Midfielder Joe LoCascio is guarded by a UMBC defender during the Terps 14-3 victory over UMBC on Feb 15, 2014 at Capital One Field
The last time the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team played UMBC, the Retrievers used extended possessions to slow the game down and capture an 8-7 victory in Baltimore in 2012.
NCAA rule changes have since included a 30-second shot clock in place of the old stalling warning, preventing teams from deliberately holding on to the ball for extended periods of time. Nonetheless, the Retrievers entered Saturday’s rematch at Byrd Stadium with a similar strategy — something coach John Tillman expected from the in-state rival.
This time, though, the No. 6 Terps silenced any chance of an upset, jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the first half before coasting to an eventual 14-3 victory as a wintry mix fell in College Park. The Terps (2-0) forced the Retrievers (0-1) to play from behind for the entire contest, thwarting their opponents’ attempts at maintaining a slower pace with several impressive offensive outbursts.
“We knew we wanted to dictate the tempo,” goalkeeper Niko Amato said. “To make it a game that we’re used to playing.”
Attackman Jay Carlson scored first with 6:20 remaining in the first quarter, dodging to his right from behind the cage before finishing a bounce shot past goalkeeper Connor Gordon. The Retrievers almost answered on several occasions in the final three minutes of the period, but Amato saved the attempts to preserve the Terps’ 1-0 lead.
The Terps broke out for five goals in the second quarter — two from attackman Matt Rambo, and one each from midfielder Connor Cannizzaro, Carlson and midfielder Joe LoCascio — to extend their lead to 6-0 before halftime.
“It was great for us to get those quick ones, so they can’t hold the ball,” Rambo said. “They have to go quick; they have to score because they’re trying to win the game.”
The Retrievers ended their scoreless streak with 7:55 remaining in the third quarter when midfielder Pat Young finished in the bottom left corner off a feed from midfielder Jack Gannon. Terps midfielder Mike Chanenchuk answered with two goals in 38 seconds on right-handed shots, though, to extend the advantage to seven.
The Retrievers added two goals — one from Gannon and another from midfielder Zack Linkous — before the close of the quarter to cut the score to 8-3.
Those two goals caused Tillman to recall the Retrievers’ impressive comeback in the previous meeting two years ago when they scored five unanswered goals in the final period. So before the fourth quarter started Saturday, Tillman made sure his team understood there was still work to be done.
“We’ve still got to make sure we manage the game well,” Tillman said. “We didn’t want to have short possessions. We wanted to make sure they worked defensively to get stops. And we didn’t want to let anything behind us to give them some momentum.”
The Terps responded with six goals in the fourth quarter to turn the game into a blowout and secure their second victory of the season. Rambo scored his third goal of the game in a man-up situation with 11:16 left in regulation, finishing off a left-handed shot after a series of crisp passes around the outside of the formation broke down the Retrievers defense.
“[The offense] pumped some goals in and that took some stress of us,” defender Michael Ehrhardt said. “It was great getting a few goals early. It takes a little pressure of us as a defense, and it just let us play our game.”
