At the center of Maryland Stadium, with the sun beating down on him, Maryland lacrosse midfielder Will Bonaparte dropped one knee to the turf. After the referee had bent down and placed the ball between Bonaparte and Rutgers faceoff specialist Joe Francisco, the whistle blew and the two tangled for possession, jockeying for body position and the chance to steer the ball toward a teammate.
With Bonaparte filling in for usual faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen, who suffered a minor injury against Penn State, the team didn’t skip a beat.
The sophomore excelled in the Saturday afternoon tilt against No. 18 Rutgers. Bonaparte went 15-for-23, including 10-for-14 in the second half, to key the Terps’ late rally in an 11-8 win. His .652 winning percentage marked significant improvement from his season average of a .480 winning percentage.
“If we were going to be good this year [at the X], it would have to be by committee,” coach John Tillman said. “They beat each other up every day. We have a lot of confidence in those guys and depending on matchups we can go with a couple of different guys.”
Bonaparte’s performance comes after weeks of grueling practices with his fellow faceoff specialists. Led by volunteer assistant coach Chris Mattes, the group can often be seen on the side of practices away from their teammates working on faceoff drills. Tillman attributes a lot of the success at the X to Mattes and his ability to teach faceoff technique after years specializing in it as a player at Rutgers and now in Major League Lacrosse.
“They’re always, constantly grinding every single second of practice,” attackman Dylan Maltz said. “I never, ever, see the faceoff guys just standing around. They’re always just working constantly. So when a guy like Bonaparte goes in, we don’t expect anything less than him just grinding and winning faceoffs like he did.”
The camaraderie the group has built with their work ethic has extended off the field as well. Maltz said there has been a nationwide trend of faceoff specialists creating their own social media groups and the Terps have too.
Maryland’s version is titled “The Hog Pen” and it still remains unclear which specialist actually started the group, although defender Matt Dunn weighed in.
“I think Coach Mattes is their fearless leader and the rest of them are pretty on board,” Dunn said. “So I don’t know who exactly who took the initiative on ‘The Hog Pen.'”
While Tillman admittedly doesn’t fully understand “The Hog Pen” — or even his faceoff guys sometimes — he appreciates their craft and lets Mattes help them grow.
With the Terps trailing 6-3 to the Scarlet Knights in the third quarter, Bonaparte began dominating at the X. His ability to win possessions helped position Maryland to score seven unanswered goals.
The faceoff specialists might not be in the middle of practice, but many times, like Saturday against Rutgers, they are crucial to wins.
“Faceoff guys are like kickers, they go off to the side, doing their thing,” Tillman said. “They do all these bizarre drills and it’s like their little cult. The faceoff guys, they’re just different.”
