Late in the second quarter of Maryland men’s lacrosse’s 14-9 win over Albany, attackman Jared Bernhardt ran from behind the net to the wing and ripped a shot into the back of the net, despite four defenders surrounding him.
So, when Bernhardt ran from behind goal again in the fourth quarter, four Great Danes defenders blanketed him again, attempting to smother any shooting lane. But Bernhardt instead dished to attackman Louis Dubick, who had slipped free unnoticed — and slotted one home.
For opposing coaches, minimizing Bernhardt’s impact on the game is a dilemma. In Maryland’s win over Albany, Bernhardt exemplified the bind he puts defenses in with his ability to score or assist. And because of it, Maryland continually puts the ball in his stick to create opportunities.
“Early in the game, they were paying a lot of attention to him and I thought he really did a good job of letting the game come,” coach John Tillman said. “But when he had his opportunities, obviously tried to capitalize on those.”
[Read more: No. 7 Maryland men’s lacrosse overcomes slow start to beat Albany, 14-9]
Against the Great Danes on Saturday, Bernhardt notched a new career-high eight points, tallying three goals and five assists.
Bernhardt and Tillman both noticed the heavy attention Albany’s defense paid him in the early stages of the game, so the junior remained patient and took what the defense conceded.
At the start of games, Bernhardt observes how defenses are playing him and then devises a plan for what’s going to allow the team to be successful. Against the Great Danes, that meant starting with a distribution-based approach, with his first three points being assists.
“Everyone plays different styles, and you’ve gotta kind of base how you’re playing off them,” Bernhardt said. “Maybe it wasn’t me getting goals, but other guys are able to score. That’s just as good.”
[Read more: Albany’s Tehoka Nanticoke is eligible. That’s bad news for Maryland men’s lacrosse.]
On six of his eight points, Bernhardt’s positioning started behind the net, a place on the field he’s grown accustomed to operating in during his time in college. In the first six games of the season, Bernhardt showed a tendency to tightly wrap around the crease for goals.
But Albany negated those chances with a defender in position to force him further outside when Bernhardt had the ball behind the net. Even when pushed out to the wing on the runs from behind the goal line, Bernhardt still possesses the ability to hit shots from a distance, as he demonstrated with two of his scores.
For all the opportunities Bernhardt creates when he’s in possession, he often ties up at least one defender when he moves without the ball.
That often frees opportunities for other attackers, which was apparent on Maryland’s 11th goal on Saturday. Bernhardt was stationed on the wing as midfielder Bubba Fairman was wrapping around the crease. Bernhardt’s defender was hesitant to leave him to help deter Fairman’s move.
“He’s winning his matchups, not just on the ball because we all know he can do that,” midfielder Anthony DeMaio said. “But he’s winning his matchup off the ball, keeping his defender occupied and opening up some of us who don’t get as much attention as him.”
Bernhardt’s latest performance came midway through a season in which he’s adjusted to being the focal point of the attack for the first time after playing supplementary roles in his first two years.
Despite the extra defensive focus on him – typically drawing the opponent’s best defenseman – Bernhardt has already matched the 21 goals he put up in his first seven games of 2018, and he has five more assists through seven games.
As the season moves forward, Tillman will continue to trust Bernhardt with the ball in his stick to discern which openings he can exploit with either a pass or a shot.
“He’s just always going to get a lot more touches than everybody else,” Tillman said, “just because that’s the nature of how we play and him being a catalyst for us.”
