The goalkeeper adds another chapter to the story of Maryland men’s lacrosse’s historical jersey.
For No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse, wearing the No. 1 jersey is a sacred responsibility. For three decades, the jersey has represented the pinnacle of Maryland lacrosse, with the number reserved only for the best of the best.
This year, it’s no different. Maryland’s No. 1, Logan McNaney, is one of the best goalkeepers the program has ever seen. McNaney broke Kevin O’Leary’s 40-year program record with his first save against Ohio State on April 12. Now, he is up to 723 saves and counting. The new record may never be broken — particularly given McNaney and the Terps could play as many as six more games this season.
McNaney is a much-appreciated part of the team. Head coach John Tillman was effusive in his praise of the goalkeeper, who Tillman calls an unflappable, humble cornerstone of the defense.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a moment where people have been worried that he’s been shaken or rattled, and he can’t really fake that,” Tillman said. “We’re going to miss him when he’s gone.”
His teammates feel it, too; nearly every time a Maryland defender is asked about a quality performance, they circle back to the confidence that having McNaney behind them brings. He never overthinks a situation, he effortlessly makes the save, he leads and organizes and he lets his defenders thrive.
But watching McNaney run out the turtle shell connecting the locker room to the field with the No. 1 on his back is more than a simple recognition of the goalkeeper’s quality. It is a symbolic moment for Maryland men’s lacrosse. It is a full-circle moment for the No. 1 jersey. And it is simply the right man playing at the right time.
It took some time for Maryland to begin its love affair with the No. 1. In its early years, the Terps gave players higher numbers. The 1951 squad is the first to have jersey numbers that can be pieced together with a roster and player photos, and those numbers were all in the 40s, 50s and 60s.
Single-digit numbers didn’t appear for Maryland until 1972, when the Terps got their first-ever No. 1: goalkeeper Bill Reilly, who earned second team All-American honors. He was the first to bring meaning to the jersey, and, for a while, he was the only one.
After Reilly, the jersey bounced around for two decades with players that weren’t particularly notable. The number remained primarily with goalkeepers until the reemergence of a true Maryland No. 1 with Andrew Whipple.
Whipple, an attacker from Rochester, New York, greatly exceeded already sky-high expectations, accruing 190 career points and earning All-American honors every year before graduating in 1999.
From there, an incredible mark was born. Eleven players have donned the No. 1 for Maryland since 1999. Ten have been recognized as All-Americans wearing the jersey; McNaney hopes to be the 11th.
“The guy that wears No. 1, it’s more of a representation of … what a Maryland lacrosse player is,” McNaney said.
The jersey has passed through Maryland lacrosse stars. Mike Mollot, Joe Walters, Grant Catalino — New York natives who are all amongst Maryland’s top 21 all-time in career points — dominated the 2000s as the Terps searched for their first national championship since 1975.
When Maryland finally won a title in 2017 at Gillette Stadium, Matt Rambo — third all-time in program history with 257 career points and 155 career goals — donned the No. 1 and simultaneously won the program’s first-ever Tewaaraton Award.
Walters, Catalino, Mike Chanenchuk, Rambo and Jared Bernhardt each spent three years with the number. But in recent years, a player’s time with the No. 1 has decreased, prioritizing leadership over talent. The top Terps have tended to be seniors or graduate students as well; there has only been one-year stints with the number since Bernhardt.
But the No. 1s never decreased in their effectiveness. From 1995 to 2022, Terps wearing No. 1 totaled 891 goals and 601 assists — an average of 3.5 points per game.
McNaney’s career peaked in 2022. The goalkeeper, then a junior, was named the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player with No. 30 on his back. In the title game, McNaney made 17 saves on 24 shots on target to help the Terps complete an undefeated season. McNaney and No. 1 Logan Wisnauskas — whose Tewaaraton-winning 103-point year set a Maryland single-season record — were instrumental in the Terps winning their fourth and most recent title.
And yet, after the 2022 championship, both the goalkeeper and the jersey have taken a step back.
For McNaney, back was metaphorical: a torn ACL in late February 2023 cut his season short. The next year brought recurring pain in the recovered knee and a serious hand injury. McNaney battled through it all to play a full season, but he recorded the worst season-long save percentage of his career (50.3%).
For the No. 1, back was literal: for the first time since a quick pit stop in 1993, the number went to a defender in 2023. Brett Makar anchored the Maryland back line for a year before handing the number to Ajax Zappitello, who had one of the best seasons by a Division I defender in recent memory.
Entering the season, the jersey was not a given for McNaney; neither was his starting spot. The goalkeeper endured multiple surgeries in the offseason and was unable to play consistently until late last year. That left the door open for Brian Ruppel, who was a serviceable replacement after McNaney’s ACL tear in 2023.
“We always tell the guys what you do the year before doesn’t carry over,” Tillman said. “It’s about proving yourself again. And Brian really took that to heart, and was really, really good. So we had to let this play out.”
Ruppel played well enough to earn the start in every Maryland scrimmage through January. It took until two weeks before the season for McNaney to be named the starter. Shortly after, Tillman told him the plans for the jersey.
“I was like, ‘holy crap, that’s crazy,’” McNaney said. “There’s been great guys that have won that number, and to be a part of that group is super special.”
And while it was far from a sure thing, the appointment was poetic.
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the revival of the No. 1 legacy. McNaney hails from Corning, a small community in upstate New York less than two hours away from Whipple’s hometown. Maryland’s legendary attacker was one of McNaney’s club coaches for a period growing up. The ties run deep, and as McNaney said, “lacrosse is a small world.”
Stars have aligned for Maryland in a way that feels straight out of a fairytale. Now, McNaney can complete the story by helping the Terps to another national championship at Gillette Stadium.
At the same time, McNaney is on the 25-man Tewaaraton Award shortlist that was released April 14. With his 61% save rate through the second-hardest schedule in college lacrosse, he has an outside shot to be the first Tewaaraton-winning goalkeeper. Each of Maryland’s three previous winners wore No. 1 the year they accepted the trophy.
Time remains in McNaney’s chapter. The Terps play the winner of No. 3-seed Penn State and No. 6-seed Johns Hopkins in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal May 1, and an NCAA berth is all but guaranteed.
While No. 1 is focused squarely on this season, McNaney knows what he’ll say to the next to don Maryland’s historic jersey — advice that was handed down to him by the No. 1s who came before.
“Don’t think you have to do more than you actually need to do,” he said. “Obviously, take a step back and realize how cool it is to be able to wear it … [but] don’t overthink it.”