Near halftime, Daniel Maltz fired a shot through traffic that was blocked, but Braden Erksa picked up the loose ground ball steps away from the cage.
The freshman fired into the open net as Jack VanValkenburgh stepped out of the crease contending for the ground ball.
Erksa’s goal was one of many for No. 4 Maryland men’s lacrosse (4-2), as it found its groove and cruised to a 16-9 victory over Albany (1-4). Erksa, Maltz and Jack Koras all recorded hat tricks.
“We really wanted to make sure we had good spacing today and shared the ball, and then we had opportunities we wanted to try and can them,” coach John Tillman said. “I felt like we shot a little better today, which is encouraging for our group.”
Maryland set a season-low in turnovers with 13 and finished with its second-highest shooting percentage of any game this season with 35.5 percent. Maryland also tied its season-high in assists with 11.
Albany showed some fight in the opening minutes, putting the defending national champions potentially on upset alert. Junior face-off specialist Regan Endres won the first two face-offs and the Great Danes took advantage of the opportunity when senior attacker Jack Pucci scored over Terps junior defender Nick Redd, giving Albany the lead.
Last season the Terps completely blew Albany out, opening the game on a 11-0 scoring run in the first quarter enroute to a 24-6 victory, but the Great Danes showed they are a different team this year. Albany quickly scored its second goal of the game, taking a 2-1 lead six minutes in.
Maryland responded with two quick goals from Erksa and Maltz after a long scoring drought to retake the lead before the first quarter ended.
That momentum carried over into the second quarter as Maryland added three more goals to its 2-0 scoring run. The Terps took advantage of an Albany penalty when Koras scored in the final seconds of the man-up opportunity, firing into the top left corner of the net.
Maltz and junior attacker Daniel Kelly each scored later in the second quarter, part of the 5-0 Terps scoring run that helped them jump out to a 6-2 lead.
Albany ended Maryland’s nine-minute scoring run after freshman midfielder Alex Pfeiffer beat freshman Brian Ruppel in the cage, scoring from about 10 yards out. The Great Danes added another quick goal in transition after junior Jack VanValkenburgh made one of his 10 saves.
Albany responded after Erksa’s second goal of the day, scoring in the final minute before halftime. Maryland led 7-5 at the break.
Erksa’s career day continued as he recorded his first career hat trick after being in the right place at the right time when he picked up another loose ball in front of the net and scored near the cage. Koras secured his third hat trick of the season late in the third quarter when he scored from close range.
Albany held its own against Maryland, finding critical goals and winning the face-off battle to keep things close for much of the game. Endres won 16-of-29 face-offs against senior face-off specialist Luke Wierman, one of the best in the country.
Maryland ultimately slammed the door on a potential upset bid when the Terps ripped off a 6-1 scoring run late in the third quarter that spilled over into the fourth.
Erksa finished off his afternoon with his fourth goal of the day as Albany busted coverage and left the Georgia native wide open just a few feet away from the goal early in the fourth quarter.
Terps freshman goalkeeper Brian Ruppel put together another strong outing, finishing the game with 12 saves, including saving an around the back shot from the Great Danes in the fourth quarter.
The win was a good bounce back effort for the Terps following their three-overtime loss to No. 2 Notre Dame last week, and now have their sights set on No. 1 Virginia next Saturday.
