Wisnauskas is surpassed Jared Bernhardt’s previous program record of 290 points.
Ten yards out from the goal, No. 1 Maryland men’s lacrosse fifth-year attacker Logan Wisnauskas didn’t have an opening to shoot for his third goal of the game.
Instead, he lobbed a pass to a wide-open Eric Malever, and the sophomore attacker deposited it in the back of the net to extend Maryland’s lead to seven against No. 4 Rutgers. At first glance, the goal was business as usual for the nation’s highest-scoring team.
However, that assist was a historic one for Wisnauskas, giving him 291 career points, enough to break Jared Bernhardt’s Maryland career points record of 290. Wisnauskas, who hails from Sykesville, Maryland, and came to College Park to represent his home state, is now the top scorer ever to wear a Terrapins uniform.
“It’s awesome,” Wisnauskas said about breaking the record. “[The program’s] really awesome to be a part of.”
Maryland defeated Rutgers 17-9 on Sunday night, moving the team’s record to 10-0 with just two regular season games remaining.
Maryland is now the only team in the Big Ten with an undefeated conference record, currently standing at 3-0. The 2022 season marks the 19th straight year that the Terps have won at least 10 games, the longest streak in the NCAA.
It was déjà vu all over again for Maryland to start the game, scoring five straight goals in less than five minutes.
Graduate attacker Keegan Khan scored the game’s first goal after an assist from graduate midfielder Jonathan Donville, and less than a minute later Khan assisted sophomore attacker Eric Malever to make it 2-0 Terps with 12:21 left in the first quarter.
Sophomore attacker Owen Murphy put his shiftiness on display with a juke move that sent his defender the wrong way, allowing Murphy to find the back of the net with a shot.
Wisnauskas announced his presence with back-to-back goals at the 10:36 and 10:14 mark of the first quarter, which tied him for the all-time leader in career points scored at Maryland.
“That fast start, [it] was great.” Maryland head coach John Tillman said. “We talked in the locker room like ‘Hey, we’re gonna get a lot of energy from the crowd.’”
Rutgers, with its back against the wall, showed some fight with two unanswered goals midway through the quarter. Sophomore midfielder Shane Knobloch and senior attacker Mitch Bartolo struck, giving the Scarlet Knights some much-needed momentum.
The last goal of the opening quarter of play belonged to the Terps, however, as Donville tallied an unassisted goal with just under five minutes to play to make it 6-2 Maryland after 15 minutes of play.
The second quarter started with another goal from Knobloch, but Maryland responded with four straight goals of its own. Murphy, Khan and junior midfielder Jack Brennan scored to make it 10-3 with 8:27 left in the first half (Khan had two of the four goals).
After a goal from Rutgers senior midfielder Brennan Kamish, Khan notched his fifth point of the night with an assist to sophomore midfielder Jack Koras.
The final 5:28 of the first half was scoreless and Maryland led 11-4 at the halftime break.
Maryland’s offense once again stole the show on Sunday, but the effort from the defense to allow only four goals to one of the top offensive teams in the nation was outstanding.
“We have three [defenseman] that can play on the perimeter and we don’t take that for granted,” Tillman said.
Rutgers kicked off the second half with an unassisted goal from sophomore attacker Nick Teresky four minutes in.
After Malever’s goal made it 12-5, Khan scored his fourth goal of the game after an assist from Donville.
Using his blazing speed, senior midfielder Kyle Long blew past his defender and found the top right corner of the goal for another Maryland goal. Then, with just over a minute remaining in the third quarter, Wisnauskas took a pass from Donville and fired a rocket past Rutgers graduate goalie Colin Kirst to push Maryland’s lead to 15-5 heading into the final quarter.
“The guys have been pretty consistent with trying to share the ball and move it,” Tillman said. “We had 13 assists on 17 goals today, which speaks to what these guys do [and] how unselfish they are.”
Rutgers senior attacker Brian Cameron started the fourth quarter with a nifty behind-the-back goal, and junior attacker Ross Scott followed suit with a goal of his own just a minute later. Thirty seconds later and with 11:34 remaining in the game, fifth-year midfielder Anthony DeMaio ripped a shot into the bottom corner of the goal to make it 16-7 Maryland.
Another goal from Cameron cut the Terps’ lead to eight, but Maryland sophomore attacker Daniel Kelly scored the game’s second behind-the-back goal, this time only using one hand.
The game’s final goal came from Rutgers senior midfielder Ronan Jacoby, sealing the final score at 17-9.
The Terps return to action with their last home game of the regular season on Saturday, facing the No. 9 Ohio State Buckeyes at 4 p.m.
“We’ve got a big test next week with Ohio State,” Wisnauskas said. “[This season’s] been awesome so far.”
Three things to know
1. Logan McNaney made big saves when needed. For the fourth time this season, junior goalie Logan McNaney had double-digit saves, racking up 12 saves Sunday night. After stepping into a full-time starting role as a sophomore last year, McNaney has been as reliable as any goalie in the country in 2022. With an uber-talented collection of players in front of him, his contributions may not stick out, but his play as the final line of defense and the captain of the defense has been key to Maryland’s success on the defensive end this season.
2. Keegan Khan is on fire again. After putting up 11 points in the team’s first two games of the season, Khan was held to only three points in the team’s next four contests. However, he has returned to dominating opponents with at least five points in the last four games, scoring 15 goals and adding nine assists over that span. His athleticism and lacrosse IQ make Khan a unique defensive challenge for opponents, especially when surrounded by the great group of playmakers he is.Even when they get going, Maryland’s players are more than willing to take a step back in the name of team success.
“It doesn’t really matter the game, quarter-to-quarter somebody might get hot, and they’re happy for each other,” Tillman said of his team’s selfless disposition. “The trust to know that you’ll get the ball back is huge.”
3. Maryland can win the Big Ten regular season title on Saturday. The Terps are the only Big Ten team with a 3-0 conference record, and Sunday’s win gives them the tiebreaker over Rutgers. Ohio State is currently 2-1 in the conference and can still theoretically win the regular season championship, but another loss would officially eliminate them from contention. If Maryland is able to take down the Buckeyes on Saturday, they would have four conference wins, the most Rutgers would be able to have. Since Maryland holds the head-to-head advantage, the Terps would be crowned Big Ten regular season champions and would lock up the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament.