Against Yale on Feb. 27, the Terps posted 10 more shots than the Bulldogs, collected 20 more ground balls and dominated the faceoff X, 13-3. But coach John Tillman’s squad lost 8-5 in New Haven, Connecticut in its second game of the season.
In the team’s regular-season finale, Tillman took a deep breath before discussing how his team prevailed despite the reverse situation.
Despite Johns Hopkins fielding 10 more grounds balls than the Terps and securing all but five of the game’s 22 faceoffs, Maryland prevailed, 11-8, to earn the outright Big Ten regular-season championship Saturday afternoon in Baltimore.
“Certainly was not a work of art,” Tillman said. “I don’t think you’re going to come up here and do this ever again, going 5-for-22 [on faceoffs]. You’re not going to be very successful doing that.”
The Terps jumped out to a quick start at the X, as midfielder Will Bonaparte scooped up the first faceoff and transitioned the ball to offense. But Maryland didn’t win another faceoff for the rest of the quarter.
The Terps started with possession again in the second period after the ball skidded to the Blue Jays’ offensive end, and a Johns Hopkins player committed an illegal procedure foul when stepping into the middle third of the field too soon. Yet Maryland lost the last four duels in the frame.
At the start of the second half, faceoff specialist Andrew Walsh, who filled in for Bonaparte last Sunday after the sophomore suffered an injury against Ohio State, trotted out to midfield. Walsh, though, committed a faceoff violation on his only attempt. The Terps then turned to defender Curtis Corley, but the rookie lost the next three tries.
So Bonaparte returned for the final two faceoffs of the third quarter and all of the faceoffs in the final frame.
Despite the Blue Jays’ possession advantage, goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr made seven saves. The Terps defense, meanwhile, forced 12 Blue Jays turnovers and disrupted three of Johns Hopkins’ 13 clears.
“They had a lot of possessions,” Bernlohr said. “We came out in the second half with much more tempo.”
Saturday was the fourth straight outing faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen has missed after he suffered an injury against Penn State on April 10. Henningsen was in uniform against the Blue Jays and warmed up with the faceoff unit before the match, but Tillman said that after the game, the team has been cautious with the rookie to ensure he doesn’t return too soon.
The sixth-year coach estimated Henningsen would return for the top-seeded Terps’ Big Ten Tournament semifinal game Thursday evening at Homewood Field against No. 4-seed Penn State.
Though they were missing Henningsen, who ranks 12th in the country with a .623 winning percentage at the X, Maryland overcame an early 1-0 hole and endured three lead changes in the first half. They also strung together a 5-0 run after intermission despite the Blue Jays winning all but one of the faceoffs during that stretch.
“Were there things we did well? Yeah. I think we faced off well against a team that faces off well,” Johns Hopkins coach Dave Pietramala said. “We did a good job on the wings against a team that, I think, is very good off the wings.
“They just take advantage of your mistakes and [are] a very good team.”
