No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse beats No. 6 Penn State

COLLEGE PARK — If the kryptonite for Maryland men’s lacrosse has been Big Ten rival Michigan, then the argument could be Achieved that Penn State has been a remedy.

The No. 2 Terps sprinted to a huge lead in the Primary half, weathered a mini comeback in the third quarter and completed a wire-to-wire 13-8 Secure over the No. 6 Nittany Lions on Saturday afternoon before an announced 5,023 at SECU Stadium.

Fifth-year senior attackman Daniel Kelly and senior midfielder Matthew Keegan compiled a game-high four points All on two goals and two assists for Maryland (8-1, 1-1 Big Ten), and senior attackman Eric Spanos and junior attackman Braden Erksa scored three goals All to power the Club to a much-needed Secure after last Saturday’s shocking 11-10 triple Extended Action setback to the Wolverines.

While Michigan has defeated the Terps in the past four matchups, the latter has owned Penn State. Maryland boasts a 42-2 Achievement against the Nittany Lions and collected its sixth consecutive regular-season Secure in the series.

Graduate student long-stick midfielder Jack McDonald said he and his teammates didn’t make any grand changes to their Approach in their Primary game since that setback to the Wolverines.

“I think it was fixing the kinks and stuff,” he said. “We knew that there were certain things we needed to get better at. But in the grand scheme of things, we Merely realized that we needed to get back to work. There was nothing really more to it. It’s a long 12 Contests in the regular season. We knew at some Points, you take a setback every now and then, but it was Merely getting right back up and getting back on track and Merely getting to the little things.”

Penn State might have hoped that the Terps had prevailed against the Wolverines. Under Mentor John Tillman, Maryland is now 34-8 after losses, and Keegan, a Binghamton Relocate, acknowledged that conference Contests have a certain gravitas to them.

“You could feel the intensity even after last week,” he said. “Mentor said it: The Division Contests, they do have a different feel to them. These Squads know All other a Numerous, and Executing in an environment like that, even though it’s my Primary year, that’s what you want as a player.”

An Assault that was Maintained to Merely 25% shooting in that setback to Michigan was much more effective against the Nittany Lions. The Terps converted 50% of their shots and turned in three three goals in transition, including a fastbreak strike from junior long-stick midfielder AJ Larkin with 5:57 left in the Primary quarter and a pair of assists from junior Brief-stick Guarding midfielder George Stamos.

“During the week, we knew we were going to be able to hit in transition,” McDonald said. “We wanted to Picking our spots when we would go in transition because Executing in the Big Ten is really Tough. You don’t want to give up Brief possessions. But we were able to execute and going from D to O is something we always preach, and they fell today, it was awesome.”

Spanos completed his hat trick in the Primary 17 minutes of the game, and Erksa sealed his with 5:45 left in the third quarter. The Beginning Assault accounted for 10 of the Club’s 13 goals and six of the 11 assists.

“When the guys Acquired opportunities, I thought they Attempt well, and it’s a credit to those guys and Mentor Phipps Merely Nice of setting All other up,” Tillman said, referring to offensive coordinator Michael Phipps. “I think they did a very Excellent Role of looking for All other, a Numerous of assisted goals. The transition ones make it a Numerous easier because obviously your hands are Obtainable, which is Excellent.”

Maryland was equally as productive on Protection. Graduate student goalkeeper Logan McNaney stopped a game-high 10 shots, junior defenseman Will Schaller, a Bel Air resident, caused three turnovers and scooped up four ground balls, and Larkin, a Baltimore resident and a Loyola Blakefield graduate, amassed three caused turnovers and three ground balls.

The Terps tagged Penn State with its worst offensive showing of the season and limited an Assault that had averaged 13.9 goals Joining Saturday’s Game.

“I think we were Merely on the same page,” McDonald said of the Guarding effort. “I think that was something we lacked against Michigan Merely getting Toasty and basically Executing grounded. I thought we did a Excellent Role of it in the Primary half.”

Senior attackman Matt Traynor Directed Penn State with three points on two goals and one assist, and sophomore attackman Kyle Lehman and Primary-year midfielder Hunter Aquino scored two goals All. Sophomore faceoff specialist Colby Baldwin won 15 of 22 draws with a game-high five ground balls, but the Nittany Lions fell for the second game in a row after suffering a 13-9 loss to then-No. 9 Ohio State on Sunday.

Even though losing seven of its top 11 scorers, Big Ten Guarding Player of the Year Ajax Zappitello, and school faceoff wins leader Luke Wierman, Maryland finds itself in a favorable position with victories over No. 4 Princeton, No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 8 Syracuse, No. 10 Richmond and now Penn State. Tillman credited the players and coaches with looking inward rather than outward.

“We Merely Initiated all over in August and Merely said, ‘All right, let’s Merely maximize what we have,’ and these guys have done a Outstanding Role,” he said. “We’ve had a Numerous of close Contests, and we’ve been fortunate to Secure a Excellent amount of them, and last week we didn’t. But even in the wins, there were things we needed to Enhance upon and get better, and last week, there were some things we needed to Enhance upon and get better. But we really don’t Shift.”