Attackman Matt Rambo looks to pass before getting an assist when the Terps defeated Mount St. Mary’s, 16-3, on Feb. 8, 2014 at Byrd Stadium.

Perhaps the most pressing issue surrounding the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team had been the status of attackman Matt Rambo, who was suspended indefinitely on Oct. 31 after being charged with two counts of assault and malicious destruction of property.

So at the Terps media day yesterday, Tillman wasted no time in addressing Rambo’s status. The sophomore has returned to school, Tillman said, but will have to work his way back onto the team.

“[The Office of Student Conduct]’s decision was to maintain Matt based on the facts,” Tillman said. “Even though Matt was allowed to stay, there are certain standards and expectations we have in our program that are always going to be higher than the typical student here at Maryland. … Matt has some consequences, and he’s got some expectations he’s going to have to fulfill before he’s back on the field.”

Tillman, whose Terps open the season against Navy on Feb. 14, said the Office of Student Conduct conducted a “thorough” and “lengthy” investigation of the late October incident, which also resulted in former defenseman Brian Cooper being charged with assault.

Rambo, a 2013 Under Armour High School All-American, was a member of the Terps’ 2014 freshman class that featured Inside Lacrosse’s top four attackmen in the nation — Rambo, Tim Rotanz, Connor Cannizzaro and Colin Heacock.

Cannizzaro transferred to Denver in the offseason, while Heacock and Rotanz took a combined 26 shots in 2014. Meanwhile, midfielder Mike Chanenchuk, who led the Terps with 36 goals, graduated. Rambo scored 30 goals last season and would be the Terps’ top returning scorer.

For now, though, Rambo will have to prove himself worthy of his second chance.

“[Rambo] is doing a great job with the things we’ve asked him to do,” Tillman said. “Once he gets to the point where I feel like he can represent Maryland, he will be back on the field.”

BATTLE IN NET

The offense isn’t the only component of Tillman’s squad facing change, as the coach will begin a season in College Park for the first time without goalkeeper Niko Amato.

Amato, the 2014 ACC Defensive Player of the Year, logged 964:44 minutes last season, while goalkeepers Kyle Bernlohr and Thomas Guarino combined for less than 56 minutes.

Last week, Bernlohr was one of three Terps named to the Big Ten men’s lacrosse Players to Watch list. And while Tillman maintained that Bernlohr is “in the lead” to succeed Amato, he has been impressed with sophomore goalkeeper Dan Morris’ play lately.

“I really felt like after the fall, Kyle had separated himself a little bit, but Danny was certainly in the conversation,” Tillman said. “Danny’s made a lot of progress over the last few weeks.”

Bernlohr, who was named the No. 4 freshman goalkeeper in the nation in 2013 by Inside Lacrosse, hasn’t started a college game yet. But with the season imminent, the Dallas native’s stock appears to be rising on a team with four goalkeepers.

“We feel like we have two guys right now that we could play,” Tillman said. “We feel very confident both of those guys would play well for us.”

SCRIMMAGES

The Terps begin preseason play with a 4 p.m. scrimmage at Towson today before hosting Cornell on Saturday.

Tillman said he scheduled the scrimmages close together to prepare his team for quick turnarounds they’ll endure during the regular season.

“Our guys have been beating each other up in practice every day for three-plus weeks,” Tillman said. “So I know they’re excited just to play against someone else.”

The Terps defeated Cornell, 8-7, in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year.

“They have Matt Donovan, who killed us last year,” faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa said. “Cornell, they always play hard. They’re going to be good, regardless of how many practices they’ve had. So it’ll be a good scrimmage that’ll help us see what we need to work on.”