After Maryland men’s lacrosse goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr notched a season-high 12 saves against Michigan on April 2, coach John Tillman reflected on one of his favorite memories of his netminder.
Bernlohr racked up six saves in the Terps’ one-goal NCAA tournament semifinal win against Johns Hopkins a season ago, Bernlohr’s first as the team’s starter. His final stop came with seven seconds left in the contest, using the butt of his stick to reject the last-ditch effort.
Saturday afternoon, Bernlohr continued his stretch of solid postseason performances by anchoring the backline in the Terps’ 13-7 victory against No. 8-seed Syracuse at Brown Stadium. The redshirt senior tallied a career-high 15 saves to seal a return trip to the final four in Philadelphia this weekend.
“Obviously for Kyle Bernlohr to probably have his best performance in today’s game was huge for us,” Tillman said. “Give Syracuse credit, they put a lot of pressure on you, and when they got opportunities, I thought Kyle did a great job.”
Bernlohr buckled down after Syracuse slotted the game’s first point a little more than three minutes into the game. While Syracuse dominated the faceoff X, 15-9, the Akron, Ohio, native helped the Terps flip possession and open a 5-1 lead.
Syracuse midfielder Ben Williams went 14-for-18 on draws in the first three quarters. Faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen started the game 3-for-11 before midfielder Will Bonaparte finished 6-for-13 in relief.
In the second and third quarters combined, Williams won all but one of the 12 faceoffs, positioning the Orange to attempt 25 shots to Maryland’s 14. Bernlohr, however, notched seven saves in that span to help the Terps maintain their gap.
“Ben Williams is about as good as there is,” Tillman said. “They knocked us around and just were a little bit faster to the ball, so it wasn’t great early.”
Though Syracuse, which boasted an attack that averaged 12.8 goals entering the quarterfinal match, started the majority of the drives on offense, Bernlohr credited defensive coordinator Kevin Conry’s strategy of forcing Syracuse into far or low angle shots.
Conry’s scheme matched long-stick defenders on midfielder Sergio Salcido and attackman Nick Mariano, two of the Orange’s top scorers, to limit them from setting their feet and trying to find a close look.
Orange coach John Desko countered by moving other players up, including midfielder Tim Barber, who led the team with three points. He hoped to find “a goal that would spark the fire.”
“We knew [Bernlohr] was very good coming into the game, and we didn’t want to predetermine things with our players,” Desko said. “But every time we got within [three goals], they had an answer.”
As Syracuse’s frustration mounted — the Orange racked up nine more shots than the Terps and collected 15 more ground balls — Bernlohr tried not to pay attention to the momentum. Instead, like he did in his past performances against the Wolverines and Blue Jays, the veteran focused on forcing the next stop.
“Just stay calm, stay poised, try to play my game,” Bernlohr said. “Ultimately, the defense really allowed me to see some shots that I liked.”
