Maryland men’s lacrosse looks toward a familiar path to a national title.
The No. 2-seed Terps have already played — and beaten — five of the seven teams remaining in the NCAA tournament. But Maryland, off its best regular season in three years, faces Georgetown next in the quarterfinals — the teams’ first matchup since 2012.
Here’s a roundup about all of Maryland’s possible opponents as the NCAA tournament heads toward the quarterfinals this weekend.
Georgetown
The Hoyas enter off a win over No. 7-seed Duke and have scored 17.8 goals a game in their past five matches. Graduate student attacker Aidan Carroll leads a top-15 offense nationally in goals a game.
“They’re hitting on all cylinders,” coach John Tillman said. “They’re playing as well as anybody in the country.”
Carroll scored six times against the Blue Devils, largely through one-on-one attacking. The Terps could keep Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Will Schaller on Carroll, similar to last week when Schaller traveled with attacker Josh Yago.
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Georgetown’s defense ranks No. 10 in the nation in goals allowed a game and has given up double-digit scores once in the past five games.
Maryland’s offense has been largely inconsistent, but comes off a 13-goal outburst against Air Force.
If the Terps can continue their recent offensive success and advance, they would face the winner of the Princeton and Syracuse matchup.
Princeton and Syracuse
Maryland’s defense led victories against both teams in February. The Terps are the only team to hold the Tigers to single-digit goals this season, while the Orange matched a season low with seven scores against Maryland.
Goalkeeper Logan McNaney saved at least 57 percent of shots on goal against the two teams and held Syracuse to just two scores in the second half. The graduate student ranks No. 2 nationally in goals against average.
“With Logan, it being his sixth year, he’s seen so many of these different situations,” graduate student midfielder Zack Goorno said. “He’s obviously so talented and he’s very experienced as a leader and also just his presence gives you a lot of confidence too.”
Princeton and Syracuse rank 10th and 11th, respectively, in goals scored a game. Both teams have five players who scored at least 20 goals for the season.
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The Tigers scored a season-high 22 goals in their first-round NCAA tournament win, while the Orange scored seven times in the fourth quarter to force overtime against Harvard. Junior goalkeeper Jimmy McCool posted one of his worst save percentages of the season against the Crimson, which contributed to the large deficit.
Princeton and Syracuse also rank near the top of their respective conferences in goals allowed a game. The Tigers’ defense has faltered against top opponents, though.
Maryland and Cornell, the tournament’s top seeds, are the only teams to beat Princeton. They combined for 48 goals across three games against the Tigers, with junior goalkeeper Ryan Croddick facing constant pressure.
Potential NCAA championship
The Terps have beaten all but one team on the other side of the bracket. Maryland handled Richmond to open the season, defeated Penn State twice and narrowly escaped with a victory in a national-championship rematch against Notre Dame.
The Terps haven’t faced No. 1-seed Cornell since they beat the Big Red in the 2022 national title game. A rematch could plot the country’s top offense against Maryland’s stifling defense.
