Maryland men’s lacrosse’s defense steadied last week against No. 9 Penn State. The Terps gave up eight goals in the first 17 minutes but just three over the last 43 to snap a two-game losing streak.
The unit remained dominant on Saturday. No. 6 Maryland held Ohio State to just seven goals — its second lowest output of the season — en route to a one-goal win. The Terps’ defensive excellence has steered their latest two victories, the latter helping it avoid being upset.
“We just focused on what we were trying to do all week which [was] just win some matchups, trust each other but also being ready to slide and support each other when we need to,” defender Ajax Zappitello said.
Penn State scored on just three of its last 19 shots after making eight of its first 14. Maryland’s offense slowly chipped away at its deficit before a fourth-quarter run sealed the win.
But against the Buckeyes, the Terps’ offense had its worst performance of the year. The unit recorded season-low goals and shooting percentage and a season-high 19 turnovers.
[No. 6 Maryland men’s lacrosse prevails in low-scoring affair against Ohio State, 8-7]
Maryland’s defense, forced to be near-perfect to keep the Terps afloat, was on point from the opening faceoff.
Ohio State recorded just six shots in the first quarter and had four turnovers. Ari Allen’s goal — one of only two in the period for the Buckeyes — was largely lucky. Maryland goalie Logan McNaney blocked the shot with his feet, but the ball rolled in and narrowly crossed the goal mouth.
Even with that unfortunate roll, McNaney saved four of the six shots in the period.
“The biggest thing was just giving Logan McNaney shots he wanted to see,” Zappitello said. “We’re really cooking on all cylinders when we’re able to let him see the ball really well. He did an awesome job for us.”
In the second quarter, Ohio State registered a mere five shots and five turnovers in a measly one-goal frame. The lone score came in a man-up opportunity.
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The Terps forced a Buckeye scoring drought that lasted nearly 27 minutes between the second and third periods — the only Ohio State goal in the latter came with 30 seconds left in the frame. The Buckeyes had twice as many turnovers as shots in the third quarter.
Ohio State’s three-goal final frame couldn’t make up for its prior offensive woes. Maryland’s sterling defense smothered the Buckeyes. Just 19.4 percent of their possessions turned into goals.
A week after saving six of the final nine Penn State shots on goal, McNaney ended Saturday with a 58.8 save percentage. The performance snapped the graduate student’s subpar five-game stretch with a save rate of 50 percent.
McNaney wasn’t fully cleared of last February’s season-ending injury until this spring, Tillman said. The coach felt that contributed to McNaney’s lackluster stretch.
“We’re still working on some things, just with his technique, maybe some things he wasn’t doing before,” Tillman said. “It’s taken some time to reveal that … I think he’s starting to kind of get back to form.”
McNaney’s the last line for a robust Maryland defense that’ll likely need to keep carrying an average offense through the rest of this season.
