After rifling in a left-handed shot from the right side, Maryland men’s lacrosse midfielder Logan Wisnauskas flexed in celebration as his teammates mobbed him during the Terps’ contest against Penn on Wednesday.
It was his second goal of the contest, quelling a 2-0 run from Penn and putting Maryland ahead, 6-2, with about nine minutes remaining in the first half. At that point, he and the Terps were just getting started.
The redshirt-freshman Syracuse transfer set his career high for goals with four in the first half, helping the Terps to a 9-2 halftime advantage. Wisnauskas finished with five scores, and the Terps earned a commanding 13-6 victory over the Quakers.
“I’m really proud of our guys for a great effort for 60 minutes,” coach John Tillman said. “Just coming out with a ton of energy and a really complete game in so many ways.”
Coming off its second-worst defensive performance ever under Tillman after allowing 14 goals at High Point, Maryland buckled down early and snuffed out any Penn attack. The Quakers’ first three offensive possessions ended in turnovers.
Long pole midfielder Nick Brozowski said Tillman and his staff preached fundamentals all week after the defensive debacle at High Point. That instruction led the No. 3 Terps (4-0) to set the tone early on the defensive end.
Brozowski said it was a symbol of the character of the team.
“We didn’t think the product we put on the field against High Point was who we are or even close to what our best effort would be,” goalkeeper Dan Morris said. “We just wanted to stress over the last three days of work, just getting back to who we are.”
Senior midfielder Tim Rotanz scored his seventh goal of the season after about three-and- a-half minutes of scoreless play, and that sparked the Terps to take the attacking level up a notch.
Maryland opened the game with five straight goals, while Penn (1-1) couldn’t beat Morris early, who saved the first five shots on target he saw. Morris finished with 13 saves.
The Terps held the Quakers scoreless for the first 16 minutes before their two goal run in the second quarter. Then, the visitors went on a drought for more than 14 minutes between the second and third quarter and another for more than 22 over the course of the third and fourth.
Maryland’s high-powered attack slowed as the game wore on, scoring just once in the third quarter before tacking on three goals in the fourth. However, the defense held firm and continued to preserve the lead Maryland built early on.
“It was really important to come out today, especially against a good team like Penn, we really wanted to make a statement and go back to what we do [on defense],” Brozowski said. “We’ll face some adversity but we’ll do everything we can to come back and be better the next time out.”
Wisnauskas led all scorers with five goals. Freshman midfielder Bubba Fairman tallied two scores and attackman Jared Bernhardt scored two and assisted two, both of which were scored by Wisnauskas.
In four games, Wisnauskas has tallied 11 goals, good for second-highest on the team.
The Sykesville native credited preparation for his performance, singling out reserve goalkeeper Danny Dolan for staying after practice and playing right-handed in practice to prepare Wisnauskas for Penn goalkeeper Reed Junkin.
“It doesn’t really happen tonight, it happened the past three days,” Wisnauskas said. “The scout guys did a really good job…It was just a really good week.”
