The Terps look to make their seventh championship game in the last 10 NCAA Tournaments.
Coming off a win in Annapolis that sends No. 2-seed Maryland men’s lacrosse to the Final Four, head coach John Tillman quoted an old Navy SEAL adage to describe how his team handles the pressure of playing on lacrosse’s final weekend for yet another season.
“‘The only easy day is yesterday’… we can kind of fall back on [our slogan], be the best,” Tillman said.
Maryland is close to definitively proving themselves the best — a win Saturday books a place in the national championship game. But the semifinal, with so much on the line, brings sharply into focus the decisions of Maryland lacrosse 24 years ago.
In 2001, Maryland men’s lacrosse left no stone unturned searching for head coach Dick Edell’s replacement. Gary Gait, now No. 6-seed Syracuse’s head coach, was an assistant coach for Maryland women’s lacrosse and wanted the step up. Ultimately, they chose Dave Cottle; Gait said Tuesday he left Maryland because he did not get the men’s job.
While Cottle’s uninspiring tenure left Maryland faithful regretting the choice, his successor has eased complaints. Tillman has won 78% of his games with the Terps. Maryland is in the Final Four for the 11th time in his 15 seasons in charge.
The Terps and the Orange face off in the NCAA semifinals at 2:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium. The game will be shown on ESPN2.
What happened last time
Gait got his spot at the helm of a men’s program at Syracuse in 2022. Since then, the Orange are winless in four matchups against the Terps, including an 11-7 Maryland win on February 15.
That game — one of four against soon-to-be NCAA quarterfinalists that Maryland played in its first five weeks — began close. Neither team led by more than one goal before halftime, and momentum swung from Syracuse to Maryland and back.
A 4-0 Maryland run to open the second half blew the game open. Notably, that run featured two man-up goals. Maryland usually plays clean games — the Terps have 25 penalties called both for and against them on the season — but Syracuse has committed 66 penalties this season, sixth-most in the nation.
And with the offense creating some separation, Maryland’s defense took control in the second half. In its first outdoor game on the season, with rain pouring down, Syracuse scored twice over the final 30 minutes.
What’s happened since
Maryland has stayed the course throughout the year, coming up just short to Ohio State for both the Big Ten’s regular season and tournament titles but persevering into the final weekend as has been customary.
The Terps’ defense is a known quantity — second-best in the country in goals against — but their offense is not as steady, plagued by down stretches throughout the season and uninspiring play at times. Between the two, Maryland’s methodical pace has earned the ire of neutrals.
“To be honest, we’d rather play fast than slow. I think any coach would,” Tillman said. “But we’re always going to play the style that, you know, is in front of us.”
The 13-5 Orange have had a turbulent season, with long winning streaks offset by slumps. A week after losing to the Terps, Syracuse lost a one-goal game to Harvard at home. From there, they strung together a six-game winning streak; back-to-back-to-back losses to Cornell, North Carolina and Duke rounded out the regular season and made many question their postseason potential.
Since then, though, Syracuse has been orange-hot. Wins against Notre Dame and Duke secured the ACC Tournament crown. In the NCAAs, Syracuse exacted its revenge on Harvard in overtime before escaping one of those neutrals-endearing dramatic shootouts over No. 6-seed Princeton. Curiously, all of Syracuse’s last three victories have come by a single goal.
“We found a way to win these close games and make plays when we need them,” Gait said. “I think that’s been the journey of the season.”
Three things to know
1. Faceoff watch. Jonah Carrier tied his season-high with nine faceoff wins against Georgetown in the quarterfinal. Conversely, after winning eight of nine against Air Force in the opening round, Shea Keethler won none of his six faceoff attempts against the Hoyas.
Syracuse’s John Mullen leads the country with 175 ground balls — 22 clear of second place — and is fifth in the country with a 63.9% win rate from the X. The Massachusetts native is a force in the circle, but Maryland has shown that they can compete with him.
Shea Keethler won 50% of his faceoffs against Mullen in February. Carrier had not broken into the lineup yet; in his stead, Sean Creter won four of nine.
2. Every possession counts. Syracuse and Maryland enter Saturday’s matchup as the third and fourth best teams in the nation in turnovers per game, each averaging roughly 13.5 per game. More Syracuse turnovers (21.4%) than Maryland turnovers (13.7%) come from clears, but each team missed just one clear in February. Neither team is likely to gift the other an opportunity to take an advantage.
3. How do you handle Joey Spallina? Syracuse’s No. 22 has been a force this season. Spallina leads the nation with 54 assists, but he’s a shooter, too, having scored four goals from 10 shots in the quarterfinals. The junior is streaky, and he’s been accused of not showing up when it matters. But with Will Schaller possibly needing to stick to Owen Hiltz, the Orange’s top goalscorer, how Spallina fares against Maryland’s other close defenders could decide the game.