Maryland 2024

[Wheels]

What else can you say about that defensive masterpiece that we saw today? Held Loyola scoreless for 19 minutes to open the game and the 34 minutes between their 3rd and 4th goals. Burlace's on-ball defense against Poitras was excellent. I thought we'd see Schaller inserted into the starting lineup to face Minicus, and that's what happened.

Stoudt still had 16 saves and the Terps hit 6 pipes today. While their overall shooting percentage was poor, some of it was luck (pipes) and some was Stoudt just being a really good goalie. It wasn't like the Terps were hitting him in the chest or body like they did last year. He had several really good saves.

Remember when people worried that Terps didn't have enough guys to win match ups? Seems like Loyola really struggled to win match ups today. The Terps were relentless in the dodging today. They isolated and abused Loyola's rope unit. Conversely, Maryland's rope unit was superb. Nick Redd continues to play at an All-American level. He's not getting enough national attention. Loyola didn't even try to dodge on him today.

Hopefully, Eric Kolar returns soon. He's not out for the year. You can't have Redd running double shifts and McDonald taking shorty runs like they both did today for too many games. Seeing Wicks go down was heart breaking. They guy is a such a program player. Waits hit turn. Plays a role on face-off wings. Finally gets a chance to play significant minutes as a senior and crumples to the ground on a non-contact injury.

Dante Trader watched the game from the Gossett patio. He was also at the tailgate after the game. He's been attending practices and games and clearly loves the sport and the team.

Injuries eventually catch up to any team; you won’t keep winning in D1 if your team hobbles.

This week’s game against Syracuse will reveal a lot about both teams. I’ll be interested to see if Tillman assigns a marker on Spallina to remove him from the offense, or simply goes with the normal defense. The other intriguing matchup will be at the faceoff. D3’s best FOGO from last year against Weirman. Possessions will be critical.

This won’t be too mind blowing, but my only prediction here at all is if one FOGO goes off at 60%+, that team will be the winner. If it’s 50/50, Dome home cooking might win the day.

Spallina vs Zappitello. That will be the match-up to watch during the game.

The two Princeton transfers bring a different dimension to the midfield, and that will be interesting to see how Maryland's defensive midfield holds up with Wicks presumably out for a bit. Jack McDonald took shorty runs, and Nick Redd was double-shifting at times. Don't know how sustainable that is long term.

The last game up in the Dome for the Terps was during their National Title run. That game felt like a playoff game. Both teams really went after each other for the full 60-minutes.

I think you're right about face-offs being the barometer for the game. If Wierman gets 60%, it's going to be really hard for Cuse to feel comfortable. Could force them to press on offense when they do have the ball. If Cuse goes 60%, they're just going to wear down the Terps' defense. They have too many weapons on offense to hold up for that long.

[Finster]

What else can you say about that defensive masterpiece that we saw today? Held Loyola scoreless for 19 minutes to open the game and the 34 minutes between their 3rd and 4th goals. Burlace's on-ball defense against Poitras was excellent. I thought we'd see Schaller inserted into the starting lineup to face Minicus, and that's what happened.

Stoudt still had 16 saves and the Terps hit 6 pipes today. While their overall shooting percentage was poor, some of it was luck (pipes) and some was Stoudt just being a really good goalie. It wasn't like the Terps were hitting him in the chest or body like they did last year. He had several really good saves.

Remember when people worried that Terps didn't have enough guys to win match ups? Seems like Loyola really struggled to win match ups today. The Terps were relentless in the dodging today. They isolated and abused Loyola's rope unit. Conversely, Maryland's rope unit was superb. Nick Redd continues to play at an All-American level. He's not getting enough national attention. Loyola didn't even try to dodge on him today.

Hopefully, Eric Kolar returns soon. He's not out for the year. You can't have Redd running double shifts and McDonald taking shorty runs like they both did today for too many games. Seeing Wicks go down was heart breaking. They guy is a such a program player. Waits hit turn. Plays a role on face-off wings. Finally gets a chance to play significant minutes as a senior and crumples to the ground on a non-contact injury.

Dante Trader watched the game from the Gossett patio. He was also at the tailgate after the game. He's been attending practices and games and clearly loves the sport and the team.

Injuries eventually catch up to any team; you won’t keep winning in D1 if your team hobbles.

This week’s game against Syracuse will reveal a lot about both teams. I’ll be interested to see if Tillman assigns a marker on Spallina to remove him from the offense, or simply goes with the normal defense. The other intriguing matchup will be at the faceoff. D3’s best FOGO from last year against Weirman. Possessions will be critical.

This won’t be too mind blowing, but my only prediction here at all is if one FOGO goes off at 60%+, that team will be the winner. If it’s 50/50, Dome home cooking might win the day.

Spallina vs Zappitello. That will be the match-up to watch during the game.

The two Princeton transfers bring a different dimension to the midfield, and that will be interesting to see how Maryland's defensive midfield holds up with Wicks presumably out for a bit. Jack McDonald took shorty runs, and Nick Redd was double-shifting at times. Don't know how sustainable that is long term.

The last game up in the Dome for the Terps was during their National Title run. That game felt like a playoff game. Both teams really went after each other for the full 60-minutes.

I think you're right about face-offs being the barometer for the game. If Wierman gets 60%, it's going to be really hard for Cuse to feel comfortable. Could force them to press on offense when they do have the ball. If Cuse goes 60%, they're just going to wear down the Terps' defense. They have too many weapons on offense to hold up for that long.

^^^good write up.

Is Thomas Gravino getting any time there? That kid was so good at Victor.

The Terps have so many Koras’s then Kolar, and you used to have two Burlace, I can’t tell who’s who.

[Wheels]

Is Thomas Gravino getting any time there? That kid was so good at Victor.

The Terps have so many Koras’s then Kolar, and you used to have two Burlace, I can’t tell who’s who.

The only true freshman that seems to have cracked any of the lines that might play is Elijah Stobaugh. Gravino is probably looking at a redshirt.

[Finster]

Is Thomas Gravino getting any time there? That kid was so good at Victor.

The Terps have so many Koras’s then Kolar, and you used to have two Burlace, I can’t tell who’s who.

The only true freshman that seems to have cracked any of the lines that might play is Elijah Stobaugh. Gravino is probably looking at a redshirt.

Tillman has such an interesting recruiting resume. I just looked at Stobaugh’s bio. 6’4”, 210, IMG. I’m curious if he was recruited by other D1 schools? I went to the Maryland Richmond game but don’t recall him. I assume he’s got wheels and obviously strength. Every team can use a kid like that.

[keno in reno]

Is Thomas Gravino getting any time there? That kid was so good at Victor.

The Terps have so many Koras’s then Kolar, and you used to have two Burlace, I can’t tell who’s who.

The only true freshman that seems to have cracked any of the lines that might play is Elijah Stobaugh. Gravino is probably looking at a redshirt.

Tillman has such an interesting recruiting resume. I just looked at Stobaugh’s bio. 6’4”, 210, IMG. I’m curious if he was recruited by other D1 schools? I went to the Maryland Richmond game but don’t recall him. I assume he’s got wheels and obviously strength. Every team can use a kid like that.

Curious what you mean by Tillman's interesting recruiting resume?

[Finster]

Is Thomas Gravino getting any time there? That kid was so good at Victor.

The Terps have so many Koras’s then Kolar, and you used to have two Burlace, I can’t tell who’s who.

The only true freshman that seems to have cracked any of the lines that might play is Elijah Stobaugh. Gravino is probably looking at a redshirt.

Tillman has such an interesting recruiting resume. I just looked at Stobaugh’s bio. 6’4”, 210, IMG. I’m curious if he was recruited by other D1 schools? I went to the Maryland Richmond game but don’t recall him. I assume he’s got wheels and obviously strength. Every team can use a kid like that.

Curious what you mean by Tillman's interesting recruiting resume?

I just feel like Tillman finds talent and character that others overlook (or don’t prioritize, anyway), talent and character that fit in his particular system. It seems that Maryland’s defense and SSDM’s have been really elite for a while now (his emphasis?), and of course he had both Bernhardt and Wisnauskas, but his offense seems more equally distributed.

I don’t know. Just spitballing.

[Wheels]

Is Thomas Gravino getting any time there? That kid was so good at Victor.

The Terps have so many Koras’s then Kolar, and you used to have two Burlace, I can’t tell who’s who.

The only true freshman that seems to have cracked any of the lines that might play is Elijah Stobaugh. Gravino is probably looking at a redshirt.

Tillman has such an interesting recruiting resume. I just looked at Stobaugh’s bio. 6’4”, 210, IMG. I’m curious if he was recruited by other D1 schools? I went to the Maryland Richmond game but don’t recall him. I assume he’s got wheels and obviously strength. Every team can use a kid like that.

Curious what you mean by Tillman's interesting recruiting resume?

I just feel like Tillman finds talent and character that others overlook (or don’t prioritize, anyway), talent and character that fit in his particular system. It seems that Maryland’s defense and SSDM’s have been really elite for a while now (his emphasis?), and of course he had both Bernhardt and Wisnauskas, but his offense seems more equally distributed.

I don’t know. Just spitballing.

Stobaugh can really move, and he has a big lefty shot on the move. I'm assuming he had a lot of college options. Was a 4-star kid out of IMS.

Tills has given some interviews over the years talking about how you can develop things like sticks skills once a player gets on campus, but you can't develop elite athleticism that way. It's why he's recruited a few guys that ended up playing college football after they first verbally committed to play lacrosse at Maryland (Bryson Shaw at Ohio St/USC, Ethan Burke at Texas, Dante Trader, Henry Hasselbeck...probably missing a couple more). He's also started recruiting elite HS LSMs and bumping them down to close defense of late (Zappitello, Schaller). George Stamos is a prime example of how Tills evaluates talent. Stamos played public HS in Alexandria. Not exactly where you think of getting high level lacrosse guys (most Alexandria lacrosse kids will go to a WCAC or IAC private HS). Stamos played LSM in HS and scored a ton of goals. You can see video of him playing 6v6 at the offensive end where he's dodging kids even with his long pole. He was an all-league football player, too. I think he played WR and safety. Now, you find serious football players in the Alexandria public HS all the time. Tills gets him to College Park. Red shirts him. Puts a short stick in his hand. Now he's getting tons of minutes as a shorty as a RS freshman. You're looking a future cornerstone in the midfield defense (Eric Kolar is a red shirt SO this year who's injured). For the next 2 or 3 years, you're going to have 2 All-American type shorties.

There are times I worry about getting an elite dodger at attack. Tills tried to get Kyle Lehman out of Wissahickon HS in the PHL-area to come to CP. Lehman was an all-conference RB in high school in a very good HS football conference, and he put up absurd lacrosse numbers. He went to PSU and is starting as their lefty attackman as a freshman. He's probably 5-9, 185 lbs but is lightening quick and strong. When he committed to PSU, I hoped he'd end up playing RB at a Lehigh or Lafayette kind of 1-AA football program. Instead, we'll have to deal with him for 4 years. He's not a Grant Ament kind of attackman. He's more of a goal scorer than feeder, but he's bigger and stronger version of Michael Sowers. Will he be that for PSU? Who knows? But style and athleticism-wise, that might be a good comparison.

He's the kind of guy I'd love to see Tills get every few years to just make the offense more dangerous. Keep the ball moving but a guy who can do some magic when the shot clock is winding down.

[PulpExposure]

There are times I worry about getting an elite dodger at attack. Tills tried to get Kyle Lehman out of Wissahickon HS in the PHL-area to come to CP. Lehman was an all-conference RB in high school in a very good HS football conference, and he put up absurd lacrosse numbers. He went to PSU and is starting as their lefty attackman as a freshman. He's probably 5-9, 185 lbs but is lightening quick and strong. When he committed to PSU, I hoped he'd end up playing RB at a Lehigh or Lafayette kind of 1-AA football program. Instead, we'll have to deal with him for 4 years. He's not a Grant Ament kind of attackman. He's more of a goal scorer than feeder, but he's bigger and stronger version of Michael Sowers. Will he be that for PSU? Who knows? But style and athleticism-wise, that might be a good comparison.

He's the kind of guy I'd love to see Tills get every few years to just make the offense more dangerous. Keep the ball moving but a guy who can do some magic when the shot clock is winding down.

Completely agree with you. I was actually pretty hyped when Matty Higgins (2025 HS class) committed as he's that shifty dodger at attack.

[Essexfenwick]

I think Erksa is an elite dodger, lightening quick. He had a better freshman year than Bernhardt did and has superstar potential.

[gtownterpfan]

I agree that Erksa has "superstar potential." I don't think he has the sheer athletic ability that J Berhardt had. Plus, Bernhardt played on a team as a freshman that had a lot more bona fide scoring options. So, Erksa was kind of thrust into the fire. I still would like to see Erksa come out of the box and initiate from up top. I also think that the game needs to slow down a half a click or so for him, to the point where he realizes he has a little more time to think about his shot. Easy for me to say, because by a little more time, I mean only an instant or two, but if you play the game long enough you start to understand there's a moment before you shoot where you can actually think about where you or even if you shoot. I am very excited about his ability and think his shooting percentage will only get better as he gets more seasoned.

[PulpExposure]

I agree that Erksa has "superstar potential." I don't think he has the sheer athletic ability that J Berhardt had. Plus, Bernhardt played on a team as a freshman that had a lot more bona fide scoring options. So, Erksa was kind of thrust into the fire. I still would like to see Erksa come out of the box and initiate from up top. I also think that the game needs to slow down a half a click or so for him, to the point where he realizes he has a little more time to think about his shot. Easy for me to say, because by a little more time, I mean only an instant or two, but if you play the game long enough you start to understand there's a moment before you shoot where you can actually think about where you or even if you shoot. I am very excited about his ability and think his shooting percentage will only get better as he gets more seasoned.

Agree here. Comparing Erksa to Bernhardt from a numbers perspective is an apples to oranges comparison. Erksa started at attack, and the ball ran through him.

Bernhardt ran as a middie that freshman year (Heacock, Rambo, and Maltz were the starters on attack), and as you point out, he was probably option 6 on the offense at that point (the aforementioned 3, then Kelly, then Rotanz, THEN Bernhardt).

[Essexfenwick]

Bernhardts shot as a freshmen was very low velocity he really exponentially improved accuracy and velocity over his career to elite.

[PulpExposure]

Bernhardts shot as a freshmen was very low velocity he really exponentially improved accuracy and velocity over his career to elite.

That's for sure. His freshman year, he was quick and fast, but that's about the most notable thing. He definitely put time in and developed.

[LaxInSpace]

Rejoice! Spring season in Maryland is finally here.
Men's and women's Terrapin lacrosse cheer,
Two more glorious victories for the black and gold.
Crabcakes and lacrosse, a motto we must uphold.

Sorry, not sorry, Loyola, our in-state foe,
Unless its against my Terps, I wish you best as you go.
Lax is exciting when the local Old Line teams are good,
Even up the street in that place called Homewood.

Up next for both Terp lax teams - Saturday at Syracuse.
Storied as well, but a place we do not like to lose.
Lady Terps at 12, then the men at 6 in the Dome.
Wouldn't be so bad if the Orange caught Testudo syndrome.

[Wheels]

Rejoice! Spring season in Maryland is finally here.
Men's and women's Terrapin lacrosse cheer,
Two more glorious victories for the black and gold.
Crabcakes and lacrosse, a motto we must uphold.

Sorry, not sorry, Loyola, our in-state foe,
Unless its against my Terps, I wish you best as you go.
Lax is exciting when the local Old Line teams are good,
Even up the street in that place called Homewood.

Up next for both Terp lax teams - Saturday at Syracuse.
Storied as well, but a place we do not like to lose.
Lady Terps at 12, then the men at 6 in the Dome.
Wouldn't be so bad if the Orange caught Testudo syndrome.

+1

[AreaLax]

podcast Quint talking to Carc and Cotter about the game this weekend

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l ... 0645454661

[Finster]

podcast Quint talking to Carc and Cotter about the game this weekend

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/l ... 0645454661

Really good podcast which dives into this game a ton. Interesting analysis.

I have no idea who wins. On the margin I’d say Syracuse wins, if for no other reason it’s a home game in a dome which opposing teams can struggle with on occasion.

It will be interesting to see the faceoff. If Kohn can beat Weirman, I’d think Syracuse will benefit from that far more than if Weirman can beat Kohn.

The real deciding factor to me is in goal. McNaney will want to show here. Same with Mark. I’d look to see which of these two has the better numbers. Of course if your defense is playing well, that can lead to a goalie having a great game. But both these goalies are so good; shooters will need to know where to aim, not simply fire hard.

Fascinating matchup. Gonna need to wait all day to see it since it starts at 6 pm. Weather outside looks tricky, which might keep attendance lower than expected. I’d still think you’ll get at least 5,000 for this one.

Can’t wait.

[LaxAllStars]

Cotter and Carc preview Maryland at SU
Saturday 6pm ESPNU

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show ... er-e2fqiqe

[AreaLax]

Ajax is the guest on this week’s podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i ... 0645562704

[AreaLax]

Till’s before today’s game

https://x.com/usalacrossemag/status/175 ... EO2hFStaxg