The Terps advance to the Final Four.
With just over three minutes to go, Luke Wierman got into his stance for the biggest face off of the season.
Immediately, he clamped the ball with the back of his stick and raked it out, procuring possession for the Terps.
Behind Wierman’s 20-for-29 performance from the faceoff X, Maryland upset Duke in the NCAA Tournament quarterfinal, 14-11, securing a spot in Philadelphia for the Final Four.
First quarters have not been Maryland’s forte this season, and the NCAA quarterfinal brought more of the same. Its offense struggled to find a rhythm and Duke made it pay on the opposite end.
Charles Balsamo broke the seal, beating Logan McNaney low for just his seventh goal of the season. Then, it was former Tewaaraton Award winner Brennan O’Neill with Duke’s second.
Contrary to what many anticipated, Maryland head coach John Tillman elected to defend him with Colin Burlace instead of Ajax Zappitello, who guarded Duke’s main offensive facilitator, Josh Zawada.
Dyson Williams then scored his first of four first-half goals, putting Duke up, 3-0, before Wierman won a faceoff and put Maryland on the scoreboard himself.
Wierman was Maryland’s most valuable player of the first half, going 60% from the faceoff X. He also found the net a second time in the second quarter.
Maryland’s best stretch of the first half came early in the second quarter, when they scored two quick goals in succession. Ryan Siracusa got a rip from far out, and less than a minute later, Zach Whittier found a cutting Daniel Maltz, who scored to cut the lead to two.
The two storied lacrosse programs spent the rest of the quarter trading punches, which resulted in Maryland being down, 7-5, and holding the ball with under a minute to go.
Owen Murphy controlled the ball, looking for what should have been the last shot of the half. Instead, he found his stick suddenly flying out of his hands, as Duke longstick midfielder Tyler Carpenter pushed it in transition the other direction. Carpenter found Williams wide open on the doorstep, who tucked in his fourth goal of the half to put Duke up, 8-5, at the break.
Murphy’s turnover was Maryland’s 11th of the first half. Duke had just three.
The third quarter saw the game turn suddenly into a defensive battle. Maryland put on a clinic, as Tillman’s strategy of using Burlace and sliding early and often to defend O’Neill began to look like a stroke of genius.
Duke scored just once in the quarter as a result of a failed Terps clear. Unfortunately for Maryland, though, Duke’s defense played similarly well on the other end.
The Terps narrowed the gap by just one. Maltz first completed a graceful swim move, then Jack Brennan potted just his third goal of the year, beating an expiring shot clock.
In the fourth quarter, the tide truly changed. Siracusa started the Terps’ run by beating his man and finishing on the run to secure his hat trick.
Then, Jack Koras got himself on the scoresheet for the first time, courtesy of a feed from Braden Erksa. Erksa, who has had a tough stretch of games, put himself back into the mix with a vengeance, following up his assist with a goal off a broken play. It gave Maryland its first lead all game, 11-10.
O’Neill had one more response for the Blue Devils: a massive face dodge with his left hand before switching hands and drilling the top corner to tie the game at 11 apiece.
Duke won possession on the next faceoff and had the chance to take its lead back, but McNaney had other ideas. Andrew McAdorey tried to beat the Terps’ goalkeeper low, but McNaney fought the shot off with his leg.
On the other end, Erksa used his speed to get free and put Maryland in the lead for the second time. This time, it wouldn’t let it go. Maltz gave them an insurance goal on a bouncer and Koras hit an empty net with 30 seconds left.
Three things to know
1. Specialists showed up. Heading into the matchup, Duke’s midfield had more firepower than Maryland’s. However, the Terps had an advantage through their specialists, as Wierman won almost 69% of the draws and McNaney made 11 saves, including some extremely timely ones.
2. Tillman showed up in May — again. Much like Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo in basketball, you can’t count out Tillman in the postseason. Maryland’s season looked to be on the brink of extinction in its blowout loss to Penn State. Fast-forward two weeks, the Terps are heading back to the Final Four for the 10th time under Tillman.
3. Experience proved vital. In their biggest game of the year, the Terps leaned on their oldest players, many of whom have been to two national championships already. Maltz and Siracusa combined for seven goals, while Zappitello erased Zawada.