Terrapins men’s lacrosse goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr is no stranger to tight games.
Last year, he anchored the net while the Terps won three straight games by one goal each, part of a season-long performance that earned him the Ensign C. Markland Kelly Jr. Award as the nation’s top goalie. He capped that campaign with a combined 16 saves in the national semifinals and championship.
So with the Terps locked in a tie with Michigan in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon — coach John Tillman’s team eventually departed from Ann Arbor with an 8-7 win after midfielder Bryan Cole scored in the final minute — Bernlohr relied on his past experience to position the Terps for their sixth straight victory.
“It’s a comforting feeling to know we have a veteran guy like Kyle that has made big saves in big moments,” Tillman said. “We just have a lot of confidence that he’s going to be up to the task, regardless of the situation. He’s kind of proven that over and over again.”
The Wolverines were missing their top two scorers, attackmen Kyle Jackson and Ian King, but that didn’t stop coach John Paul’s squad from racking up 41 shots, keeping Bernlohr and the Terps’ defense under fire.
So the preseason first-team All-American settled in to record a season-high 12 saves in the net. His five stops in the fourth quarter helped the Terps fend off Michigan’s comeback efforts after the Wolverines’ one-goal halftime lead disappeared.
Michigan held the ball for all but 24 seconds of the final three-and-a-half minutes.
With the game knotted at seven, Bernlohr saved all three of the Wolverines’ attempts, including two in a nine-second span when Michigan midfielder Mikie Schlosser and attackman Patrick Tracy had point-blank looks along the crease. On one attempt, Bernlohr fell to the ground while making a stick save away from his body.
The redshirt senior again withstood the rally when Michigan tallied three more shots in the final 33 seconds. Bernlohr saved the first, the second went wide, and the third ricocheted off the post with two seconds left. Soon after, the Terps swarmed Bernlohr, slapping his helmet in a celebratory huddle
“He’s an experienced guy, and I think he’s a confident guy,” Tillman said. “Having started for his second year now and been in college for five years, he’s been part of a lot of big games.”
While waiting at the airport for the team’s flight back to College Park, Tillman reflected on last year’s national semifinal matchup as a comparison for the Akron, Ohio, native’s production in the Big House.
In that bout against Johns Hopkins, which had defeated the Terps at Byrd Stadium in the regular season, Bernlohr made three saves in the fourth quarter to help the team advance to the title game.
But something made Saturday’s performance stand out even more for Tillman: It came on a day with weather more suited to a late-season Michigan football game. With the snow swirling, Bernlohr and the Terps were wearing shorts.
The wind pushed the flurries into Bernlohr and the defense’s eyes during the second and fourth quarters. Tillman said players came off the field telling him, “‘Coach, it’s just tough to track the ball.'”
Tillman admitted after the contest that he should have communicated with Michigan about using a different color ball. He had never experienced an April game with such playing conditions.
It didn’t faze Bernlohr, though.
“With a white backdrop and the white, you know, right in front of him, he was still able to focus and make those saves,” Tillman said. “That makes Kyle’s performance that much more impressive.”
