Faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen and incoming freshman midfielder Jared Bernhardt will get to share the field as Maryland men’s lacrosse teammates this spring, but the duo got a head start in familiarity with one another last week.
Henningsen and Bernhardt played on Team USA in the Federation of International Lacrosse U-19 Men’s World Championship last week, winning the gold medal Saturday night in Coquitlam, British Columbia, with a 13-12 win against Canada.
The two Terps’ performances garnered them spots on the tournament’s All-World Team. Bernhardt also earned Most Valuable Player accolades.
“It was an honor to represent Team USA at the World Championships and I’m so happy we were able to come away with the gold medal,” Henningsen said in a release. “It was a tremendous experience full of memories I will never forget.”
Henningsen posted a 67 percent winning percentage at the X during the tournament. He finished 15-for-26 in the championship game after splitting time with Ohio State’s incoming freshman faceoff specialist Christian Feliziani in the team’s six games.
In securing possessions during the second half of the game, Henningsen helped the U.S. generate a comeback as the squad trailed, 8-2, at the break.
“It was incredible,” U.S. head coach Nick Myers said to Inside Lacrosse on Henningsen’s performance.
“I challenged him before the game,” Myers said. “We knew what he was capable of. We didn’t feel like he had his best stuff yet, him and Christian [Feliziani] were a one-two punch all tournament, and we felt like we had a fresh Austin because of that.”
Bernhardt, the younger brother of former Maryland players Jesse and Jake Bernhardt, finished the week with 10 goals and five assists, including one in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s championship to knot the game at 12.
The U.S. entered the fourth quarter in an 11-8 deficit, but Bernhardt’s tally was the third in the team’s four-goal run that spanned about seven minutes.
Henningsen won the faceoff after Bernhardt’s score, and the U.S. waited to set a play. Though Canada stopped Bernhardt’s late drive on the possession, a few passes allowed Penn attacker Simon Mathias to feed a pass to Virginia midfielder Ryan Conrad for the game-winner with eight second left in regulation.
After helping the U.S. secure its eighth straight U-19 world championship, Henningsen and Bernhardt will now have the opportunity to work toward winning a title with the Terps.
Henningsen saw the most playing time of any Terps freshman last season as he emerged as the team’s top faceoff specialist. He finished with a 59 percent winning percentage, and despite missing four games at the end of the regular season with injury, the Northport, New York, native set a program freshman record with 151 faceoff wins, a season-high 19 of which came in the Terps’ national championship loss.
Bernhardt, meanwhile, amassed 236 goals and 198 assists in high school at Lake Brantley.
Henningsen and Bernhardt have trained together throughout the past year in an effort to make the world championship squad. The original tryout in June 2015 featured 105 players, 51 of whom advanced to a training camp last August. Then 30 players participated in training camps last November and January, when 25 were selected to the team, two as alternates.
