The Terps never led by more than three goals.
SECU Stadium Saturday was home to physical defense, long fights for ground balls and impressive goaltending as No. 6 Maryland men’s lacrosse staved off an upset-minded Ohio State, 8-7.
Maryland’s attackers managed just six goals and the team committed a season-high 19 turnovers, but behind a gritty defensive effort — which included 10 saves from Logan McNaney — the Terps pulled off a second straight conference victory.
“We knew this would be a dogfight,” Maryland head coach John Tillman said. “We talked to the guys, we knew this would be a grind. We just had to find a way to win.”
Both teams entered the matinee matchup shorthanded. Terps attacker Daniel Maltz was ruled out due to an injury suffered at the end of the Penn State win, while the Buckeyes were without star close defender Bobby Van Buren.
As has been a theme this year, the Terps’ offense stumbled out of the gate. Despite claiming most of the possession, they only found the net twice, courtesy of goals from Ryan Siracusa and Eric Spanos.
On the other end, Ohio State took advantage with two nice individual efforts from attackers Ari Allen and Jack McKenna.
With the score tied at two, the second quarter provided more stagnant play. Both teams managed just two shots on goal and five turnovers each in the frame. The Buckeyes went ahead early from a man-up goal Ed Shean, but the Terps defense stifled them thereafter.
After a goal drought of nearly 14 minutes, Braden Erksa caught a pass from Spanos and showed off tremendous wrist strength to score a backhand in traffic, evening the score at three heading into the half.
A large reason for Maryland’s first-half attacking struggles was because of the Buckeyes’ extremely physical defense. Marcus Hudgins in particularly was a thorn in Maryland’s side, who caused in the opening 30 minutes.
Maryland earned an extra-man opportunity almost immediately to start the second half, but it was wasted after Eric Malever tossed the ball out of bounds. The Terps finished the game 0-for-3 with a man up.
Some life was finally injected into the home crowd, though, when long-stick midfielder Jack McDonald stormed down the field in transition and ripped a shot past Ohio State goalie Caleb Fyock to give Maryland a 4-3 lead. Spanos followed that up with his second of the game to double the Terps’ advantage.
“It’s something we always work on with [assistant coach Jesse Bernhardt],” McDonald said. “When we have those opportunities in transition, being able to can them, it’s a huge momentum boost for us.”
Just over five minutes later, Maryland seemed to have pulled away when Nick Alviti scored his first of the season. Ohio State continued to look lifeless until the final minute of the frame, when McKenna scored the Buckeyes’ first goal in over 20 minutes to cut the deficit to two.
Maryland’s offense once again went radio silent again to open the fourth, and Ohio State, riding momentum from McKenna’s tally, scored twice in under three minutes to set up a grueling final six minutes.
With 5:17 left, Spanos slipped by a screen from Jack Koras before burying a jump shot in the bottom corner to secure his hat trick. Less than a minute later, Spanos fired the ball down low for his fourth goal of the afternoon.
Ohio State scored a seventh goal to creep back within one late, but Logan McNaney made a comfortable save after a careless Maryland turnover to secure an ugly, yet important victory for the Terps.
Three things to know
1. Maryland was sloppy once again. Maryland had the same amount of shots on goal Saturday as it did turnovers. It lost possession 19 times, setting a new season high.
2. McNaney and Wierman dominated. Maryland’s specialists were crucial to the victory. Wierman won 13-of-18 faceoffs and McNaney made 10 saves on 17 shots faced.
3. Another one-goal victory. Saturday’s victory marked Maryland’s fourth this season by one goal.
“You know, I think these guys, they kind of realize ‘don’t let the moment manage you, manage the moment’,” Tillman said.