It was, by no means, their best effort of the season. The first half was particularly lackluster but the Maryland men’s lacrosse team pulled things together with an emphatic five goal run to escape Rutgers with their second straight one goal win this time a 9-8 decision improving their record to 11-1 for the season and 3-0 in Big Ten play.
In the early going, the pipe was not Maryland’s friend as both Matt Rambo and Joe LoCascio found the pipe but not the cage. Rutgers’ strategy to slow the game was apparent from the outset as the referees whistled two 30 second shot clock warnings against the Scarlet Knights in the first quarter.
Still, the Terps managed to come away with a 1-0 lead when Syracuse transfer Dylan Maltz slid around a Matt Rambo pick and scored with 4:43 to play. This would be the last real momentum the Terrapins would see until launching their run midway through the third quarter.
In Joe Nardella, Rutgers has one of the best faceoff men in the country. Entering the game, the senior had won over 68 percent of his faceoffs. He showed that dominance in the first half winning seven of eight against Jon Garino who was working the ‘X’ for Maryland in place of the injured Charlie Raffa.
The Scarlet Knights scored three times in succession using a patient offense and making Maryland defend for long periods of time. Bryan Cole ended the string taking a feed from LoCascio with 3:21 to play. However, on the ensuing faceoff, Nardella crushed any hope the Terrapins had of taking some momentum into the locker room when he won the faceoff and scored just five seconds after Cole’s goal.
Coach Tillman could not have been happy with his team’s effort in the first half. In addition to Nardella’s dominance at the ‘X’, the Terps had six turnovers and managed to pick up just seven ground balls to 15 for Rutgers. Had it not been for eight saves by Kyle Bernlohr, the deficit would have been much greater.
The third quarter didn’t open with much promise. Nardella won yet another faceoff and the Scarlet Knights surprised the Terps by speeding their attack and scoring in just 40 seconds. Maryland got a defensive stop after Nardella won yet another faceoff and Henry West pulled the Terps back within two on a feed from Rambo.
Although Maryland won the next faceoff, they failed to clear the ball and once again the Scarlet Knights had an answer. They held a long possession and scored to take a three goal lead with nine minutes to play in the third.
For the next 13 minutes, however, the game belonged entirely to Maryland. Garino found his mojo on face offs and won nine of thirteen in the second half giving Nardella the slimmest of advantages for the the game.
After a Rutgers crease violation, the Terps had an extra man opportunity (EMO) and Rambo found Jay Carlson open in the middle of the Scarlet Knights’ zone for the easy catch, turn,shoot and score. Rambo continued as the key man on the offensive end for Maryland scoring the first of his three goals just 44 seconds after Carlson’s and assisting on LoCascio’s score just a minute later. The assist, his third of the night, was a career high single game assist total for Rambo.
The Terps had knotted things up at six all but weren’t done with their blitzkrieg. Henry West made a dodge down the right alley and put a bouncer past Rutgers goalie Kris Alleyne with 3:22 to play in the third. Maryland had their first lead since the game was 1-0.
With 11:04 to play in the fourth, Rambo registered the middle goal of his sixth hat trick of the season giving Maryland a two goal cushion that, given the strength of their defense, felt much safer than it proved to be.
Maryland won the next faceoff and had an EMO but an unforced turnover by LoCascio when he simply took his eye off a pass, led to a third EMO for Rutgers on the night. They capitalized with barely a second remaining to close within one.
A somewhat ill-advised shot by Billy Gribbin that Alleyne easily saved gave the Scarlet Knights another opportunity they perhaps shouldn’t have had. Scott Beida made them pay and with 3:34 remaining the score was tied at eight.
The situation looked perilous for Maryland when Nardella won the faceoff. But this time, it would be the Scarlet Knights who took an ill-advised, perhaps anxious, shot. They held the ball for under a minute before Christian Trasolini fired a shot that Bernlohr saved.
The Terps cleared and held for a last shot. Tillman called a timeout with 49 seconds to play. Whether he designed the play or Rambo simply took it upon himself to make a play, the sophomore came from behind the net, got inside his defender and fired a low to high rocket at the far post to net the game winner with just 13 seconds to play.
After two close wins, the Terps will continue on the road when they travel to Columbus on Saturday when they will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes who are also 3-0 in conference play and 10-3 on the season following their win at Michigan earlier Sunday afternoon.
The game will also be this year’s Showdown in the Shoe – an annual event in which the Buckeyes lacrosse team hosts a game prior to the spring football game. The Terps and Buckeyes will faceoff at 11:00 am and by game’s end could well be playing in front of a crowd in excess of 60,000. The game will be broadcast by BTN and will stream on BTN2GO.
blog from Todd Carton
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