Attackman Colin Heacock runs past a defender in the second half of the Terps’ 8-1 win over Navy at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Feb. 14, 2014 in Annapolis.
Colin Heacock knew he had nowhere to go, but the ball was on the ground and the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team had a man-up opportunity. So the sophomore midfielder stepped between two Robert Morris defenders, scooped up the ball and passed it to a teammate.
One of the defenders pushed him backward. The other pushed him down. Heacock fell hard to the turf.
He quickly picked himself up, though, noticed an opening near the goal and snuck behind the defense while the Terps worked the ball around the offensive formation. Seconds later, he tumbled to the ground again. But this time, it came after a collision with a defender while slipping his second score of the game past goalkeeper Chase Rose to give the Terps a 4-0 lead.
The sequence marked the fifth of six combined goals Heacock scored in the Terps’ past two victories — a 10-8 win over then-No. 2 North Carolina on Saturday and a 13-4 thumping of Robert Morris on Tuesday.
Through eight games this year, Heacock has already surpassed his goal total from last season while asserting himself as a viable option for the Terps offense. For coach John Tillman, the key to the Catonsville native’s recent success is simple.
“The big thing with Colin is confidence,” Tillman said. “Coach [J.L.] Reppert has done a really good job of getting him more aggressive and trusting him, and him knowing that we have confidence in him.”
Heacock, the No. 4 attackman recruit in the nation entering last season, according to Inside Lacrosse, served as a role player in 2014 while attackman Matt Rambo and midfielder Connor Cannizzaro buoyed the offense as rookies.
Relegated to a secondary role, Heacock watched as his fellow freshmen received playing time and earned accolades. This season, though, has been different.
With Cannizzaro’s transfer to Denver and midfielder Mike Chanenchuk’s graduation, Tillman was left searching for new offensive weapons. The team received a boost when former Syracuse attackman Dylan Maltz elected to transfer to this university, but Tillman still needed increased production from some of his unheralded players.
In the first six games of the season, Heacock came off the bench to score three goals. But over the teams past two games, he’s stepped his game up.
While Rambo remains the most prominently featured member of last year’s freshman group, Tillman said Heacock is the “leader in his class.”
“He’s a guy that everybody likes to be around because he’s in a good mood,” Tillman said. “He’s a guy that regardless of what’s happening around him, he makes the team better, because the guys are in a better place because they’re laughing and they’re joking when he’s with them.”
Heacock took a beating to score his second goal Tuesday, but his final score came much easier.
With the team holding a 9-0 advantage with less than eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, Heacock received a pass in the center of the field and dodged right before cutting back to his left. He sprinted a few steps, leaped off his right foot and whipped a shot past Rose.
Part of the reason for Heacock’s newfound confidence, Tillman said, is his comfort level with playing in the midfield. After Heacock played as an attackman in high school, the Terps asked him to move to the midfield.
“There isn’t a more selfless guy on our team,” Tillman said.
Tuesday, Heacock received his first career start, playing alongside midfielders Henry West and Joe LoCascio. Junior Bryan Cole started the season’s first seven games, but Tillman decided to switch up the lines for Robert Morris.
The move proved beneficial. While Rambo, the team’s leading scorer, found the back of the net once, Heacock led the team to its sixth win in a row — even if it meant he had to take a couple of nasty falls early in the second quarter.
“He’s really only scratched the surface of his ability,” Tillman said.