive power early against Rutgers, scoring goals on four of its first five shots of the game. That hot start propelled the Terps their highest shooting percentage (36.7 percent) since the season-opener.
“Offensively we moved the ball well, we shared the ball, the ball didn’t die,” Tillman said. “I just felt like there was more focus in practice, there’s more of a sense of urgency … I do think that did carry over.”
Johns Hopkins started the season 2-2 through four games but have since found its groove. The Blue Jays enter the weekend 6-1 in their last seven outings, with the lone loss coming to Penn State in double-overtime.
Senior attacker Jacob Angelus has been by far his club’s best feeder, leading the Blue Jays with 35 assists, over 20 more than the next closest on the team. Angelus registered four assists against Ohio State last weekend — his third four-assist outing of the season — and had a six-assist game against Saint Joseph’s in early March.
Attacker Russell Melendez has had a great campaign after transferring from Marquette. The junior has scored 26 goals this season, trailing only graduate student attacker Garrett Degnon (32) for the team-lead.
“I think their staff has done a great job of putting them in positions to be successful,” Tillman said. “I think offensively they just do a really good job of setting each other up to play to their strengths … getting guys to spots on the field where they’re comfortable.”
Senior goalkeeper Tim Marcille had a tremendous start to the season, recording double-digit saves in Johns Hopkins’ first eight games, including 21 against No. 12 Syracuse. But Marcille has gone cold lately, recording only 15 saves combined in the Blue Jays’ last two contests.
Opening face-off at SECU Stadium is set for 6 p.m.
