Midfielder John Haus led the Terps with four goals.
The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team has garnered plenty of recognition since beating defending national champion Loyola, 12-10, on Saturday in Baltimore.
Inside Lacrosse and the USILA coaches poll both ranked the Terps as No. 1 in the country earlier this week. Yesterday, the ACC named midfielder John Haus the offensive player of the week for his four-goal performance against the Greyhounds, and named goalkeeper Niko Amato its defensive player of the week after he posted 13 saves.
Those accolades come with a price, though. With their success through the first three games, the Terps are now the team to beat, according to many pundits, meaning everyone else will want to do just that.
“It definitely puts a target on our back,” long pole Jesse Bernhardt said. “We’re going to have to keep doing what we’re doing and even step it up a little to keep being successful.”
The teams aiming to supplant the Terps from the top spot in coming weeks aren’t pushovers, either. Three of the Terps’ next six games will come against ranked conference foes.
No. 19 Duke, No. 11 North Carolina and No. 6 Virginia can make the Terps pay if they fail to remain level-headed amid success.
“You certainly want your guys to be confident,” coach John Tillman said. “Yet you also want them to realize that every time you go out there you got to earn it, you got to do things the right way or you’re going to put yourself in a position where you’re susceptible to losing.”
And there’s still room for the Terps to improve. While studying film from the victory over No. 4 Loyola, Tillman wasn’t particularly impressed with his squad’s performance.
He was proud of the victory, of course, but the third-year coach wondered how the Greyhounds got so many quality scoring chances, and why Amato was constantly forced to rescue poor defensive possessions with quick-handed saves.
“There was a lot of opportunities that we didn’t take advantage of, and also a lot of opportunities that Loyola didn’t take advantage of,” Tillman said. “We can’t keep giving teams those opportunities, and we can’t keep expecting Niko to play like he did Saturday.”
A 3-0 start hasn’t left the Terps with many areas of concern, but they did allow the Greyhounds to attempt 23 shots on goal. Lately, their faceoff specialists haven’t fared any better.
After dominating the faceoff battle, 25-7, in the season opener against Mount St. Mary’s, the Terps have struggled in that department. They won just 14 of 24 faceoffs against unranked Hartford on Feb. 16 and the Greyhounds won the faceoff battle Saturday, 14-11.
It’s also troubling that the team was guilty of all four penalties called in Saturday’s contest. Still, the Terps are the nation’s top-ranked team for a reason: They’ve outscored opponents, 51-20, so far and knocked off then-No. 1 Loyola.
It might have some areas it can improve in, but the team possesses the ability to fix its issues from within and continue that success.
“It’s all about us,” attackman Billy Gribbin said. “We just got to keep preparing, listening to our coaches and buy into the system so that we can play Terp lacrosse every day.”
Every game from here on out, though, the Terps will likely face a team anxious to pull off an upset. But they’re sure they can handle it.
The Terps have a prestigious program, a large fan base and have reached the national championship in consecutive seasons. There’s always been a target on their backs. Now, it’s just a little bigger.
“I think everybody we play, they try to give us their best shot,” Bernhardt said. “With us being ranked No. 1 in some of these polls, it’s just extra incentive for them.”
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