BLOG: Experienced Terps Enter NCAA Tournament
5/8/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Lacrosse
By Eli Davis, Maryland Athletics Student Assistant
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - The Maryland men's lacrosse team entered the 2015 season with a bevy of question marks as critics wondered how the team would replace a list of all-americans that had led the program to three NCAA Final Fours in four years.
An 8-1 victory against Navy in February was the ideal season-opening start for Terps, however. Maryland shut out the Midshipmen for three quarters and received standout performances from multiple previously unheralded players, including goalie Kyle Bernlohr, who has since led the country in goals against average for the entirety of the season.
A week later, the then-7th ranked Terps traveled to New Haven, Conn., where they hit a roadblock in the form of the Yale Bulldogs, falling 10-6.
That loss now seems like a blimp on the radar as Maryland rattled off its longest winning streak in 28 years, including a crucial midseason win against former ACC foe North Carolina, which catapulted them up the national rankings.
Although the season did not end the way many had hoped, losing to rival Johns Hopkins in the final regular season game and to Ohio State in the Big Ten tournament, it has not fazed this senior-laden squad.
“You can learn a lot from a loss like we did back at Yale,” said senior defenseman and co-captain Casey Ikeda. “Coming off these two losses we're going to use that as motivation to figure some things out and right the ship.”
This year's senior class knows what it takes to win in May. They have advanced to two NCAA Final Fours and a national championship game. (Or in the case of Ikeda – three NCAA Final Fours and two national championship games).
After losing to Cornell in the first round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, the Terps bounced the Big Red in last year's first round leading to a trip to Baltimore for the Final Four.
“This year's team was able to learn a lot from [last year's Final Four run],” Ikeda said. “A lot of the same pieces are back from last year, so we kind of know what it takes to get to the Final Four again.”
Although a rematch is looming against the Bulldogs, Maryland is not taking too much stake in that early-season tilt.
“Every team has progressed,” said senior midfielder Bryan Cole. “Every team has gotten better. Yale has gotten better as they have gone along and so have we. I think it will be a good matchup.”
Although the Terps put together an impressive 12-3 regular season record en route to claiming a share of the inaugural Big Ten title, the team recognizes that postseason plays wipes the slate clean and allows every team a shot at advancing championship weekend in Philadelphia.
“We have all the right parts,” Cole said. “Defensively, Kyle [Bernlohr] is playing outstanding this year. They guys in front of him are playing great. How we were previously throughout the [regular season] doesn't really matter. It's all about how you play in May.”
