COLLEGE PARK, Md. — For 40-plus years in College Park, the mantra was “wait until next year” as one Maryland men’s lacrosse team after another fell short of winning a national championship. Local rivals, such as Johns Hopkins, and ACC foes, such as Virginia, tallied titles while the Terps wondered what was necessary to get to the next level.
There were blowouts and there were heartbreaks, bad calls and worse mistakes over four decades … until last year finally became next year.
The Terrapins’ 9-6 win in the 2017 Championship Game over Ohio State brought generations of Maryland players and coaches together, and now next year is technically last year for the team that plays this year. See how easy it is for defending champs to trip over themselves, even if only from a semantics standpoint?
The tone for the 2018 season was set early and often, according to senior goalie Dan Morris.
“This year’s whole mantra is ‘We’re not the defending champs; we’re the attacking champs.’ This is a whole different group of guys and a whole different scenario.”
It’s good to have Morris back — after starting all 19 games for the national champs, the Dallas native finished second in the Big Ten in goals against average and saves per game. All-Big Ten selection Curtis Corley is more than happy to have Morris between the pipes again this May.
“He’s so talented in that he’s going to make those stops that are routine. And he’s going to make those stops that (you) go, ‘Wow, that was a good one. Way to go Dan!'”
A senior leads the attack as well. Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year Connor Kelly paced the Terps with 40 goals and 33 assists. Kelly complimented his supporting cast for his success.
“We have a great group, athletic group, high-IQ group. We play as a unit and not 1-v-7, that’s our biggest focus,” he said.
The Terps rank 13th nationally in goals per game and hit another gear when going man-up (lacrosse’s version of the power play): only Lehigh was more effective than Maryland’s 57 percent success rate.
Despite falling to Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten Championship Game, the Terrapins enter the tournament as the No. 1 seed and get Robert Morris in the first round following the Colonials’ 12-6 win over Canisius. The Northeast Conference champs rank third nationally in scoring defense.
“They’ve just got some big defensemen,” Kelly says. “They’re like six-foot-five or above on some of them. Got a lot of length — and obviously they’re a smart defense.”
The Terps will begin their NCAA Tournament run at home for the sixth straight May, and the defending national champs are looking forward to spending 60 more minutes on the Maryland Stadium Field.
“We love our stadium. We’re gonna have a good group of fans there. We’re just excited to have one more game together and one more game in our stadium,” said Morris.
The first round’s faceoff is slated for noon Sunday.
Short Stick Spotlights:
Georgetown (12-4) qualified by winning the Big East Tournament. The Hoyas are tied for sixth in scoring defense, with senior goalie Nick Marrocco logging 917 of the 960 minutes between the pipes. The Hoyas might be a year away from making noise in the tournament, as the offense is led by sophomore Jake Carraway (43 goals and 20 assists) and junior Daniel Bucaro (34 goals in 12 games). Georgetown visits No. 5 Johns Hopkins Sunday at 5 p.m.
No. 5 Johns Hopkins (11-4) won the Big Ten Tournament by beating Maryland one week after losing to the Terps in triple-overtime. The Blue Jays rebounded from an early 1-2 start under the steady hand of senior triggermen Joel Tinney (18 goals and 30 assists) and Shack Stanwick (17 goals, 29 assists and the best name on the team). Special teams could be cause for concern: Hopkins ranked 34th (out of 63 schools) on man-up offense and 35th on man-down (aka the penalty kill). The Blue Jays host Georgetown Sunday at 5 p.m.
No. 6 Loyola Maryland (12-3) was the Patriot League Champ and hasn’t lost since March 24. The Greyhounds made the Final Four two years ago and return their leading scorer from that team in junior attacker Pat Spencer (31 goals and 55 assists). The difference this year is that senior Jay Drapeau has blossomed (39 goals) into a major threat as well. Loyola uses its defense to fuel its attack, ranking second in the nation in turnovers caused per game. Their road to Foxborough begins at home Saturday against Virginia.
Virginia (12-5) went just 1-3 in the ACC, but brings the seventh-best offense in the country into the tournament. Youth has been served with sophomores Michael Kraus (43 goals with 37 assists — good enough for seventh in the nation) and Dox Aitken (35 goals, and named after his Uncle Cider no doubt) plus freshman Ian Laviano (35 goals in his rookie campaign). The Cavaliers are also one of the better faceoff teams in the tournament (13th nationally), which takes more of a priority in a possession-minded postseason. Saturday’s game at Loyola Maryland starts at 7:15 p.m.
Richmond (11-5) rides a six-game winning streak into the tournament that includes winning the Southern Conference in overtime against Jacksonville. The 12th-best man-up offense in the nation is led by the one-two punch of junior Teddy Hatfield and freshman Ryan Lanchbury (sadly there are no McCoys on the Richmond roster). Problem is … their first round opponent (No. 2 Albany) leads the nation in scoring and ranks No. 1 on faceoffs. The Spiders on faceoffs? A less than ideal 57th. They visit the Great Danes at 5 p.m. Saturday.
