None of this was supposed to happen.
The Terrapin men’s lacrosse team wasn’t supposed to be at 5-5 and on the brink of missing the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2002.
Fairfield wasn’t supposed to be 9-2, on a seven-game winning streak and ranked No. 15 in the country. They went 5-9 last year and are in the midst of a rebuilding year with 22 freshmen, nine sophomores, six juniors and three seniors.
Put both of these facts together, and there’s a game that wasn’t supposed to have nearly this much meaning. Fairfield was intended to be a nice rest before heading into the ACC tournament.
Not anymore.
“Our schedule is so tough that we put these games on for a break,” junior midfielder Bill McGlone said. “They’re not easy games, but they are should-wins. It’s kind of ironic that all these teams play well when we go in.”
The Stags know their function on the Terps’ schedule. They are also fully aware of the damage they could do to the No. 10 Terps if they beat them. A loss and the Terps have to beat No. 3 Virginia, which “spanked” them 10-2 earlier this season.
“Sure, we’ve absolutely put thought into it,” Fairfield coach Ted Spencer said. “We’re very aware of their situation, and we’re very aware that they’re going to be gunning for us. If we beat them, there’s no love lost there. Our objective is to win every game, and if that means going through a tough Maryland team, that’s what we’ll have to do.”
While the Terps are on a three-game losing streak — their first since 1988 — Fairfield is playing their best lacrosse coming off a 12-11 upset over No. 11 Notre Dame last Sunday. That was the Stags’ first win over a top-20 opponent this season.
Spencer and Greg Downing, who scored five goals against the Fighting Irish, said they couldn’t see this coming.
“I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to be here,” Spencer said. “We just have an incredibly young group of guys. We knew we were going to take our lumps and just improve at the end of the year. But we wouldn’t have predicted this.
“If you told me at the beginning of the year that we’d be 9-2 and 15th in the country, I’d tell you, ‘Wow, you’re optimistic.’”
Facing a lower-ranked team fresh off an upset, or in the midst of a winning streak is nothing new for the Terps. Bucknell had just beaten then-No. 2 Navy in overtime. Dartmouth was playing some of its best lacrosse heading into the matchup.
That’s why the Terps are ranked No. 1 in strength of schedule and No. 4 in RPI.
Fairfield wasn’t supposed to help that strength of schedule. Then again, the Terps weren’t supposed to be No. 10 in the country and in the middle of losing four of their last five games. The Terps admitted the irony of the situation would almost be comical if their tournament chances weren’t on the line.
“We have a 5-5 record so it hurts their RPI,” Cottle joked.
