Mike Chanenchuk

DURHAM, N.C. — Plenty of Terrapins men’s lacrosse players have turned in dominating individual outings this season, but Mike Chanenchuk’s four-goal, two-assist performance in Saturday’s 16-7 victory at Duke carried a bit more emotional significance than the rest.

After all, the midfielder is a key cog on the nation’s top-ranked team less than two years after his career was in flux.

Chanenchuk landed at this university prior to last season after injuries marred a stint at Princeton. He missed the 2009 season with a back injury, but returned to the field the following campaign and won the 2010 Ivy League Rookie of the Year award. But he broke his collarbone the next fall, forcing him to face the possibility of spending his second season on the sideline in a three-year span.

So Chanenchuk, whose rehab schedule interfered with a rigorous academic workload, decided to withdraw from the Ivy League school. A year after breaking the Tigers’ freshman record with 28 goals, he wasn’t even on a college roster.

Coach John Tillman convinced Chanenchuk to make the move to College Park the following year, and the Poquott, N.Y., native has remained healthy and productive ever since. Last season, Chanenchuk started 17 of 18 games and ranked sixth on the team with 25 points.

So when the junior posted a career-high six points in Durham, N.C., on Saturday, Tillman felt Chanenchuk’s journey had finally come full circle.

“Michael Chanenchuk, everybody knows how long his road has been,” Tillman said. “So when he scores a goal, it means a lot to our team.”

And he scored plenty of them against Duke. The junior notched a pair of first-quarter goals and then assisted on a Jake Bernhardt goal with less than a minute left in the frame.

Chanenchuk scored again early in the second quarter, totaling four points in less than 10 minutes of play to lead a 5-0 Terps run.

“We just try to move the ball, make one-on-one matchups and move it,” Chanenchuk said. “The ball moves around a lot in this offense, and a lot of people get involved. That’s what makes us successful.”

He was just the latest Terp to spearhead a balanced offense that leads the nation with 16.75 goals per game. A different Terp has posted a game-high goal total of at least four in each of their four games, and that doesn’t even include attackman Kevin Cooper, the team’s leading goal scorer.

“It makes it difficult because we have so many guys you have to prepare for,” attackman Billy Gribbin said. “There’s just so many people who can score.”

Chanenchuk carried the load Saturday. His stellar performance propelled the Terps to their third straight road victory and helped them maintain momentum heading into tomorrow’s contest with UMBC — a squad that handed the Terps an 8-7 loss last season.

And that’s where Chanenchuk’s focus lies. The midfielder isn’t interested in reliving his injury-plagued past, just as he’s not intent on admiring his accomplishments. In order to revive his career, Chanenchuk had to look forward, and he expects his team to have a similar mindset.

So moments after a career performance, Chanenchuk’s attention had already shifted to the next challenge.

“We have UMBC coming up, and last year they beat us,” Chanenchuk said. “These next few days, it’s going to be really buckling down and refocusing our energy toward beating them.”

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