The day began with the Terrapin lacrosse team honoring its eight seniors, but by the end of Saturday’s 17-4 drubbing of Fairfield, the Terps were celebrating their substitutes.

Of the 47 players on the Terps’ roster, 36 saw time on the field during the win, including 11 who had appeared in fewer than five games this season. Many came off the bench in the fourth quarter, when the Terps already held a double-digit lead, but for the No. 3 Terps, just the chance to get those players in-game experience meant enough.

“The kids that have been practicing all year on the offense and defense got in, and that’s what makes it special,” coach Dave Cottle said. “We said, ‘We’ll find out how far we’ve come if we put them away in the third quarter and can put everybody in.’ And we did.”

Several freshmen managed to contribute despite their relative inexperience. In their first-ever Division I action, defender Zach Williams caused a turnover and scooped up a ground ball, and attackman Mike Poiter scored a goal.

Freshman Curtis Holmes, who had seen limited playing time this season before Saturday’s game, also relieved his older brother Bryn of some of his faceoff duties against the Stags. He won five faceoffs and collected three ground balls from the center ‘X.’

It was all a fitting reward for the Terps’ reserves, who most often earn their dues by mimicking other teams.

“They’re a different team every week. They’re Hopkins one week, they’re UNC next week,” long pole Brian Farrell said. “I knew if they could play as anyone, they could play with anyone. They deserved to play in Byrd and play a big game for our seniors.”

Not to be outdone, two older substitutes had big games for themselves. Short stick midfielder Scott LaRue, a junior, scored his second goal of the season, while attackman Fran Gormley started in his final home game and scored the last goal of the match.

“They’re not the guys that everybody talks about,” Farrell said. “But they’re the guys that are the grinders that really help our team out the most.”

SAME COACH, NEW GIG

The Terps saw a familiar face on their opponents’ sideline in Fairfield coach Andy Copelan.

Copelan served as an assistant coach for the Terps for three years, from 2006-08, before leaving  to take the head coaching position at Fairfield. Copelan had helped to recruit many of the players on this year’s squad, and players and coaches alike expressed excitement about his return to College Park, even though he wasn’t in Terp colors.

“It’s nice to see him come back,” Cottle said before the game. “I just don’t want him to come back happy.”

After the win, Cottle happily praised Copelan, who has helped lead the Stags from a 7-6 record last season to an 8-5 mark this year. The Stags even reached as high as No. 14 in the polls before dropping out.

“He’s not just coaching a team, he’s building a program,” Cottle said. “They’re disciplined, they play hard, they’re respectful to everybody, they play the game the right way. I think he’s doing an outstanding job. He’s a good recruiter, and I think they have a program that we’re going to have to reckon with for years.”

SPEED RACERS

The Terps knew their strengths heading into Saturday’s match, and they stuck with them.

Despite facing a stalwart defense directed by the top statistical goalie in the country in Joseph Marra, who led the NCAA in goals-against average and save percentage entering the game, the Terps used their speed and transition game to blow by the Stags.

“It was four-on-three, three-on-two, and that’s what we were hoping to see going into it,” Cottle said. “We couldn’t change the way we played.”

The team scored six goals directly off transition plays Saturday. On one, long pole Jesse Bernhardt scooped up a ground ball off a faceoff and ran it upfield before dishing to Farrell, who had also been streaking toward the cage. Farrell finished off the play for the score.

“Our speed is one of our key aspects to our team, and I really think when you get a team that can push the ball and pick the ball up and push transition, if you get transition goals on them, it really shuts a team down,” Farrell said, “Transition goals change games.”

kyanchulis@umdbk.com