Long stick midfielder Jesse Bernhardt.
The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team was losing grasp of Friday’s game. Navy scored five straight goals to open the second quarter, building a two-goal lead over the Terps and gaining confidence in front of a lively home crowd.
The nation’s top-ranked team needed to turn things around to avoid falling victim to the upstart Midshipmen. And it leaned on a group of seniors to do just that.
Midfielder John Haus was the first to halt Navy’s run as he sliced toward the crease and notched the Terps’ first goal in more than 14 minutes. Attackman Kevin Cooper then scored to tie the game, 5-5, and long pole Jesse Bernhardt led a defensive effort that kept the Midshipmen scoreless for the rest of the half.
Such was the trend in the Terps’ resilient 11-8 win at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Friday night. Each time coach John Tillman’s team needed to make a crucial play, a veteran delivered one.
The upperclassmen’s production and calmness even helped the entire squad maintain composure while the inspired Midshipmen had the momentum.
“That’s where some of the leadership from guys like Haus and [midfielder Mike] Chanenchuk and [goalkeeper] Niko [Amato] down in goal comes in,” Bernhardt said. “We can bounce back and get the younger guys going.”
Only nine of the 48 players on the Terps’ roster are seniors, but each occupies a crucial role and has competed in at least one national championship game. Three of the team’s top four scorers are seniors, and the fourth is a junior (Chanenchuk). The Poquott, N.Y., native and classmate Amato have the college lacrosse experience required of leaders, too.
Chanenchuk has spent five years around college lacrosse teams and has started a combined 42 career games between Princeton and the Terps. Amato, meanwhile, has started all 45 games as the Terps’ goalie in the past three seasons and has been in the net for the past two national championship games.
Throw those two into the mix with the seniors, and the Terps feel they can handle any situation. So Tillman knew his message would resonate when he called a timeout after Navy’s five-goal spurt.
“[My message was] just take a deep breath,” Tillman said. “We knew this was going to be us just getting back to playing Maryland lacrosse. … I think we did a great job of that.”
Friday, the team’s veterans had to do more than keep their teammates calm. They also had to remain patient themselves.
Navy, like each of the Terps’ previous three opponents, switched between zone and man-to-man defenses. Midshipmen defenders packed the middle of the field and rarely guarded the Terps on the perimeter.
Tillman’s crew was left with plenty of tempting opportunities to fire long-range shots. But the offense’s experience kept it from falling into any traps, Haus said.
“Taking some of those shots might have been their game plan or what [Navy] wanted to give up,” Haus said. “We don’t want to take that first shot. We want to take the best shot.”
So the Terps’ offense constantly moved the ball around the offensive zone and eventually found some scoring chances. Haus, Cooper and attackman Owen Blye — another senior — all finished the game with three points, while Chanenchuk tallied a game-high four points on two goals and two assists.
The effort helped the Terps pull away from the Midshipmen, but Tillman said it won’t be the last time the squad ends up in a tight spot. With a matchup against No. 15 Johns Hopkins and the ACC tournament looming in coming weeks, the Terps will likely face more serious challenges this season.
When they do, Tillman knows he has leaders he can rely on.
“I know our seniors will lead us really well down the stretch,” Tillman said. “They’ve been amazing.”
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