In a Feb. 27 game at Georgetown, Terrapin men’s lacrosse long pole Jesse Bernhardt needed just 11 seconds to have a captive audience.
With the game tied at 11 and the ball at the faceoff ‘X,’ Bernhardt exploded from his wing position behind faceoff specialist Bryn Holmes and fluidly scooped up a ground ball. Before his Hoya counterparts could react, Bernhardt was headed downfield.
As he approached the goal, Georgetown’s defense waited to react, daring Bernhardt to move even closer. When the Hoyas finally stepped up, Bernhardt pulled up, lined up and fired an overhead strike that found the net behind goalie C.T. Fisher.
The impressive display from the freshman from Longwood, Fla. — a far cry from a lacrosse hotbed — dropped jaws on both sidelines in the Terps’ eventual 15-13 victory.
But at least one person didn’t blink an eye.
Jake Bernhardt, a sophomore starting midfielder for the Terps and Jesse’s older brother, just smiled.
“It’s not new to me — I always tell people that he’s good,” Jake said. “Jesse’s real athletic. He gets there real fast, gets the ground ball — he’ll get in and get out of there in the blink of an eye.”
By the time Jesse scored his second goal of the season last Saturday, taking another ground ball off a faceoff to the goal for the game-winner against then-No. 16 Johns Hopkins, no one wearing a Terps jersey was the least bit surprised.
“I’m a little jealous that he gets the goal and I don’t get a goal, but I’ll take the assist,” said Jake, who assisted a teammate earlier in the game. “I’m just proud, especially because we’re from Florida — you don’t see that a lot.”
Given their unconventional backgrounds, the Bernhardts have waged lifelong battles against the perceptions of their talent. But the pair’s athleticism, work ethic and brotherly support have made them mainstays for the No. 4 Terps (9-3).
Even with lacrosse’s booming popularity in Florida, the sport pales in comparison to football. Both brothers played high school football at Lake Brantley High School, and their father, Jim Bernhardt, is a football coach for Daytona Beach’s Father Lopez Catholic High School who played college lacrosse at Towson and C.W. Post. Naturally, he made sure his sons, Jake and Jesse, as well as their younger brother Jared, knew the finer points of lacrosse.
When Jake and Jesse were in high school, their father told them they were the best offensive player and defensive player in the state, respectively. So when the brothers weren’t terrorizing central Florida on the lacrosse field, they fostered their own sibling rivalry, dueling in one-on-one battles in their own backyard.
Still, even with natural athletic talent and lacrosse in their blood, the Bernhardts knew they needed to put in work if they wanted to run with players from more lacrosse-centric areas.
Jake left Florida first, and as a freshman in College Park, he contributed heavily in the Terps’ midfield and won the Terps’ “Be the Best” award for overall strength and conditioning.
“They’re just amazing athletes with amazing work ethics,” said midfielder Dan Burns, who plays with Jake on the first midfield line and with Jesse on the faceoff wings. “They’re the first guys in the weight room, the last ones out. They come into the season in great shape, and they can play the whole game. They seem to never get tired.”
Jake’s trailblazing made Jesse’s transition to the collegiate game even smoother.
“Since down in Florida, lacrosse isn’t the hottest sport, it was pretty much me working against him and him working against me that helped us gain experience,” Jesse Bernhardt said. “Especially him coming back and teaching me some stuff from when he was up here last year and getting to play against that top-level lacrosse.”
The brothers’ pairing on the field can give even teammates headaches. When Jesse trades in his long pole for a short stick in practice drills, some of his teammates can’t tell the difference between the siblings.
Away from the field, where Jake and Jesse share a dorm room, it’s like the two never left Florida.
“Getting back with Jake was definitely a reason why I came to school here,” Jesse said. “Not many people get a chance or the opportunity to do that, push for a national championship with a sibling. I’ve been fortunate to play, so we’ve both been on the field at the same times, and it’s just like back in the old days playing against each other in the backyard.”
kyanchulis@umdbk.com