Maryland men’s lacrosse coach John Tillman couldn’t imagine Saturday night’s ending when his squad opened up the 2016 campaign with a 1-2 record.
After his offense combined to score nine goals in the two defeats, Tillman knew his squad was in a rut. But 13 games later — all wins — he could flash a hint of a smile as he spoke about his team’s path to claiming the Big Ten Tournament championship at Homewood Field.
He talked about his squad’s tenacity, “digging one little bit at a time, one little bit at a time,” as they strung together 12 wins entering Saturday night’s showdown against Rutgers.
And the No. 1-seed Terps added to the streak as they defeated No. 2-seed Rutgers, 14-8, to claim the program’s first conference tournament title since 2011. Behind attackman and tournament MVP Matt Rambo’s six points, Maryland finished undefeated in its Big Ten slate.
“Our leadership this week has been fantastic, as it has been all year,” Tillman said. “Certainly not perfect, but I thought our kids just really played hard.”
Rambo finished the weekend with 11 points. Midfielder Connor Kelly also tied a career-high with four goals Saturday night after tallying three in the team’s 16-9 victory over No. 4-seed Penn State in the semifinals.
In total, eight Terps scored a point in the team’s last outing before the NCAA tournament begins next weekend.
After opening the semifinal with six unanswered goals, Maryland’s emphasis on a fast start didn’t fade against the Scarlet Knights, as the Terps touted a 5-2 lead after the first 15 minutes.
Rambo’s third point in that frame, and his second in the Terps’ 3-0 run, came with no time left on the clock. The Scarlet Knights disrupted the Terps ball movement in the waning seconds of the frame, so the junior careened into the scrum for possession. As the ball popped up, Rambo secured it in his stick and took a few steps backward.
Then, standing to the left of Rutgers’ cage with almost no angle to shoot into the net, Rambo unleashed a bouncing shot. As the clock hit zero, Rambo’s shot crossed behind goalkeeper Kris Alleyne and into the netting.
On the sideline, assistant coaches Kevin Conry and J.L. Reppert raised their hands in the air to signal the score would stand. Some of the players on the field and the bench did, too.
Their arms stayed up as the referees conferred near the cage. When the officials mirrored the team’s stance and kept the score on the board, the players on the sideline jumped up and down, while the Terps on the field barreled in for the end-of-quarter huddle.
“We have to fight for 45 more minutes, so I don’t think that was the tone-setter,” Rambo said. “The tone-setter was when like our defense gets a huge stop.”
Rutgers coach Brian Brecht agreed. His team began the second half with a two-man advantage for about 40 seconds after two Terps penalties rolled over from the end of the second quarter.
But on the Scarlet Knight’s lone shot of the possession, goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr (16 saves) blocked the attempt and helped Maryland clear to offense.
“Would have been a huge shot in the arm for us if we could have put it in,” Brecht said. “That was probably one of the disappointments coming out of this game.”
As Rutgers tried to transition back to offense after stopping the Terps in the ensuing drive, midfielder Bryan Cole caused a turnover. Moments later, Kelly found the back of the net to push the Terps’ lead to 10-5.
From there, Rutgers never climbed back within four goals. Coach John Tillman’s squad finished with a 47-38 shooting advantage and collected 28 ground balls to the Scarlet Knights’ 23. The advantages left the Terps hugging on the sideline as Tillman inserted many of his reserves in the final minutes.
The starters abandoned their equipment on the sideline as they rushed to the goal to celebrate their conference sweep in a huddle at the final horn.
Rutgers trudged through the strewn sticks and helmets as they walked back to the locker room after their second loss to the Terps this season. One Scarlet Knights player looked over his shoulder as he walked toward the corner of Homewood Field to see the Terps gathered at midfield.
Piled in a huddle with their index fingers pointing up, dressed in red shirts and hats, the Terps posed for pictures with the Big Ten Tournament championship banner.
“Above all, I think we just played like Terps,” Bernlohr said. “That was just a gritty, gritty, great win to be a part of.”
