With 18 seconds left in Saturday’s tilt against No. 4 Notre Dame, Maryland men’s lacrosse midfielder Connor Kelly converted a shot through the legs of goalkeeper Shane Doss to cut the Terps’ deficit to 5-4.
On the subsequent faceoff, coach John Tillman positioned attackmen on the wings “so if we could get [the draw], we could go to the goal fairly quickly.”
But after faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen, who struggled in the X throughout the contest, won the ball, Notre Dame attackman Mikey Wynne checked him from behind. The hit forced a turnover and sent Henningsen sprawling to the ground, allowing the Fighting Irish to clear as time expired.
The broken play exemplified No. 1 Maryland’s inability to control the faceoff game against Notre Dame, an issue that sparked the Fighting Irish’s fourth straight victory over the Terps.
“Once the whistle blew and [Notre Dame was] able to get their wings involved … they checked [Henningsen],” Tillman said of the late turnover. “We have to do a better job of keeping those guys off him — let him handle and pick up the ball and then obviously try to get it to our attack.”
Henningsen went 4-for-13 on draws, marking his worst performance of the season. It was the second time the preseason All-American faltered against a top-15 team this year. In Maryland’s season-opener against then-No. 11 Navy, he went 7-for-22 in the X.
But Tillman felt the Terps’ wings didn’t protect Henningsen enough. He said the players needed to shield him more from checks and pick up ground balls when he lost possession. Overall, Maryland lost the ground-ball battle, 31-26.
“If you look at Austin, there were a lot of times where he won the draw, but the wings for [Notre Dame] did a really good job of putting some pressure on him or keeping the ball loose,” Tillman said. “It felt like their wings did a better job than our wings did off the ground today.”
The disparity in the X helped Notre Dame find the transition opportunities Maryland relied on earlier in the year. Twice in the second half after the Terps had tied the game, the Fighting Irish used faceoff victories to retake the lead less than a minute later.
Last weekend against Yale, Maryland capitalized on those momentum-shifting turnarounds, scoring three times within a minute of the previous goal.
While Tillman said conceding twice to Notre Dame immediately after scoring didn’t have a mental impact on his players, he admitted the defensive lapses changed the game. In particular, he felt the Terps overextended themselves on draws, leading to open spaces in their defensive zone.
“[Notre Dame] did a good job when we had some breakdowns,” Tillman said. “They’re skilled enough and they’re slick enough to put the ball in the back of the net or at least generate a good opportunity.”
Before the contest, Tillman told his players to expect a back-and-forth battle with Notre Dame. After an error-ridden victory over Yale the last timeout, he hoped a cleaner performance against the Fighting Irish could secure a crucial victory.
Instead, the Terps’ missteps at key points in the second half ensured their defeat.
“Good teams, when you make those mistakes … capitalize on them,” Tillman said. “[Notre Dame] did that today.”
