COLLEGE PARK, MD – No. 2 Maryland won its third game in a row with a 13-10 victory over No. 9 Penn State at SECU Stadium in the Big Ten opener for both teams. The Terps are now 6-2 overall, while the Nittany Lions fell to 5-3. Maryland has won 22 of its last 23 home games.
Eight different Terps scored goals in the game and 13 recorded points.
Jack Koras had his fifth hat trick of the season, third in a row – all in the last six games.
Kyle Long had two goals and an assist for three points. Short-sticks
Dante Trader Jr., and
Eric Kolar each had two goals, both in the first half.
The defense was stout in the second half hold Penn State scoreless for a span of 26:24 bridging third and fourth quarters
All-American face-off man Luke Wierman became the fifth Terp ever with 500 face-off wins, as he was 19-of-27 in the game and now has 517 in his career. He also had nine groundballs to give him 276 to move to third all-time in Maryland history.
In goal, Brian Ruppel had nine saves. Long-pole
Jack McDonald had career-high tying five groundballs and two caused turnovers.
John Geppert had three groundballs. Trader also had two caused turnovers.
Coach John Tillman's Take
"Certainly not a clean game but I thought the guys competed awfully hard. Coming off last week and spring break, it's always challenging because you get out of rhythm. Getting our guys in the mindset to look forward, it's never easy to do whether you win or lose, but I thought our guys did a good job moving past last week. I think the guys that have been here knew that these conference games are always tough. I'm proud of the guys. It wasn't always pretty. We had a tough second quarter; but at halftime Jesse did a good job with the defense, making some adjustments and tightening things down. Even though we were a little sloppy at times, the guys were unselfish and super competitive. A lot we can learn, but always great to be back at Maryland Stadium. Our fans were awesome, it was a great atmosphere. Hopefully we enjoy tonight and then it's back to work on Monday."
Breaking Down The Action
- Down 3-2 with two minutes left in the first quarter, the Terps rattled off three goals in the final 56 seconds as Spanos, Trader and Long all scored with Long's goal coming on a speed dodge to the goal with three seconds left in the quarter. Trader's goal came off a face-off win by Wierman, scooped up by John Geppert, who fed Trader for the quick goal after Spanos had tied the game. Maryland had five different goal scorers in the quarter with Whittier and Kolar scoring the first two goals.
- The Terps continued their onslaught early in the second quarter with three goals in the first 41 seconds, giving the Terps six goals in a span of 1:37. Trader scored his second of the game off another Wierman face-off win then Kelly tallied his first of the game off a feed from Murphy. Kolar finished the scoring burst to put the Terps up 8-3 just 41 seconds into the second quarter. Penn State scored four consecutive goals to get back within 9-8 with 2:57 remaining in the first half. Jack Koras scored with four seconds left in the half off a feed from Long for a 10-8 Terps lead at intermission.
- After the high-powered offensive first half, the teams traded goals in the third quarter as Maryland led 11-9 heading to the fourth. Jack Traynor scored his fourth goal of the game to make it 10-9 before Koras scored with 13:09 left in the period. Neither team scored after that.
- Koras and Long scored in the fourth quarter for the final of 13-10.
Hat Trick Terps
- Maryland now has had a hat trick in 65 straight games dating back to February 2, 2019.
- Jack Koras had one for the fifth time this season to extend the streak.
Multi-Terps Update
- Koras' three-goal performance was his 11th career multi-point game and fifth this season. He also has five multi-goal games this season. He notched his fifth hat trick in the last six games, his first five all this season.
- Long (two goals, one assist) had multiple points for the seventh time this season and 42nd in his career. He scored multiple goals for the second time this season and 12th time in his career.
- Murphy (one goal, one assist) had multiple points for the fifth time this season and 20th in his career.
- Trader had his second multi-goal goal of the season, with the other coming against Syracuse.
- Whitter had a goal and assist for his second career multi-point game.
- Kolar had his first-career multi-goal and multi-point game.
Record Book Update
- Wierman moved to third in career groundballs with 276. He passed Charlie Raffa, who had 274 from 2012-15. Next up is Brian Haggerty, who had 380 from 1996-99.
- Wierman is also now fifth in career faceoff wins with 417. He passed Charlie Raffa, with 498 from 2012-15. Next up is Todd Ensor with 524 from 1984-87
- Long is 29th in career points with three in the game to give him 137. Next on the list at No. 27 is Brendan Hanley (140 points from 1985-88).
- Long (one assist) is also now 16th in career assists with 85 Up next is Jared Bernhardt and his 88 assists from 2017-21.
Home Cooking
- Maryland has won 22 of its last 23 home games at SECU Stadium on Saturday.
- The Terps are 76-15 overall in home games under John Tillman since 2011, and Maryland has won 10 straight home games against Big Ten opponents.
- Maryland has two regular-season home games remaining in 2023 against Michigan on April 1 and Johns Hopkins on Saturday, April 23.
Terps Lead Series
- Maryland now leads the series 40-1 and has won the last four between the two programs.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Donovan Lacey had his first point as a Terp with an assist.
- 1: Kolar had his first multi-goal and multi-point game.
- 3: Kolar has all three of his career goals in the last two weeks.
- 5: Koras had a hat trick for the fifth time this season, all in the last six games.
- 8: Eight different players scored in the game for the Terps.
- 10: The Terps are now 145-16 in games they score 10 or more goals since John Tillman took over in 2011.
- 13: 13 Terps had points in the game.
- 26: Long extended his point-scoring streak to 26 games dating back to the 2021 season.
- 31: Wierman won double-figure faceoffs for the 31st time in his career with 19 wins.
- 40: The Terps are now 40-1 all-time against Penn State.
Up Next
- The Terps wrap up a two-game home stand when they host Michigan on Saturday, April 1, at 1 pm. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
