Maryland men’s lacrosse’s dynamic attacking trio has taken turns dictating games this season. Honorable mention All-American Eric Spanos didn’t score more than twice in any of the Terps’ last five games.
But the senior took over in No. 2-seed Maryland’s 13-5 win over Air Force in Sunday’s NCAA tournament first round. Spanos scored a career-high six goals on 11 shots, and Maryland put together one of its most complete performances of the season.
The majority of his success came from around the crease, where the 220-pound attacker bulldozed defenders to create space. His teammates often cleared out when he received the ball near the X.
“We got our guys high up top, it just gave us some room to attack those one-on-one matchups,” Spanos said. “I was able to use my size to get to the front of the goal where I think every player wants to go… those guys being so high gave me a great advantage coming around.”
The All-Big Ten second team honoree scored twice in the first frame, one off a fake pass and another when he trucked a defender to come wide open in front of the cage. The Terps got off to a quick start, an encouraging sign after Ohio State dominated them from the opening whistle in the Big Ten tournament championship.
Fifth-year attacker Daniel Kelly, who has often scored early in games, drilled a high-and-far shot from the outside on the Terps’ opening possession. He finished with two goals to support Spanos’ career day.
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Junior Braden Erksa, the third starting attacker, continued his inconsistent campaign with a game-high five turnovers. The former Big Ten Freshman of the Year shot only 20 percent, but tied a team-high with two assists.
Spanos got hot with a pair of goals at the start of the second half. The first came when he maneuvered to the middle of the field and bounced a shot. He followed that with a dash towards the cage and a shrug off a defender to create a point-blank look.
“Instead of coming off the inside, they come a lot of times off your guy behind the goal,” coach John Tillman said. “That was something we really had to practice the last few days.”
Maryland’s third-ranked scoring defense joined the offense in an improved performance after allowing a season-high 14 goals to the Buckeyes.
Defender Will Schaller guarded star playmaker Josh Yago throughout and held him to only two points. Attacker Caelan Driggs entered third nationally in goals per game, including eight consecutive hat tricks, but the Terps’ defense rarely let him receive the ball in space. Driggs shot only 28 percent after scoring five times in his last game.
“We held them to six shots on-goal in the first half. They got some shots, but I think some of those were contested and they were runners, and ones maybe that were a little outside,” Tillman said. “I thought a lot of those shots were kind of longer range.”
Goalkeeper Logan McNaney anticipated well with Maryland’s defense usually keeping the ball on the perimeter. The graduate student allowed only three goals in a game where he wasn’t under frequent pressure.
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The Terps, who entered in the bottom half of the Big Ten in faceoff percentage, won 14 of 22 on Sunday.
Senior Shea Keethler entered struggling and losing playing time. But the faceoff specialist won eight of his nine faceoffs against Air Force, a positive sign with Maryland facing Georgetown next, a team that thrives at the X.
Spanos recorded the most goals by a Maryland player in an NCAA tournament game since 2021, and tied for the third-most in program history. Spanos, Kelly and Erksa have each single-handedly taken over a game within the past month — if they can find success simultaneously, the Terps’ offense will be all the more dangerous.
