COLLEGE PARK, MD – No. 1 Maryland won its fourth Big Ten Tournament title and second in as many seasons with a 17-7 victory over No. 3 Rutgers on Saturday night at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium.
The Terps (14-0) stayed perfect on the season and will head into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1-overall seed and will begin play at home next weekend. The NCAA Tournament bracket will be unveiled on Sunday night on ESPNU at 9 p.m.
Tournament MVP Logan Wisnauskas recorded seven points as he scored four goals and added three assists as he had his 37th career hat trick. He had exactly four goals and three assists for seven points in each Big Ten Tournament game for eight goals and six assists for 14 points in the event.
Anthony DeMaio notched his second consecutive hat trick in the Big Ten Tournament and finished with four goals and two assists for six points.
Jonathan Donville had four points on one goal and three assists.
Jack Koras and
Eric Malever had a pair of goals each.
On defense, the Terps caused 11 turnovers, led
Brett Makar,
Roman Puglise and
Owen Prybylski, who each caused two. Overall, Rutgers turned the ball over 16 times. Starting goalie
Logan McNaney made nine saves.
Maryland held Rutgers to its fewest goals of the season with seven. The previous low was nine, also against Maryland (17-9 loss) on April 10.
Luke Wierman was remarkable on face-offs, winning 20-of-26 as he scooped up 12 groundballs. He set the school record for face-off wins in a season with 236.
This marked the first time since the Big Ten Men's Lacrosse Tournament started that the host school captured the title.
For Rutgers (13-3) Brian Cameron scored two goals.
Breaking Down The Action
- Just 39 seconds into the game, Wisnauskas opened the scoring with a rip assisted by Donville. WIth the game tied at 2-2, Maryland reeled off three goals in a row with Wisnauskas scoring his second of the game and DeMaio blasting home back-to-back goals to make it 5-2 at the end of the first quarter.
- In the second quarter, the Terps scored all three goals of the period take an 8-2 lead into halftime. Wisnauskas, John Geppert and Donville scored for the Terps. Maryland held Rutgers scoreless for the final 24:11 of the first half as the Scralet Knights were held without a goal in a quarter for the first time this season.
- After Maryland held scoreless for 28:23, Rutgers' Ryan Gallagher broke the drought with a goal early in the third quarter to make it 8-3. Keegan Khan responded to make it 9-3 with a little more than five minutes elapsed in the third quarter. The Terps scored the final three goals of the third quarter to lead 13-5 after 45 minutes. DeMaio, Owen Murphy and Eric Malever scored that trio of goals in a span of 1:40.
- Maryland scored the first three goals of the fourth quarter coming from DeMaio, Koras and Jack Brennan.
B1G Success
- Maryland won its fourth Big Ten Tournament title, also capturing the crown in 2016, 2017 and 2021.
- It is Maryland's 10th overall Big Ten Championship, having won the regular-season title six times, including each of the last two seasons.
- Maryland has now won eight conference tournament championships winning the ACC title in 1998, 2004, 2005, and 2011.
- Maryland improved to 9-3 all-time in the Big Ten Tournament.
- Maryland also beat Rutgers in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament Championship game, winning 14-8.
Wisnauskas Watch
- Wisnauskas (four goals, three assists) recorded his 37th hat trick in 71 games in a Maryland uniform. It was his 10 of the season.
- He finished with seven points and now has 321 in his career on 192 goals and 129 assists. He is Maryland'a all-time leading point scorer and stands second in goals (to Jared Bernhardt 202) and third in assists (Ray Altman 146 and Bob Boneillo 143).
- His 29 points in the Big Ten Tournament set the record for the most points in a Maryland career, surpassing Connor Kelly's mark of 26 from 2015-18.
- The Sykesville native has recorded a point in 71 straight games, every one of his career. He's four ahead of the next-closest player, Asher Nolting of High Point.
- He has multiple points in his last 54 games.
- With 321 career points, he is third on the active list of D1 players in points, 90 behind the active leader in Chris Gray of North Carolina (401).
- His 188 goals rank third on the active list of D1 players in goals, 16 behind the active leader in Gray of North Carolina (204).
Numbers to Know
- 1: Maryland became the first host to win the Big Ten Tournament in seven Big Ten events, dating to 2015 (without the COVID year of 2020).
- 1: Maryland held Rutgers scoreless in the second quarter, the first time the Scarlet Knight didn't score in a quarter this season.
- 2: Ajax Zappitello had an assist for the second consecutive game.
- 4: Maryland won its fourth Big Ten Tournament title with the win.
- 8: John Geppert (5) scored Maryland's eight pole goal this season.
- 8: Maryland won its eighth conference tournament title with the win.
- 8: Anthony DeMaio posted his eighth career hat trick, second in as many games.
- 9: Jack Koras scored a goal for the ninth time in 10 games.
- 15: Maryland has won 15 consecutive games against Rutgers
- 19: Maryland has won 19 consecutive games against Big Ten opponents.
- 29: Wisnauksas now has 29 career points in the Big Ten Tournament the most by a Maryland player in a tournament career, surpassing Connor Kelly's mark of 26 from 2015-18.
- 37: Logan Wisnauskas recorded his 37th career hat trick in the game.
- 38: Maryland has scored 10 or more goals in 38 games in a row
- 39: Maryland has won 39 consecutive games when holding opponents to less than 10 goals.
- 121: Luke Wierman now has 121to move to sixth in single-season groundballs, passing Charlie Raffa (114 in 2014).
- 236: Luke Wierman set the school record for face-off wins in a season, surpassing Curtis Holmes (222 in 2011) with 236
The Series
- Maryland is now 34-1 all-time against Rutgers, winning the last 15 games in a row dating to the the Scarlet Knights; only win in 1980.
- The Terps are 11-0 against Rutgers since both teams joined the Big Ten for the 2015 season.
Big Ten All-Tournament Team
Up Next
- Maryland will await its NCAA Tournament match-up which will be unveiled on Sunday night at 9 p.m., on ESPNU.
