Luke Walstrum struck just two minutes into the second quarter to extend No. 4 Penn State’s lead to five. Despite plenty of time remaining, No. 12 Maryland men’s lacrosse was already on the verge of its third straight loss.
The Terps slowly chipped away at their deficit, entering the fourth frame down three. Then, Maryland’s offense exploded with its best stretch of the season.
Jack Koras struck twice in a 13-second span. Daniel Maltz scored a pair of goals to push the Terps ahead for the first time on Sunday. Braden Erksa followed with a score less than a minute later.
Maryland scored five goals within the first five minutes of the final quarter. The Terps used that quick run to claim the lead and hold it until the final buzzer, downing the Nittany Lions in University Park, 13-11.
“We felt like we dug ourselves a huge hole … we just weren’t on point,” coach John Tillman said. “We just kept talking about ‘make the next play, forget the score, forget the scoreboard, you can’t get it back at once anyway. Let’s just make the next play.’”
Maryland (6-3, 1-1 Big Ten) dominated the second half after entering the break trailing by four goals. The Terps’ defense limited Penn State (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) to just 10 shots after the break while their offense nailed 37.5 percent of their looks.
Koras’ two goals matched his first-half output for his first four-goal game this season. He was one of six Terps to score after halftime.
“I’m just trying to do my job for the team,” Koras said. “It was a great feeling at the end of the game, winning that one.”
[Maryland men’s lacrosse’s roster is filled with versatile players]
Luke Wierman struggled at the X over the first two quarters — winning just five of 13 faceoffs — before improving in the third frame and excelling in the fourth. The All-American won seven of eight faceoffs in the final quarter to propel the comeback.
Three of Maryland’s five goals in its spurt early in the fourth period came less than 15 seconds after a Wierman successful faceoff. Another happened less than a minute later.
“We do have a guy in the faceoff X that can get hot,” Tillman said. “He did a great job in the second half. Especially as the game went on, he got better.”
Tillman said Thursday that playing at a faster pace, but not feeling rushed, was something his offense needed to continue to work on.
Both of the Terps’ goals in the first quarter came with more than 50 seconds remaining on the shot clock. Eric Spanos’ score displayed excellent decisiveness, as he fired his shot immediately after finding an angle. Koras provided Maryland its first goal of the second period, decisively firing a look off a Luke Wierman feed despite facing contact.
But the Terps’ offense lacked efficiency over the first 30 minutes. The unit shot just 20 and 14 percent in the first and second quarters, respectively.
Koras and Ryan Siracusa each capitalized for assisted goals to trim the Terps’ deficit down to two early in the third quarter. The unit then went silent besides a Nick Redd transition score until the early fourth-quarter run.
[Maryland men’s lacrosse hasn’t won the possession battle in its midseason skid]
“At halftime I felt like we were rushed and we weren’t in sync,” Tillman said. “I felt like we kind of got stale. The ball died on one side of the field … once the ball got moving I thought we did better.”
Maryland fell into a large deficit early as Penn State’s offense was electric in the opening quarter, scoring on six of its 11 shots in the period.
A pair of the Nittany Lions’ first-quarter goals came from their points leader TJ Malone. Malone added a third score less than a minute into the second period for a first-half hat trick.
Penn State’s first-half offense extended well beyond Malone. Five other Nittany Lions notched a goal en route to an 8-4 advantage over the Terps at halftime despite their leading scorer, Matt Traynor, finding the back of the net just once in six tries.
The Terps’ defense controlled the second half, forcing a Penn State scoring drought of more than 13 minutes between the third and fourth quarters. The Nittany Lions’ turnover woes — nine after halftime and 17 throughout the game — ultimately allowed Maryland to come back.
The win halted a disastrous slip for Maryland, which avoided its first three game losing streak since 2009. The Terps will look to string together a pair of wins for the first time in more than a month when they host Ohio State next weekend in the first home game of their conference slate.
