Maryland men’s lacrosse attackman Matt Rambo has experience playing in the spotlight.
He led his LaSalle College High School team to a state championship as a senior in 2013. He scored 30 goals as a freshman with the Terps en route to a final four appearance. And last year, he notched a combined nine points in the team’s national semifinal and championship games.
Saturday night, the last regular-season game of Rambo’s junior year, will offer the Glenside, Pennsylvania, native another opportunity to perform in an anticipated matchup. But playing alongside him will be an offensive unit coach John Tillman has called an “unselfish” group throughout the campaign.
The No. 3 Terps will travel to Homewood Field to play No. 8 Johns Hopkins with a chance to clinch the Big Ten regular-season championship. After the Blue Jays denied Maryland’s bid for the same feat a season ago, Rambo and the Terps attack are determined to push the team past an in-state rival.
“We don’t have to look at one guy or two guys and say ‘We need you to have a good day today,’ because you never know who it could be coming from,” midfielder Bryan Cole said. “I’m not a defensive expert, but I would say that it would cause a lot of matchup problems for some teams.”
While midfielder Colin Heacock leads the Terps with 30 goals after combining to score 23 goals in his first two years with the program, Rambo paces the attack with 38 points on 24 goals and 14 assists.
His production lags behind the 40-goal campaign he posted last year — the program’s first since 2004 — but Tillman has seen an improvement in Rambo’s approach.
He’s watching film with attention to the intricacies of his game and the opponent’s scout. He’s followed offensive coordinator J.L. Reppert’s pointers to better position himself for passing lanes when his teammates break free from their defenders.
Each day, Cole said, the junior stays after practice to shoot and work on his dodging.
“He’s understood that he’s getting a lot of attention because he has a natural knack for scoring, so he’s taking that attention, and he’s flipped it and used it as a positive for the whole team,” Cole said. “Just being able to feed the ball to guys that are open.”
As a result, each of the Terps’ six usual starters on offense has notched a hat trick in at least one contest this season. Rambo, meanwhile, is on pace for a career-high in assists.
Rambo’s feeding skills were on display Sunday night against Ohio State, when he recorded three assists for the first time this campaign.
The 5-foot-10 attackman noticed the Buckeyes defenders were sliding to cover him earlier than normal. So when he felt the pressure, he dished the ball off to a teammate, rather than forcing a shot.
With Maryland down by two late in the second quarter, Rambo streaked across the top of the attacking third before tossing a skip pass to midfielder Henry West for a tally.
One quarter later, Rambo raced around the crease to the pipe, drawing Ohio State’s goalie out of the net. As soon as the netminder flipped his attention, Rambo flicked a pass to Heacock on the other side for a goal, capping the team’s 7-0 run.
“I knew [Ohio State was] coming backside-double a bunch, but, you know, guys are just in the right spot at the right time, calling for it,” Rambo said. “It’s easy when they’re wide open with their sticks up.”
Against the Blue Jays in last year’s national semifinal victory, Rambo recorded four goals and two assists. He’ll look to do the same as the Terps aim to become the first team in Big Ten lacrosse history to finish conference play with an undefeated record.
A loss to Johns Hopkins in last year’s regular-season finale wiped out that accomplishment, but the Terps hope their diverse attack can propel them to the outright title Saturday.
“We know what’s at stake, but that’s why you come to Maryland,” Tillman said. “You want to play in big games, and you want to play your very best at this time of year.”
