Terps men’s lacrosse
The Terrapins men’s lacrosse players run onto the field each game behind the Maryland flag because they play for their state. Their opponent Friday night, the United States Naval Academy, runs onto the field behind the American flag because they’ll one day fight for their country.
So the No. 1 Terps knew the underdog Midshipmen wouldn’t back down. Even when Navy fell behind 3-0 in the game’s first nine minutes, it didn’t falter. It simply responded with a 5 straight goals to take a shocking 5-3 lead.
But the Terps withstood that spurt and outlasted a relentless Navy team the rest of the way to earn an 11-8 victory in front of 6,961 fans at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
“It’s always a fierce battle, we have so much respect for [Navy] and for this rivalry,” said coach John Tillman, who served as an assist at the Annapolis school from 1996-2007. “We knew coming in here you better work hard for 60 minutes and I give our kids credit, they did.”
Tillman called the game “dogfight,” but eventually The Terps’ (8-1) physicality and offensive balance proved too be the decisive factor as they took 22 more shots than the Midshipmen (3-8) and won the ground ball battle, 35-27, in the three-goal victory.
For the first eight minutes of the second quarter, though, Navy looked like the superior team. After penalties from Terps defender Matt Dunn and long pole Jesse Bernhardt gave the Midshipmen a two-man advantage to start the frame, midfielder Tucker Hull scored to get Navy on the board.
From there, attackmen Sam Jones and T.J. Hanzsche continuously penetrated the Terps’ typically stout defense and the Midshipmen dominated for a significant stretch against the nation’s top-ranked team.
“We didn’t play as smart as we could have,” Bernhardt said. “We feel into a little bit of a trap and made some mistakes.”
Then the Terps got their chance to display a sense of resiliency. Midfielder Mike Chanenchuk found Haus cutting in front of the net for a crucial man-up goal to snap a 14-minute scoring draught. Two minutes later, defender Casey Ideka forced a turnover to jumpstarted a breakaway with two minutes later that ended with a Kevin Cooper goal.
The Terps tied the game at five before the half, but it was clear the Midshipmen weren’t going away.
“We knew they were going to fight and be determined,” Haus said. “For them to hit a few goals and make a few good plays it didn’t really surprise us.”
The intrastate rivals traded goals to start the second half before Chanenchuk, who’s father was a three-time All-American at Navy in the 1970s, fired a goal from 20 feet out to give the Terps a 7-6 lead. The score ultimately put the Terps up for good, as they used a balanced attack to piece together their own 5-0 run from that point.
Five different Terps scored during the stretch and the lead ballooned to 10-6. By the game’s end, six different Terps found the back of and they totaled eight team assists.
Tillman’s squad just proved to hard for Navy to guard.
“You play Maryland where you could really go down the roster,” Navy defender Austin Miller said, “and really consider everybody a threat.”
Navy wasn’t at all intimidated, though. The group put pressure on the Terps throughout the game and confidently attacked the highly touted opponent.
Tillman warned his team about the emotion the Midshipmen would play with, though. The Terps were prepared, they matched that intensity and hung on to a victory that clinches the program’s best nine game start to a season since 2004.
But it wasn’t easy. It never is against Navy.
“We knew they were going to come out hard, the Navy-Maryland rivalry is always big,” Bernhardt said. “We were kind of ready for it and I think we responded very well.”
sportsdbk@gmail.com
