PISCATAWAY, NJ – No. 4 Maryland won its fifth road game in a row as the Terps beat No. 10 Rutgers, 11-8, at SHI Stadium on Sunday night. The Terrapin victory ended Rutgers' home winning streak at 16, which was the longest in the nation.
Maryland moved to 8-3 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten, setting up a huge match-up with No. 7 Johns Hopkins (10-4, 3-1 Big Ten) next Saturday at SECU Stadium. The Terps and Blue Jays are tied for first place with the winner claiming at least a share of the Big Ten title next weekend in College Park. Penn State is also 3-1 in conference play and can claim a share with a win next week against Rutgers. Maryland would be the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten Tournament with a victory next Saturday.
The Terps had seven different players who scored a goal and six players who handed out an assist in the game.
Jack Koras,
Daniel Maltz,
Eric Spanos and
Zach Whittier each had two goals in the win. Koras, Spanos and Whittier each added an assist for three-point games.
Braden Erksa had a career-high tying four points and career-high tying three assists with all three coming on the Terps' first three goals of the game.
Daniel Kelly and
Ryan Siracusa also scored goals for the Terps.
Luke Wierman won 14-of-21 face-offs and scooped up five groundballs. He now has 299 career groundballs.
On defense, the Terps opened the game holding Rutgers scoreless for the first quarter and for the first 19:28 of the game. The Terps are now an amazing 119-11 (.915) when holding opponents to single-digits since 2011. Goalie Brian Ruppel made 12 saves.
Ajax Zappitello had four groundballs and two caused turnovers. Shortstick
Eric Kolar had three groundballs.
Rutgers fell to 8-4 overall and 1-3 in the Big Ten. Jack Aimone had two goals for the Scarlet Knights only multi-goal scorer. Ross Scott had a goal and four assists.
Breaking Down The Action
- The first quarter was all Maryland as four different Terps scored en route to a 4-0 lead. Erksa was the big factor offensively, notching three assists in the frame. The Terp defense was stout, holding the Scarlet Knights to just one shot on goal.
- The Scarlet Knights were held scoreless for the first 19:28 of game time, before eventually putting one through to make it a 5-1 game with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half. Whittier and Maltz each scored their second goal of the game to put the Terps up 8-3. Rutgers tallied with 11 seconds left in the half for an 8-4 Terps' lead at intermission.
- Erksa, Kelly and Erksa scored in the third quarter to lead 11-5 heading to the fourth.
- Rutgers scored all three goals in the fourth quarter, but the Terps stood strong coming away with the victory.
Multi-Terps Update
- Maltz (two goals) had his 20th multi-goal game of his career and sixth this year. He also has 31 career games with multiple points with seven this season.
- Koras' two-goal and one assist performance was his 12th career multi-point game and sixth this season. He also now has nine multi-goal games in his career and six this season.
- Erksa (one goal and three assists) had his eighth multi-point game and third multi-assist game.
- Zach Whittier had two goals and an assist, giving him his fourth game this season with multiple points and second with multiple goals.
- Eric Spanos tallied two goals and an assist, marking his fourth multi-point game and second multi-goal game this season.
Record Book Update
- Wierman holds steady in second in career face-off wins with 14, giving him 563 for his career. Andy Claxton holds the record with 648 from 1989-92.
- Wierman also holds steady at third in career groundballs with 299 after scooping five in the game. Next up is Brian Haggerty, who had 380 from 1996-99. Andy Claxton holds the record with 451 from 1989-92.
- Long is 28th in career points with one assist in the game to give him 140. Next on the list at No. 27 Mike Hynes (151 points from 1974-77).
- Long (one assist) is also still 16th in career assists with 87. Up next is Jared Bernhardt and his 88 assists from 2017-21. (Ed Mullen 89 from 1972-76)
- On the all-time goals list, Maltz is now tied for 27th, with 81. He passed Terry Kimball (80 from 1976-79) and is now tied with Brian Willard (81 from 1984-87). Up next is No. 26 Jack Heim and his 85 goals from 1965-67.
Terps Lead Series
- Maryland now leads the series 35-1 and has won 17 consecutive games against the Scarlet Knights.
- The Terps have won seven games in a row at Rutgers dating to 1981.
- Maryland was the last team to beat Rutgers in Piscataway in 2021, the Scarlet Knights won 16 home games in a row after that until the streak ended on Sunday.
Numbers To Know
- 0: Maryland held Rutgers to zero goals for the first 19:28 of action.
- 5: The Terps have won five road games in a row.
- 10: The Terps are now 148-18 in games they score 10 or more goals since John Tillman took over in 2011.
- 16: The Terps ended Rutgers' 16-game home win streak with the victory.
- 34: Wierman won double-figure faceoffs for the 34th time in his career with 13 wins.
- 68: Maryland's streak of 68 consecutive games with a player recording a hat trick in a game, came to an end. Maryland had a hat trick in every game dating to Feb. 2, 2019.
- 119: The Terps are now 119-11 when holding opponents to single-digits since John Tillman took over as coach in 2011.
Up Next
- The Terps will conclude the regular season with a rivalry matchup against No. 7 Johns Hopkins on Saturday, April 22 at SECU Stadium at 6 pm. The game will air on Big Ten Network and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
