Explosive offensive performances carry Maryland men’s lacrosse to conference tournament title

The Maryland men’s lacrosse team’s coaches were worried before its squad faced Penn State in the Big Ten Tournament semifinals Thursday night.

During pregame warm-ups, head coach John Tillman said the Terps offense was sloppy with its stick work, faded its shots and made poor decisions during the unsettled drills portion.

In the locker room before the opening whistle, the sixth-year coach made his message clear.

“Listen, this is a really important game,” Tillman said. “If we’re not tightened up, we’re in trouble.”

The top-seeded Terps attack heeded those words as they notched the team’s second-highest scoring total of 2016 with a 16-9 victory over the No. 4-seed Nittany Lions. Two days later, they hoisted the Big Ten Tournament trophy with a 14-8 win against No. 2-seed Rutgers.

“Obviously, the older players kind of sensed that and got everybody dialed in,” Tillman said. “Actually, they executed at a pretty high level.”

In the two tournament matches, the Terps shot 44.4 percent and 29.8 percent, respectively, which ranked above the team’s average shooting percentage in the regular season. The production against the Nittany Lions, which included runs of four, five and six unanswered goals, was Maryland’s most efficient outing of the year.

The team attributed its production to the communication on the sidelines.

Throughout the two outings, midfielder Bryan Cole would rotate off the field and talk to Tillman and the Terps assistants about what he was seeing from the opposing defense and what the players felt comfortable running.

“Guys just are really committed to shooting better and being the best they can be,” Cole said.

Cole said the surge came in part to the players’ work before and after practice, adding that many of the Terps work on their shooting and watch film of opponents in their free time. The efforts have parlayed into the program’s longest winning streak under Tillman.

Attackman Matt Rambo, the tournament MVP, led the charge with eleven points on six goals and five assists. His threat began early in each contest, as he notched four first-quarter points in the semifinals and three against Rutgers in the championship.

Aside from his statistics, the junior’s drive, Tillman said, was on display with about five minutes left in the first quarter when he drew an unsportsmanlike foul. His infraction came after midfielders Will Bonaparte and Adam DiMillo collided with a Penn State player and left the game with injuries.

With the duo on the sideline — they returned before the end of the tournament — the Terps also played without Rambo for one minute. As he took a knee in the penalty area, Tillman stood in front of him to talk about the post-whistle penalty.

“He’s a guy that plays very hard, and he’s very passionate; he cares so much,” Tillman said. “Sometimes, we’ve got to remind the guys, ‘you’ve got to manage the game. Don’t let the game manage you.'”

Penn State scored in Rambo’s absence, but the Terps didn’t allow either opponent to hold a lead in pursuit of their first conference title sine 2011.

Attackmen Dylan Maltz and Colin Heacock, the team’s two other starters on the frontline, combined for eight goals and two assists to help the Terps complete their undefeated conference slate. Midfielder Connor Kelly also tied career highs with his production in each game, earning All-Tournament Team honors along with Rambo, Cole, defender Greg Danseglio and goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr.

After the game, Kelly commended the Terps’ second midfield line, which boasts midfielders Pat Young and Lucas Gradinger and Tim Rotanz, It was that type of depth that propelled the Terps to post two of their four highest scoring totals this season and win two games in a three-day span.

“We’ve got great chemistry on both lines, and it’s just huge,” Kelly said. “That’s what you need to go into this stretch of the year, coming in playoff time.”

The Terps’ burst over the weekend ensures the team enters this weekend’s NCAA tournament with a 13-game winning streak. Tillman has also watched his attack improve throughout the campaign, posting double-digit totals in 12 of the last 13 games.

That sharpness continued after a pre-game meeting against Penn State, and the Terps walked off of Homewood Field in Baltimore two days later as champions.

“We have a really unselfish group and guys that have just continued to work hard,” Tillman said. “We’ve just gotten better all year.”