Emmett Houlihan danced with Eric Kolar near the side of the cage late in triple overtime. The Michigan midfielder, with Maryland’s defense crashing on him after Kolar fell, found Nick Roode in an open spot in front of the cage.
Roode took the pass in stride, taking two steps before firing a rocket into the upper part of the net. Multiple Terps put their hands on their head in disbelief — the Wolverines’ lone shot of overtime gave them an 11-10 win over No. 1 Maryland men’s lacrosse at SECU Stadium on Saturday.
The loss was the Terps’ fourth straight to Michigan (5-4, 1-0 Big Ten) and snapped their undefeated start to the season.
“The biggest difference in the last four, the only thing that’s really changed is [Michigan assistant coach] Scott Bieda,” coach John Tillman said. “Since he’s gotten there, they’re just tricky … it was very apparent they were going to work deep into the shot clock, shorten the game and just wait for a really good shot.”
Maryland (7-1, 0-1 Big Ten) allowed more than 10 goals for the first time this season. Graduate student goalkeeper Logan McNaney, who entered with the second-best save percentage nationally, only saved nine of 20 shots against him in his worst outing this year.
McNaney’s anticipation has been excellent this year, especially on close-range shots. But he struggled to bail out his defense when the Wolverines frequently moved the ball near the cage.
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Michigan varied shots from all over the field.
Tewaaraton Award Watch List honoree Ryan Cohen dashed toward the side of the cage and drilled a shot to even the score out of halftime. Sophomore attacker Nick Roode gave the Wolverines a lead late in the third quarter off a Cohen feed in the middle of the field, scoring from just outside the crease. And the Wolverines’ final strike came just in front of McNaney.
The Terps’ dynamic trio of attackers helped them keep pace with the slight defensive struggles.
Fifth-year Daniel Kelly and senior Eric Spanos combined for five scores, while Braden Erksa had a season-high four assists. One of the three represented the goal-scorer for Maryland’s response following a Michigan goal all-but one time — graduate student midfielder Bryce Ford accounted for the other with a personal two-goal spurt in the fourth quarter that evened the score at 10.
The Wolverines got off the final shot of regulation with an open look for Cohen, but McNaney stepped out and made an impressive save to force overtime.
Michigan repeatedly turned the ball over against a swarming defense in the first two overtimes. Graduate student long-stick midfielder Jack McDonald had a chance at the end of the second frame for Maryland when he pushed toward the cage, but junior goalkeeper Hunter Taylor made a strong save to force another overtime.
The Terps never got another look as the Wolverine’s ended how they started — fast.
[Bryce Ford has become a dynamic weapon for Maryland men’s lacrosse]
Michigan found holes in Maryland’s defense with quick passes and elusive moves, getting the ball to the side of the cage and firing shots at short angles to take a multi-score lead a few minutes in.
The Wolverines frequently caught defenders off-guard with subtle off-ball screening. Michigan took advantage of Maryland’s attempts to slide support when defenders faced unfavorable matchups, finding holes on the interior.
“Definitely got to clean some of that stuff up, some of the off-ball lapses we had,” junior defender Will Schaller said. “Those are things that we’d want to work on, that are there even when we do win. You can’t just can’t change your approach.”
Erksa, McDonald and Kelly all scored to keep the Terps at pace in the first quarter, overcoming the Wolverines’ early faceoff domination.
Maryland recovered to win 59 percent of faceoffs overall, though, through a trio of players, including freshman Jonah Carrier in the first extended action of his collegiate career.
Carrier helped overcome Michigan’s continued success against McNaney in the second quarter, when it struck three times. The Terps found offense in the frame through their defense forcing turnovers with on-ball pressure, eventually totaling four scores to enter halftime up by one.
But Maryland’s defense still offered little resistance in keeping the Wolverines away from the crease in the second half. Michigan took a 10-8 lead after three quarters, and the Terps ultimately couldn’t complete a comeback with a stagnant late offense in their Big Ten opener.
“League games are different … games are kind of slugfests,” Tillman said. “There’s times where you’re just gonna have to dig in and they did a good job of just digging into every possession.”
