Maryland 2023

[Pork42]

99.9% of the people on this board never played goal in an NCAA Tournament game, no. Yes, Brian Ruppel is better at goalie than everyone posting here. That’s a given. That doesn’t change that unfortunately he was pretty much the primary reason Maryland lost. He gave up 4-5 goals that you absolutely need your goalie to save in a playoff game. He made 5 saves. It doesn’t make him a bad player or the end of his career but that’s just the way it went. He still has a great future with the program if he chooses to ride it out since McNaney will be back next year but on Saturday they needed a subpar game at minimum to win and he was below even that level sadly. It’s okay to say that

Stats do matter and your good at putting it out there. Stats help tell a story of a game a season ect but there is alot lost to the story if you didn't watch the games. No disrespect man your a good contributor here. An older McNaney a seasoned veteran maybe directs traffic better or brings a since of confidence to the D. I know they say he is calm after a goal but have seen him express his opinion to his D guys and it wasn't patting them on the ass.

[Finster]

Tills is a class act. So too are Makar and Geppert. Thank you for sharing that video.

[sc lax]

Obviously Maryland had a lot to overcome this year and they fought till the end. At the end of the day it looked like it was going to be tough for Maryland to go another run with the injuries that took place throughout the year. As an outsider, I am a little curious as to how Bryant is seeded higher than Army (I know they are "unseeded"). Army is clearly a very good team and is even ranked higher in RPI than Bryant. Just confused how Hopkins gets a matchup that in theory should be easier than Maryland's, when Maryland is seeded higher.

Maryland will be back for sure, and I am sure they will build off of this season to come back even stronger. Best of luck

[jrn19]

99.9% of the people on this board never played goal in an NCAA Tournament game, no. Yes, Brian Ruppel is better at goalie than everyone posting here. That’s a given. That doesn’t change that unfortunately he was pretty much the primary reason Maryland lost. He gave up 4-5 goals that you absolutely need your goalie to save in a playoff game. He made 5 saves. It doesn’t make him a bad player or the end of his career but that’s just the way it went. He still has a great future with the program if he chooses to ride it out since McNaney will be back next year but on Saturday they needed a subpar game at minimum to win and he was below even that level sadly. It’s okay to say that

Stats do matter and your good at putting it out there. Stats help tell a story of a game a season ect but there is alot lost to the story if you didn't watch the games. No disrespect man your a good contributor here. An older McNaney a seasoned veteran maybe directs traffic better or brings a since of confidence to the D. I know they say he is calm after a goal but have seen him express his opinion to his D guys and it wasn't patting them on the ass.

If you saw the game you saw Ruppel drop his stick on every single Army high to high shot except for one at 14-14 I think. Thought him getting that save might stem the tide and be huge to get the win. Unfortunately it wasn’t. But he was guessing on everything. They shot high to high all night and he dropped his stick every time. He didn’t know where it was going. That at the end of the day is a goalie who was rattled. And it happens. Freshman goalies in the tournament can be Niko Amato in 2011. Also can be Collin Krieg in the Final Four in 2021 who similarly just got rattled early and didn’t know where the ball was going. He had a great run when he came in, he helped turn the season around with how he played in that big Princeton win and then obviously the UVA game was incredible. His attitude I think was huge for this team. But he really fell off the last few games, seemed to lose confidence. And he gave up again 4-5 goals that just have to be saved last night. It was a 1 goal game where both offenses played well and both faceoff guys were pretty darn even. That was the difference.

It’s not the end of his story at Maryland by any means and he’ll learn from it for the next time he’s in this spot.

[Seahawk]

Not the best year but hopefully a learning year. No alpha dog emerged on offense and not enough ball rotation to allow Murphy and Brennan to hammer it home. Lack of good ball movement meant fewer close-in shots. On defense, the effort was there but the MD scheme is not to slide very much. When the Rope unit lost contact more than usual, the D gave up too many close open shots that challenged the goalie. Ruppel will be better when his D plays better. In 2022, it was no secret that the SSDMs we the key and they graduated like 80% of the scoring. Injuries played a part but injuries and younger players were to much to overcome to expect a deep run. Let's see if this year will be the experience gaining year to get them back to the top.

[AreaLax]

Just did some quick math.

The Terps lose 21 (10.7%) of 196 goals they scored this year to graduation.

The Terps lose 30 (25.2%) of the 119 assists they had this year to graduation.

Together, they lose 51 (15.98%) of 319 total points they scored this year to graduation.

This assumes Dante Trader returns (5g, 2a) next year, but I don't think he will.

Add back in Eric Malever, and he erases all of those losses and probably then some. You have to think Spanos and Whittier increase on their 22 and 20 point seasons, respectively.

Malever
Erksa
Kelly
Maltz
Murphy
Koras
Brennan
Whittier
Spanos

That's nine players who have all had 20+ point seasons in their careers. How all of those pieces fit together is the question.

Is Siracusa not coming back?

Random question why didn’t we see more of Cope this season?
Also I know Larkin red-shirted this season. Do we know of others? Doesn’t look like Aitken played this season? Also wonder if Mullane can get a medical red-shirt?

[jrn19]

Braden Erksa’s last 8 games: 18 goals, 13 assists, 31 points

That’s 3.9 PPG in a stretch where the worst team he played was Ohio State. He had 4 goals and 1 assist on Scott Smith who’s an All-American, 4 goals and 1 assist last night matched up against Pilate, had a 6 assist night against Rutgers when they took him away as a dodger. If you average 4 PPG in a 8 game stretch where you play 5 games against NCAA Tournament teams and 2 against Rutgers, call it “alpha dog” or whatever you want, you played at an elite level. They found their Guy. That wasn’t the problem at the end of the year. In fact, the offense played some of its best games down the stretch against Hopkins 2nd time and Army last night. Rutgers games were solid as well.

The first midfield’s inability to consistently dodge against poles was a problem, as was Maltz and Kelly being able to be taken out by shorties too consistently. When you can shortie two attack and then your first midfield can’t dodge poles…well you’re kinda in trouble. But that’s where the 2nd MF really stepped up at the end of the year. Spanos had 7 goals on 12 shots in the last 4 games. Whittier had 13 points last 7 games. Those guys were getting poles and producing. First MF could not consistently enough.

Makes end to this year disappointing, but the future incredibly encouraging. Got 3 more years of those dudes.

[CU77]

I am a little curious as to how Bryant is seeded higher than Army (I know they are "unseeded"). Army is clearly a very good team and is even ranked higher in RPI than Bryant. Just confused how Hopkins gets a matchup that in theory should be easier than Maryland's, when Maryland is seeded higher.

Bus travel distance limit. Bryant is more than 400 miles from both College Park and State College (PSU).

[tech37]

I am a little curious as to how Bryant is seeded higher than Army (I know they are "unseeded"). Army is clearly a very good team and is even ranked higher in RPI than Bryant. Just confused how Hopkins gets a matchup that in theory should be easier than Maryland's, when Maryland is seeded higher.

Bus travel distance limit. Bryant is more than 400 miles from both College Park and State College (PSU).

That will go over well with Terp fans.

[jrn19]

It is what it is. You want to make a Final Four run, you gotta win your first round game at home. You get 5 saves in a home playoff game, you probably are playing a close game with anyone. The way Hopkins is playing right now, they would probably beat Army too. I think they're going to make the Final Four tbh, as good as Notre Dame is. Just wasn't the Terps year. If you lose in the First Round two times in 10 years and don't miss the tournament once in that span, that says a lot.

[Wheels]

Just did some quick math.

The Terps lose 21 (10.7%) of 196 goals they scored this year to graduation.

The Terps lose 30 (25.2%) of the 119 assists they had this year to graduation.

Together, they lose 51 (15.98%) of 319 total points they scored this year to graduation.

This assumes Dante Trader returns (5g, 2a) next year, but I don't think he will.

Add back in Eric Malever, and he erases all of those losses and probably then some. You have to think Spanos and Whittier increase on their 22 and 20 point seasons, respectively.

Malever
Erksa
Kelly
Maltz
Murphy
Koras
Brennan
Whittier
Spanos

That's nine players who have all had 20+ point seasons in their careers. How all of those pieces fit together is the question.

Is Siracusa not coming back?

Random question why didn’t we see more of Cope this season?
Also I know Larkin red-shirted this season. Do we know of others? Doesn’t look like Aitken played this season? Also wonder if Mullane can get a medical red-shirt?

TBH, I don't know if Siracusa is back or not. I haven't heard anything on him.

Cope has another year if he wants it, but my guess he'd do that somewhere else. Really good kid. Really good student. You wonder what happens last year if he doesn't hurt his foot against High Point. Does Fairman switch over to defense?

I have heard that Aiken is a redshirt candidate. I don't know if there's ever a specific designation for some of these guys, or if it just happens because they didn't play at all.

[AreaLax]

Just did some quick math.

The Terps lose 21 (10.7%) of 196 goals they scored this year to graduation.

The Terps lose 30 (25.2%) of the 119 assists they had this year to graduation.

Together, they lose 51 (15.98%) of 319 total points they scored this year to graduation.

This assumes Dante Trader returns (5g, 2a) next year, but I don't think he will.

Add back in Eric Malever, and he erases all of those losses and probably then some. You have to think Spanos and Whittier increase on their 22 and 20 point seasons, respectively.

Malever
Erksa
Kelly
Maltz
Murphy
Koras
Brennan
Whittier
Spanos

That's nine players who have all had 20+ point seasons in their careers. How all of those pieces fit together is the question.

Is Siracusa not coming back?

Random question why didn’t we see more of Cope this season?
Also I know Larkin red-shirted this season. Do we know of others? Doesn’t look like Aitken played this season? Also wonder if Mullane can get a medical red-shirt?

TBH, I don't know if Siracusa is back or not. I haven't heard anything on him.

Cope has another year if he wants it, but my guess he'd do that somewhere else. Really good kid. Really good student. You wonder what happens last year if he doesn't hurt his foot against High Point. Does Fairman switch over to defense?

I have heard that Aiken is a redshirt candidate. I don't know if there's ever a specific designation for some of these guys, or if it just happens because they didn't play at all.

I see both Spanos and Whittier are now listed as red-shirt freshman. Not sure when that changed

[terp talk]

Just saying: Terps in last 8 quarterfinals--Incredible Run

2014-----Terps 16. Bryant 8
2015-----Terps 14 Carolina 7
2016-----Terps 13. Syracuse 7
2017-----Terps 18 Albany 9
2018-----Terps 13. Cornell 8
2019---- UVA 13. Terps 12
2021-----Terps 14. Notre Dame 13
2022-----Terps 18. UVA 9

Remember the one loss--Pipe Goal for UVA
7 of 8 years
I'm good with that
Rooting for 3 Big Ten Teams--tired of hearing about ACC
Remember 2 Tillman assistants Conry and Warne still alive in the dance.

[MDralphie]

Not a good ending but still a good year. Ruppel had a bad game but he had excellent games as well.
Tough position for a freshman. Remember Virginia! I’d like to know a team that lost as much as MD and still competed at their level. I’m waiting… Tillman and coaches did a great job. Benson did not start position less offense. Game changes, coaches change. Tillman did too. Maryland will continue to recruit Our Type of Guy. We could use an explosive hard shooting player but we have plenty of talent. Feel blessed to have watched #1,#23,#20 and other graduates who worked so hard. Tough Turtles. Thanks

[Bmk2222]

Wierman will be back

Assuming that’s why Tygh is in the transfer Portal…..

[jrn19]

That + #1 FOGO in 2023 (Creter) coming in next year

[Cno3putts]

FOGO and goalie for next year ??

[AreaLax]

Wierman will be back

Assuming that’s why Tygh is in the transfer Portal…..

Think Tygh graduated

[jrn19]

McNaney and Wierman next year with Ruppel and Creter backing up if there’s no injuries. And ideally, assuming no jumping into the portal, injuries, which you never know, then those two take over in the starting roles for 2025.

[blue angels]

FOGO and goalie for next year ??

Maryland is in a better situation for 23/24 than most teams with 2 talented experienced goalies. However, it's tough to play more than one goalie and with an AA veteran returning from injury, will Ruppel now agree to, sit for a year when he could start for any number of other D1 teams? It would be unethical, but I suspect there will be some people in his ear about this, but maybe he is happy regardless.