At least six seniors from the 2021 Maryland men’s lacrosse team will use their extra year of NCAA eligibility and return to College Park for a fifth season, a team spokesperson confirmed Thursday.
Attackman Logan Wisnauskas, defenseman Matt Rahill, goalie Drew Morris and midfielders Bubba Fairman, Roman Puglise and Alex Smith are Maryland’s beneficiaries of the NCAA’s one-year extension of eligibility in 2022. Anthony DeMaio could also return.
With the return of key leaders on both ends of the field, coach John Tillman’s squad is poised to defend its Big Ten title and make another deep run in the NCAA tournament next season.
Wisnauskas is the most notable offensive threat to return for a fifth year. He tallied 41 goals and 31 assists in 16 games last season — good for the second-most points on the team behind Tewaaraton Award-winner Jared Bernhardt.
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On the defensive end, Rahill clocked 17 caused turnovers, a tie for second on the team. He and Puglise picked up a combined 51 ground balls last spring.
But the returners don’t entirely fill the void left by some impact players from last season.
Bernhardt finished his career as the program’s all-time leader in both goals and points after passing Matt Rambo in both categories last season. He now plays Division II football at Ferris State University.
Additionally, former All-American Nick Grill won’t be back for the Terps.
On top of his fifth-year players, Tillman secured three graduate transfers in June to bolster his roster. Former Cornell midfielder Jonathan Donville and former Villanova attackman Keegan Khan and defenseman Owen Prybylski will all don black and gold this spring.
CORRECTION: Due to a reporting error, a previous version of this story stated Bubba Fairman and Anthony DeMaio would not return to Maryland. Fairman is returning, while DeMaio could still come back. This story and headline has been updated.
