As coach of the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team, John Tillman embraces this university’s status as the flagship institution of a lacrosse-crazed state.
Even with half a dozen other Division I lacrosse programs calling Maryland home, Tillman has often talked about how the Terps must carry the state’s banner as the de facto leader in the sport.
“I know how important this program is for the school and the state. It’s something that we embrace,” Tillman said earlier this season. “Lacrosse probably means more to this university than almost any school in the country.”
But statewide dominance has proved a daunting feat for the No. 7 Terps (4-1) lately. While the Terps have struggled to keep up with perennial power Johns Hopkins, it’s been their recent issues against a less-heralded UMBC team that are more striking.
Before rebounding with a 13-7 victory last season, the Terps had lost three straight against UMBC, a member school of the University System of Maryland, of which this university is the flagship.
Heading into tonight’s primetime matchup with the Retrievers (1-3), though, that recent history is something both Tillman and the Terps hope to put behind them.
“They got the best of us the first two years I was here,” senior attackman Ryan Young said. “But we focused last year and came out with a win, so this year, we’re going to try to do the same.”
The Retrievers’ recent success against the Terps extends back to 2007, when they knocked the seventh-seeded Terps out of the first round of the NCAA Tournament en route to their first — and last — trip to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals.
The next two seasons, the Terps fell to UMBC despite entering each matchup with a higher ranking. But Tillman, who was an assistant at Navy in 2007 and coach at Harvard during the Terps’ past two losses, believes things have changed.
“That was before I was here, but give credit where credit is due,” Tillman said. “If they’ve won three of the last four, you have to tip your hat to them. We can use it as motivation, like, ‘Hey, we need to pick up the pace and get that thing turned around one game at a time.'”
One of the Terps’ goals this season is to “win the state,” and with an 8-4 victory over Towson last weekend, the team took its first step toward that objective. But with tonight’s matchup and April games against Navy and Johns Hopkins still on the schedule, players know there is much work yet to be done.
“We always talk about winning our state. It’s important. We get everybody’s best game,” attackman Grant Catalino said. “UMBC gives us a tough match every year, and I’m sure they’ll bring it to us. It’s just the rivalry.”
And although the Retrievers are struggling this season, having lost three straight games after a season-opening victory over Presbyterian, the Terps haven’t taken their mishaps into account heading into tonight’s game. UMBC, after all, wasn’t necessarily up to par, at least on paper, with the Terps during its three-game winning streak from 2007-09.
Tonight, the Terps just want to show they understand the implications of being the only in-state school to have a jersey with “Maryland” plastered across the chest.
“Whenever we play these in-state games, we just have the rivalry that comes with it,” Young said. “We want to go out there and represent Maryland and show the state of Maryland that we’re the best team here.”
jengelke@umdbk.com
