The Terps rounded out the regular season with a win in The Rivalry.
Friday’s first half went about as well as No. 3 Maryland men’s lacrosse head coach John Tillman would have expected playing in “The Rivalry” against Johns Hopkins, but not nearly as well as he would have hoped.
The Terps struggled to separate, with a number of impressive saves from Johns Hopkins, holding Maryland to a one-goal lead at half. The Blue Jays started the second half stronger, too; Maryland needed a response.
Up stepped Braden Erksa. After Eric Spanos’ shot sailed wide, Erksa won the out-of-bounds chase to keep the offensive pressure. The junior advanced the ball quickly — the Blue Jays defense didn’t seem ready. As he blazed past his defender, the packed stadium knew only one thing was on his mind. Erksa cranked back the stick, hopped in the air, and launched a rocket into the top corner for his third goal of the game.
It was the 10th career hat trick for the Terps’ No. 10. His efforts made the difference, as Maryland squeezed past Johns Hopkins, 11-8.
“We knew it was going to be a dog fight,” defensive midfielder Eric Kolar said. “It’s a battle every single time. Offensively, defensively, it’s a battle … it’s a lot of fun too.”
When the teams met last year, Hopkins prevailed in a 7-5 slugfest, with neither team able to effectively score. Fears of a repeat performance among the 10,000-strong crowd at SECU Stadium were quickly remedied, though — both teams scored three of their first four shots, energized by the occasion and the pulsating crowd.
Daniel Kelly opened the scoring for Maryland off a slick cut inside. From there, Johns Hopkins tallied two goals. The swing was fueled by Maryland’s struggles with faceoffs early — the Terps lost three in a row to start the game.
But the Terps’ first win from the X was pivotal. Jonah Carrier, the freshman faceoff specialist, saw his first look against Logan Callahan — the fifth-best faceoff man in the nation — five minutes in. Carrier won the ball cleanly and sprinted down the field. Carrier ripped a shot, and it bounced in for his first collegiate goal.
“Jonah’s goal was huge,” Tillman said. “I felt like they were getting the better of the play early, and I thought Jonah’s goal was just like a big juice goal for us.”
Dylan Bauer scored a solo effort to put Hopkins back ahead, but Aidan Aitken responded 32 seconds later, landing a missile of a shot to make the score 3-3 less than seven minutes in.
With the early-game push from Johns Hopkins over, Maryland’s defense began to make stops. The Terps forced two shot clock violations and two turnovers through four possessions, which gave the Maryland offense time to build a lead. Erksa notched a pair of goals bridging the quarter break to give Maryland breathing room. Zach Whittier added a goal of his own, and Maryland had scored four unanswered goals.
Oran Gelinas kept the Terps from truly pulling away, though. Maryland’s starting six in the attack and midfield had just four goals on 16 combined shots in the first half, largely down to excellent work between the sticks. Gelinas, forced into action earlier this season by an injury to Hopkins’ starting goaltender, made 10 saves in the first half.
“We had a couple bad shots, a couple turnovers and we never really got a good possession … the rest of the half,” Tillman said.
That allowed Johns Hopkins to keep things close — with goals from Matt Collison and Liam Burke before halftime, the Blue Jays crept back within reach at the break.
After a nervy start to the second half, Erksa earned the Terps a lead. Maryland wasn’t able to push the lead past two; after Erksa’s goal was met with a response, the Terps scored again only to be pegged back again.
And with the first possession of the fourth quarter, Johns Hopkins attacker Charlie Iler’s slick spin dodge gave him room to tie the game.
Maryland sought answers early in the fourth quarter. Daniel Kelly took advantage of a short-stick mismatch to put the Terps up, but it was Erksa who again gave Maryland breathing room.
As Johns Hopkins looked for a response, the Blue Jays made a critical error. Bringing the ball upfield after a Maryland turnover, an extra Johns Hopkins defender ran past midfield with the transition.
Johns Hopkins head coach Peter Milliman noticed and looked to call a timeout — but as the referees appeared to grant it, Tillman sprinted onto the field to make his case known. The timeout was wiped out and a turnover was called. On the ensuing possession, Erksa fed Whittier, who stretched the lead to three and put the game out of reach. It was the fifth point for Erksa, who set a season-high in goals and tied his best points mark on the year.
“The whole week, we just focused on, you know, playing like ourselves, [sticking] to the game plan all game, and I think a couple plays definitely fell our way,” Erksa said. “And I think that, honestly, was the only difference. … We just kind of stuck to the plan, and it worked.”
Three things to know
1. Career day for Gelinas. In just about any game Maryland lacrosse gets 31 shots on goal, it would feel confident about the result. However, the Johns Hopkins goalkeeper had a career night, making 21 saves — the most of his career, and tied for the most by any Blue Jay goalkeeper in the last four years.
2. The Terps got chippy. Maryland entered Friday having committed just 15 penalties all season. Against Johns Hopkins, the Terps were called for two in the first half, something Tillman put down to the energy imbued by the crowd. Thanks to its penalty kill unit, which now ranks fifth-best in the country, Maryland didn’t pay for its mistakes.
3. Big Ten Tournament seed confirmed. Thanks to a Penn State victory over Rutgers earlier Friday evening, Maryland had two potential outcomes: with a loss, the Terps would have fallen to fifth in the conference. However, because it won, Maryland has clinched the second seed — regardless of what happens in the Michigan-Ohio State game tomorrow.
“Our goal is, obviously, to win a national championship. And I think that no matter if we get the bye or not, that doesn’t really change our goal,” Erksa said.