John Tillman recalled an inconsequential goal from the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team’s 14-3 victory over UMBC on Feb. 15 when he wanted to characterize this season’s nine-member senior class.

With less than two minutes left in regulation, the Terps held a 10-goal advantage over the Retrievers at Byrd Stadium when scout-team midfielder Tyler Adelsberger — a senior whose time in College Park has been marred with injuries and sacrifices — found the back of the net for the first time in his five-year career.

Despite the insignificance of the goal in context of winning and losing, Tillman’s bench erupted.

“We were louder on that goal than any other goal that we scored that day,” the coach said.

That celebration remained fixed in Tillman’s mind as a reminder of how his players care about one another. And those bonds developed because of the strong leadership of Tillman’s seniors, who will play their final regular-season game at Byrd Stadium on Saturday against Navy.

Defender Michael Ehrhardt

“Leadership isn’t always goals and assists,” Tillman said. “It’s the tone they set. It’s the culture they create, their willingness to help the younger guys, the way they make the younger guys feel included, the example that they set, their ability to get us through tough times. And those guys have just done an amazing job all year.”

The Terps’ nine seniors include attackmen Mike Chanenchuk, Rustin Bryant and Quinn Haley; midfielder Adelsberger; long pole Michael Ehrhardt; defensive midfielder Brian Cooper; defender Emmett Cahill; and goalkeepers Niko Amato and Thomas Guarino.

They’ll be recognized during a pregame ceremony Tillman said would be particularly emotional for him because every player in the senior class besides Chanenchuk and Guarino has been with the fourth-year coach since his first season with the Terps.

Despite bringing in the top-ranked recruiting class in the nation, Tillman gave all his players equal opportunity to earn a starting spot during fall practices. However, it became clear the Terps freshmen were too talented to leave off the field, meaning seniors and other older players would have to sacrifice playing time.

Nonetheless, the team rallied around its younger players and showed support.

“It would have been really easy for the older guys to feel jealousy or try to knock them down because of what they wanted,” Tillman said. “Yet at the end of the day, all those guys, they wanted this to be the best team it could be.”

During their time with the program, the Terps seniors made it to national championship games in 2011 and 2012, won the ACC tournament in 2011 and qualified for the NCAA tournament in their first three seasons — they’ll likely qualify again this year. And while their success on the field is impressive, Amato said the time he’s spent with his fellow seniors off the field is what’s truly made his career special.

“You get to know these guys more than just as players but as real people,” Amato said. “I learned early on that there’s nothing else like college. You see someone every single day for four years, maybe sometimes more for extended periods of time, you really get to know the ins and outs of them. So it’s been a great ride.”

Next year, Tillman will face the task of replacing Amato in the net for the first time. The coach gave the goalkeeper a chance to play as a redshirt freshman in his first season at the helm and started him over senior Mark White — a decision Tillman said was initially unpopular among that year’s group of 17 seniors.

But since then, Amato, a USILA Honorable Mention All-American in 2012 and Second Team All-American in 2013, developed into one of the nation’s elite goalkeepers and hasn’t missed a start in 63 games.

Midfielder Brian Cooper

“[There will] be a lot of voids in a lot of ways,” Tillman said. “His personality, his charisma, just the way about him.”

Cooper said that in his first season in College Park, the older players not only welcomed the freshman in with open arms, but they also embraced Tillman. Because of that, he said, there’s been a precedent of acceptance and togetherness in the Terps’ locker room every year since then.

“We’ve really developed a family relationship,” Cooper said.

For midfielder Joe LoCascio, a junior, that unity — which starts with the seniors — has been paramount in his growth as a player and a person.

“I come from a family where I don’t have any older brothers,” LoCascio said. “And these guys have done an unbelievable job to bring me into school and teach me everything I could have asked to learn and more. This is a great group, a resilient bunch.”

Tillman said the mood with the seniors would be somber Saturday afternoon after the ceremony concludes because the seniors will realize their careers in College Park are almost over.

“At that point, I think it hits,” Tillman said “And it hits pretty hard.”

But then it will be time for the younger players to provide leadership for the seniors who have given so much to the program.

With a win, the Terps would give themselves a solid chance of locking up another home game for the first round of the NCAA tournament.

And that’s all the motivation the Terps underclassmen need to give their nine seniors one more chance to step onto the turf at Byrd Stadium.

“It’s incumbent upon the freshmen, sophomores and juniors to go ‘OK, this is where they’re going to be, let’s make sure that we’re focused and ready and where we need to be. The seniors have done a great job for us all year. Now it’s our time to help pay them back,’” Tillman said.