Maryland Lacrosse Announces 2016 Slate
12/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Fresh off its fourth NCAA Final Four appearance in the last five seasons, the Maryland men's lacrosse program has announced its 2016 schedule. The Terps, which led the nation in scoring defense last season, return seven starters including USILA All-Americans Kyle Bernlohr and Matt Dunn.
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Featuring five of the seven other teams from the 2014 NCAA Quarterfinals, the Terps' non-conference schedule includes Notre Dame, Albany and North Carolina. Early April will then mark the beginning of play in the Big Ten Conference – a league that led the NCAA with two Final Four teams and boasted three quarterfinalists in 2015.
Maryland ranked third in the country in home attendance last season, and has made Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium one of the toughest places to play with a 12-1 regular season record over the last two years.
“We are really excited to announce our 2016 schedule,” said head coach John Tillman. “We believe we have pieced together a challenging schedule that will also give our tremendous fans, alumni and recruits an opportunity to watch us play throughout the country.”
Maryland is set to open the season at home against Navy, whom it defeated in Annapolis in last year's season-opener, 8-1. The Terps will then welcome High Point the following weekend for the first time in history.
The Terps next travel to Yale on Feb. 27 for a rematch of last season's NCAA First Round matchup, when Maryland defeated the Bulldogs, 8-7.
Maryland then heads to California for the second consecutive season to participate in the Pacific Coast Shootout against fellow 2015 NCAA Final Four program, Notre Dame, on March 5. The Terps were victorious in their inaugural visit to California last season, where they defeated North Carolina, 10-8, in a top-5 matchup.
Following its trip to the Golden State, the Terrapins will make a pair of trips north on I-95 to Drexel and Princeton on March 8 and March 12, respectively. Maryland will face the Dragons for just the third time in history, including a 12-3 victory last season, while it travels to Princeton in a regular season matchup for the first time since 1977.
Maryland will then return home for a pair of exciting contests against perennial ranked foes Albany and North Carolina.
The Albany game on March 16 marks the first matchup in history between the teams, as Maryland welcomes last season's highest-scoring offense (17.1 goals/g). The Terps then host the Tar Heels, whom they defeated twice in the same season last year for the first time since 2006.
The Terps will close out the non-conference schedule as they visit Penn for the first time since 2009 on March 29.
Maryland opens Big Ten action on the road against Michigan and Penn State, before hosting Rutgers on April 16 and NCAA quarterfinalist Ohio State on April 24.
The regular season schedule will close April 30 on the road as Maryland and Johns Hopkins renew “The Rivalry” for the 107th time. The Terps won the most recent meeting, 12-11, when the pair met in last season's NCAA Final Four in Philadelphia.
The 2016 Big Ten Tournament is set for May 5 and May 7 and will be hosted by Johns Hopkins, while the NCAA Final Four will be held in Philadelphia for the second consecutive season.
