PREVIEW: Terps Face Denver in NCAA Finals Monday
5/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
The 6th-seeded Maryland men's lacrosse team (15-3) returns to its third NCAA Championship game in the past five years as it faces Denver (16-2) Monday at 1:00 pm at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, Pa.
Event Information
Watch: ESPN2
Listen: Westwood One/SiriusXM Channel 91
Stats: Live stats for the game are available by clicking here.
Quick-Hitters
• With Saturday's 12-11 semifinal victory over Johns Hopkins, Maryland head coach John Tillman improved to 11-4 (.733) all-time in the NCAA Tournament, and 5-0 when facing a team he previously lost to in the regular season.
• Maryland is 4-0 all-time against Denver, outscoring the Pioneers by an average margin of 5.5 goals. Denver has never scored more than eight goals in the series. The last two meetings came in NCAA First Round matchups in College Park, Md.
• The Terrapins won their 15th game of the season Saturday against Johns Hopkins, setting a program single-season victories record. The program wins record was originally set in 1998, when the Terps went 14-3 and lost in the NCAA Finals to Princeton.
• Maryland was the beneficiary of a monster game from sophomore Matt Rambo in the Terps' win over Johns Hopkins, as the sophomore matched his career-high with six points on four goals and two assists. Senior Jay Carlson chipped in with three goals and an assist.
• Maryland remains the nation's leader in scoring defense at 6.89 goals/g, while goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr continues to lead the nation in GAA (6.78).
• Senior faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa saves his best for the NCAA Tournament, winning 95-of-147 (65%) faceoffs in 11 career games. He needs just 11 more faceoff wins to reach 500 for his career.
• Junior midfielder Bryan Cole has emerged as a consistent offensive threat for the Terps, averaging a team-high 3.8 points over his last five games. He averaged just 1.77 points through the first 13 games of the season.
• Junior Kyle Bernlohr received the Kelly Award for the nation's most outstanding goalie. It is the first time since 1961-62 that a school has won the award two years in a row with different goalkeepers.
• The Terps had five players listed as USILA All-Americans: Kyle Bernlohr (1st), Casey Ikeda (1st), Matt Dunn (3rd) Joe LoCascio (3rd) and Charlie Raffa (HM). It is the second consecutive All-America honor for Raffa.
• The Terps have won 34 of their last 35 games when scoring 10 goals or more, in addition to winning 16 of their last 17 when holding opponents to nine goals or less.
• Maryland is the only major program in Division I NCAA lacrosse to never have a losing season - a span of 90 years. Cornell is currently second overall with 17 straight seasons at .500 or better.
The Count Down
10 ... Since 2002 Maryland has won 123 of the 133 games (93%) in which it has scored 10 or more goals. The Terps have won 33 of their last 34 games in such situations.
9 ... Maryland is 144-28 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .837 winning percentage. The Terps are 26-2 since the start of the 2014 season in such situations.
8 ... Maryland has won all eight games this season when it has won more faceoffs than its opponent.
7 ... Maryland held North Carolina seven goals below its season average in the quarters last week.
6 ... Sophomore Matt Rambo tied his career-high with six points at Rutgers.
5 ... Seniors Joe LoCascio scored posted five points (3-2) against Johns Hopkins on April 25.
4 ... Bryan Cole is averaging 4.3 points in his last four games (averaged 1.77/g in first 13 games).
3 ... Freshman Connor Kelly posted a career-high three goals in the NCAA Quarters vs. North Carolina.
2 ... Senior Jay Carlson needs just two goals to break the Maryland all-time record for game-winning goals - he currently has 12.
1 ... Only one program - Maryland - has earned a bid in every NCAA tournament since the field expanded to 16 in 2003.
| Tale of the Tape | ||
| Maryland | Category | Denver |
| 10.5 | Goals Per Game | 13.9 |
| 6.9 | Opponents' Goals Per Game | 8.7 |
| 39.4 | Shots Per Game | 38.7 |
| 26.7 | Shot Percentage | 36.0 |
| 20.8 | Shots on Goal Per Game | 26.9 |
| 53.6 | Shots on Goal Percentage | 64.1 |
| 9.7 | Saves Per Game | 9.8 |
| 58.4 | Save Percentage | 53.2 |
| 27.1 | Groundballs Per Game | 30.4 |
| 22.1 | Opponents' Groundballs Per Game | 21.4 |
| 10.9 | Turnovers Per Game | 11.8 |
| 6.1 | Caused Turnovers Per Game | 5.2 |
| 52.5 | Face-Off Percentage | 67.1 |
| 86.7 | Clear Percentage | 84.7 |
| 86.1 | Opponents' Clear Percentage | 86.7 |
| 2.7 | Penalties Per Game | 2.9 |
| 2:00 | Penalty Minutes Per Game | 2:15 |
| 41.9 | Man-Up Conversion Percentage | 60.7 |
| 28.9 | Opponents' Man-Up Conversion Percentage | 42.9 |
Coaching Match-Up
• John Tillman is in his eighth season as a head coach, and fifth with the Terps, with a 83-41 career record for a .669 winning percentage. Tillman is 63-22 (.741) as Maryland's head coach, recently becoming the fastest in program history to reach the 50-win milestone.
• Denver's Bill Tierney is in his 6th season as head coach of the Pioneers.
Tillman in the nCAA's
• The meeting with Denver will be John Tillman's 16th NCAA tournament game as a head coach, compiling an 11-4 overall record.
• Tillman is 0-2 in finals action. He recently improved to 4-1 in first round games, 4-0 in quarterfinal games and 3-1 in semfinals.
• Tillman is the only coach in NCAA history to guide two unseeded teams to back-to-back appearances in the Final Four (2011-12).
• As an assistant coach, Tillman helped guide Navy to four consecutive NCAA tournaments from 2004-07, including a run to the 2004 championship game.
Maryland in the NCAA's
• Maryland is playing in its 37th NCAA Tournament - the second-most since the inception of the NCAA Tournament in 1971. The Terps have also qualified for 13 straight NCAA Tournaments - the longest active streak in the nation.
• The Terps have won the third-most Division I NCAA Tournament games, compiling a 53-35 overall record in 87 games. Only Johns Hopkins (70-34) and Syracuse (63-24) have won more Division I tournament games. Virginia (48-32) ranks fourth in wins.
• The Terps have captured two titles. Only eight other schools have ever won the NCAA Championship: Syracuse (10), Johns Hopkins (9), Princeton (6), North Carolina (4), Virginia (5), Cornell (3), Duke (3) and Loyola (1).
League-high Six Terps earn all-Big Ten
• A league-best six Terrapins earned all-conference honors Tuesday, led by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year Casey Ikeda. He is the third Terp in the last four years to earn the conference honor (Amato - 2014, Bernhardt - 2012).
• Joining Ikeda on the All-Big Ten First Team were junior goalie Kyle Bernlohr, senior midfielder Joe LoCascio and sophomore attackman Matt Rambo. 21 Terps have earned all-conference honors over the last five years, including 11 in the last two seasons.
• Senior attackman Jay Carlson and senior faceoff specialist Charlie Raffa were named Honorable Mention All-Big Ten. Carlson also received the Sportsmanship Award.
Nation's top-ranked Defense
• The Terps boast the nation's top-ranked defense, allowing just 6.9 goals/g through 18 contests in 2015. The Terps are the only team allowing less than 7.4 goals per game in Division I (Richmond is second with 7.42 goals/g).
• The Terrapin defense has held 16 of 18 opponents it has faced to scoreless stretches of at least 11 minutes, including 11 stretches of at least 20 minutes.
Chaos in Columbus; terps claim share of title
• Maryland won its 11th straight game in dramatic fashion last Saturday, scoring four goals in the final 4:22 of action to force overtime before Jay Carlson scored the game-winner. The win gave the Terps at least a share of the inaugural Big Ten regular season title.
• Senior Jay Carlson was awarded Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts, posting four points on three goals and one assist.
• The win gave Maryland its third straight one-goal victory - the first time the program has accomplished the feat in the 90-year history of the program.
Terps win 10th straight at Rutgers
• Maryland stretched its winning streak to 10 games with a narrow 9-8 victory at Rutgers on April 12.
• The Terps faced their first haltime deficit of the season, trailing 4-2 at the haltime break, but recovered with five goals in the third quarter to reclaim the lead.
• Sophomore Matt Rambo ignited the Maryland comeback, scoring all three of his goals and dishing three assists in the second half. The most important goal was the last, as Rambo found the back of the net with 13 seconds remaining to give Maryland the win.
Maryland Wins thriller vs. Loyola
• Maryland was put to the test in a midweek thriller as it held on for an 11-10 victory over in-state foe No. 19 Loyola. Goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr proved to be the difference-maker, standing on his head to make multiple saves in the waning moments.
• The Terps scored the game-winning goal with three minutes to play when Bryan Cole finished an outstanding feed from teammate Joe LoCascio. Jay Carlson was extremely efficient in the game, scoring three goals on three shots.
Terps Defeat Nittany lions, 12-5
• The Maryland offense exploded for a season-high eight first quarter goals to run past Penn State, 12-5, on Senior Day at Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium on April 4.
• Sophomore Matt Rambo led the way with three goals and two assists, while the Terrapin defense limited the Nittany Lions to just 20 shots in the game.
Get To 10 And Win
• Since 2002, Maryland has won 124 of the 134 games in which it has scored 10 or more goals for a .929 winning percentage.
• The Terps have won 34 of their last 35 games when scoring at least 10 goals, last falling to Johns Hopkins, 15-12, on April 25.
| Record When Scoring 10+ Goals | ||
| Year | W-L | Loss |
| 2015 | 12-1 | Johns Hopkins, 12-15 |
| 2014 | 11-0 | |
| 2013 | 8-0 | |
| 2012 | 10-2 | at UNC, 10-11 |
| at Colgate, 11-13 | ||
| 2011 | 9-1 | Johns Hopkins, 11-12 ot |
| 2010 | 12-1 | Virginia, 10-11 |
| 2009 | 6-2 | Georgetown, 10-13 |
| at UNC, 16-10 ACC SF | ||
| 2008 | 9-0 | |
| 2007 | 8-1 | Virginia, 10-11 |
| 2006 | 8-0 | |
| 2005 | 5-0 | |
| 2004 | 10-1 | Hopkins, 10-13 |
| 2003 | 8-0 | |
| 2002 | 7-1 | Virginia, 10-11 |
Holding Opponents To Single-Digits
• Maryland is 144-28 in games since 2002 when it allows nine goals or less, for an .838 winning percentage.
• The Terps have also won 88 percent (77-11 record overall) of its games since 2009 when allowing less than 10 goals.
• The Terps are 26-2 when allowing nine goals or less since the beginning of the 2014 season.
Consecutive 10-Win Seasons
• Maryland's 11-10 win over No. 19 Loyola on April 8 extended the Terps' streak of double-digit win seasons to 13, which is the longest active streak in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse.
• There are only four programs with a current streak of at least seven-straight 10-win seasons:
- Maryland (13): 2015 (TBD), 2014 (13-4), 2013 (10-4), 2012 (12-6), 2011 (13-5), 2010 (12-4), 2009 (10-7), 2008 (10-6), 2007 (10-6), 2006 (12-5), 2005 (11-6), 2004 (13-3), 2003 (12-4)
- Notre Dame (10): 2015 (TBD), 2014 (12-6), 2013 (11-4), 2012 (13-3), 2011 (11-3), 2010 (10-7), 2009 (15-1), 2008 (14-3), 2007 (11-4), 2006 (10-5)
- Duke (8): 2015 (11-5), 2014 (17-3), 2013 (16-5), 2012 (15-5) 2011 (14-6), 2010 (16-4), 2009 (15-4), 2008 (18-2), 2007 (17-3)
- North Carolina (7): 2015 (13-4), 2014 (10-5), 2013 (13-4), 2012 (11-6), 2011 (10-6), 2010 (13-3), 2009 (12-6)
The 700 Club
• Maryland's 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 was the program's 700th victory in 84 seasons of varsity men's lacrosse. The Terps join Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, Navy, Army and Cornell as the only programs with 700 or more Division I wins.
• Two things that make Maryland's accomplishment all the more impressive is that the Terps reached the 700-win plateau in just their 84th season. Only Syracuse reached win No. 700 in as few seasons, but it took the Orange 53 more games than Maryland. In fact, Maryland needed only 940 games to reach 700 wins and only Johns Hopkins needed fewer games (932) to hit the historic number, but the Blue Jays did so in their 105th season.
| All-Time Winningest Programs (prior to 2015 season) | ||
| Team | W-L-T | Pct. |
| 1. Johns Hopkins | 955-315-15 | .751 |
| 2. Syracuse | 868-331-16 | .720 |
| 3. Maryland | 775-260-4 | .746 |
| 4. Navy | 763-333-14 | .694 |
| 5. Army | 749-363-7 | .672 |
| 6. Cornell | 722-457-27 | .610 |
| The Road To 700 Wins | ||
| Team | Seasons | Games Played |
| Maryland | 84 | 940 |
| Syracuse | 84 | 993 |
| Army | 92 | 1,029 |
| Navy | 99 | 972 |
| Johns Hopkins | 105 | 932 |
| Cornell | 117 | 1,171 |
Terps' 90th Season Of Lacrosse
• The Terps boast an all-time record of 775-260-4 (.749), dating back to the first varsity team in 1924 (a team was not fielded in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II). Maryland has finished every one of its previous 89 seasons with a .500 or better record, including last season when the Terps went 12-6. The program reached the 700-win milestone with a 15-6 victory over Penn on April 14, 2009 at Ludwig Field.
• During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted a 95-47 record. The .669 winning percentage matched Maryland's win percentage of the 1980s when the Terps went 83-41 and also compiled a .669 win percentage.
• Prior to the 2015 season, Maryland is 38-13 in the 2010s for a .750 winning percentage - on pace for the best decade in Maryland history.
Three Taken In MLL Draft
• Led by senior midfielder Joe LoCascio, three Maryland men's lacrosse student-athletes were chosen in the 2014 Major League Lacrosse collegiate draft.
• LoCascio was chosen 17th overall by the Florida Launch, and was quickly followed by Charlie Raffa, who was selected 24th overall by the Chesapeake Bayhawks.
• Defender Casey Ikeda was the final Terp taken in the draft, chosen 54th overall by Florida.
2015 Team Captains
• Charlie Raffa, Casey Ikeda, Jay Carlson and Matt Dunn will represent the Terrapins as captains for the 2015 season.
