COLLEGE PARK, MD – In a game that was tied five times in the second half, Army outlasted the Terps, 16-15, in the NCAA Tournament First Round at SECU Stadium on Saturday night.  

Maryland's season comes to close with a 10-6 record. The Black Knights (13-3) advance to play the winner of the No. 5 Penn State/Princeton game in the NCAA Quarterfinals next Sunday in Annapolis, Md. 

Braden Erksa led Maryland with four goals and an assist for five points. Daniel Kelly, Daniel Maltz and Eric Spanos each scored two. Nine different Terps scored goals with Brett Makar, Jack Koras, Daniel Maltz, Ryan Siracusa, Luke Wierman and Zach Whittier also scoring. 

BRETT MAKAR POLE GOAL! TIE GAME AGAIN!

Fire us up, Brett!! #BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/cLzR3suid9

— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) May 14, 2023

Wierman scored a goal and assisted another as he also won 18-of-35 at the X and had a game-best 11 groundballs. Makar had two caused turnovers and a groundballs, which set up his second goal of the season. 

Kyle Long had three assists for the Terps and Owen Murphy had two assists for the second time in his career. 

Army had 11 different goal scorers led by Gunnar Fellows, who scored the eventual game-winning goal with 53 seconds left in game, his third of the game. Jacob Morin, Ryan Sposito, Finn McCullough all had two goals for Army. Evan Plunkett had a goal and three assists as did Reese Burek. 

Goalie Knox Dent made 16 saves for the win for Army. 

The Terps fell behind 7-2 after the first quarter only to tie the game at 7-7 with the first five goals of the second quarter. From there, the game was within two goals until the final whistle. Morin scored with 3:36 to put Army ahead for good at 15-14 before Fellows made it a two-goal edge. Kelly scored for the Terps to draw one closer with 36 seconds, but Maryland was unable to find the equalizer. 

Breaking Down The Action

• Army scored the first three goals of the game before Wierman got on the board for the Terrapins' first goal. The Cadets added four more goals to lead 7-2 at the end of the first quarter. 
• The Terps reeled off the first five goals of the second quarter to even the game at 7-7 as Erksa scored the first two goals of the run. Spanos equaled the game off a feed from Erksa with 3:48 left in the first half. After Burek scored with 2:58 left in the half, Whittier tied the game again at 8-8 with 2:19 remaining in the half. 
• Army scored the first two goals of the third quarter before the Terps evened the game at 11-11 as Brett Makar caused a turnover, scooped the ball up and took it all the way to score with 4:27 left in the third quarter. Erksa scored with 2:37 left in the third quarter to give the Terps their first lead of the game at 12-11.
• The Black Knights regained a lead at 14-13 on a Dawson Clark man-up goal with 7:15 left in the fourth quarter. Erksa tied the game with 5:18 left off a rebound goal. It was his fourth of the game. Army responded 1:20 later as Jacob Morin scored on a long shot to give the Cadets a 15-14 lead with 3:36 left. Gunnar Fellows' goal into an empty net with 53 seconds left to give Army a two-goal lead at 16-14. Kelly scored with 36 seconds on the clock to cut the deficit to one at 16-15, for the final score.

TERPS. ON. TOP.

Make that another hat trick for Braden!#BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/Lv6cVudeGM

— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) May 14, 2023

Multi-Terps Update

• Long (three assists) had his eighth multi-assist and 11th multi-point game this season. In his career, he now has 27 multi-assist games and 46 multi–point games.
• Kelly (two goals) had his 11th multi-point game this season. He has 12 multi-point games in his career. 
• Erksa (four goals and one assist) had his 13th multi-point game, the eighth multi-goal game of his inaugural college season. He has four hat tricks this season. 
• Siracusa (one goal, one assist) had his third multi-point game ever.  
• Wierman (one goal, one assist) had his second multi-point game of the season and sixth of his career. 
• Spanos (two goals) had his fifth multi-point game, fifth multi-goal game.

Four straight to start the second quarter!

Maltz finishes this one after some pretty passing on the extra-man opportunity. Terps within one!#BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/pYXwy4mEoY

— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) May 14, 2023

The Series

• The series is now tied 20-20 vs. Army in the all-time series between the two schools, which began in 1924.
• Saturday's game was the 40th all-time meeting between Maryland and Army — two of the oldest lacrosse programs in the nation.
• The two schools split the first two games in NCAA Tournament play with Army winning in 1993 and Maryland winning in 2004
• Legendary Hall of Fame head coach Dick Edell roamed the sidelines for both Maryland and Army. "Big Man" spent seven seasons in West Point, compiling a 66-24 (.733) record from 1977-83. He took over the Maryland program in 1984 and had a 171-76 (.692) record in 18 seasons in College Park. Edell coached the Terps to six ACC championships, 13 NCAA Tournament berths, five Final Fours, and four NCAA Championship game appearances.

Record Book Update

• Wierman  stands second all-time in career face-off wins with 18 in the game, giving him 637 for his career. Andy Claxton holds the record with 648 from 1989-92. 
• Wierman is also third in career groundballs with 339 after scooping 11 in the game. Next up is No. 2 Brian Haggerty, who had 380 from 1996-99.  Andy Claxton holds the record with 451 from 1989-92. 
• On the single-season lists, Wierman (18 wins) finished with the second-most faceoff wins in a year with 252, second only to his record of 298 last season. 
• He moved to third on the single-season list for groundballs with 11 in the game, giving him 135 this season. He surpassed Claxton (129) in 1990, Haggerty (128) in 1998, Claxton (1992) and Haggerty (1997), both with 127. Wierman's total of 160 last season is second all-time and Claxton's mark of 171 is the record, set in 1991.
• Long finished his career in 28th place in career points with three assists in the game to give him 149 points. 
• With his three assists vs. Army, Long moved to 13th in career assists with 94 by himself. He passed Mike Hynes with 91 from 1974-77. 
• Maltz scored two goals to give him 123 in his career to stand alone in 34th place. He broke a tie at 121 points with Ron Martinello (1978-81), Mike Chaanenchuk (2012-14), Bubba Fairman (2017-22). 
• With his two goals, Maltz is now alone in 22nd in career goals with 90, breaking a tie with Bob Boneillo (1977-80) and Pat O'Mealy (1972-74), both of whom had 88. Next up with 91 is Jay Carlson from 2012-15. 

By The Numbers

• 14: Erksa finished his freshman season with points in 14 consecutive games. 
• 16: Maryland's defensive players accounted for 16 goals on the season, as Makar scored his second on the season. 
• 39: Wierman won double-figure faceoffs for the 39th time in his career with 18 wins.
• 48: Erksa posted 48 points as a true freshman, marking the most points by a true freshman as the team's leading scorer in a season, surpassing Joe Walters' 46 points in 2003. 
• 72: Maryland has recorded a hat trick in 72 of its last 73 games.