No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse (1-0) travels about an hour north to face-off against local rival Loyola (0-0) in the Greyhounds’ season-opener Saturday afternoon.
Last time out Maryland showed its offensive and defensive might, dominating No. 20 Richmond, 15-4. Ten different Terps scored in the win, showing opponents that Maryland will still be an offensive powerhouse.
Maryland elected to start its season last week, instead of waiting like some schools for this upcoming weekend.
“There is some value to a lot of those guys that this is game two and not game one and you hope that maybe that experience serves us well,” coach John Tillman said.
The tape is there for Loyola for how to defend Maryland in its season-opener, as the Greyhounds elected to start their season on Saturday.
Schools like No. 1 Virginia, No. 3 Georgetown and No. 19 North Carolina join Loyola in opening its 2023 seasons this weekend, while the Ivy League schools open their seasons Feb. 18.
“We really don’t know exactly who’s playing for them so there’s a lot of us working through hypotheticals of what they’ve done in the past and here are some things they could do,” Tillman said. “So you’re really going to have to on the fly kind of figure some things out.”
The Terps were in that situation last week and played just fine, holding the Spiders scoreless for over 40 minutes — allowing Maryland to build a giant lead.
There are pros and cons to starting a week earlier compared to waiting till the second week in February. Starting a week earlier helps the team avoid playing midweek games, something Tillman tries to avoid.
Since 2019 — excluding the conference-only 2021 regular season — Maryland has started its season the first weekend in February. The Terps have only played two regular season games not on the weekend.
“You have an academic schedule that you have to navigate so if you do play on the road you’re missing one or two days,” Tillman said. You just don’t get the prep work in…you don’t maybe have that same feel or vibe just because it’s different. A lot of upsets usually happen during the midweek.”
With the Terps just practicing for the most part during the week, over the last four seasons Tillman’s squad has amassed a 50-7 record, and 51-7 if you count the Terps’ season-opening victory.
The Terps have a mixture of youth and experienced players. Seniors Brett Makar, Logan McNaney, Luke Wierman, Daniel Maltz and Kyle Long are the leaders. Juniors Owen Murphy and Jack Koras, and sophomore Colin Burlace all made their first career starts last weekend.
Murphy and Maltz were the big offensive producers for Maryland against Richmond. Murphy scored four goals while Maltz tallied a five-point performance, netting two goals and dishing out three assists. On the defensive side of the ball, Makar created havoc for Richmond’s attack, registering five ground balls and causing four turnovers.
The Greyhounds bring back a host of talent, including players like senior midfielders Adam Poitras and Evan James, senior attacker Joey Kamish and sophomore midfielder Seth Higgins. Kamish and Higgins combined for 89 goals last season.
“[Assistant coach] Mark Van Arsdale is one of the brightest guys you’ll ever meet on and off the field,” Tillman said. “He’s been around a long time and does an awesome job of putting guys in good spots…so they’re going to be organized well.”
Opening face-off is set for 1 p.m. at the Ridley Athletic Complex in Baltimore.
