#5Â Maryland (0-0) (0-0 B1G) at #19Â Richmond (0-0) (0-0 A10)
February 3, 2024
Robins FieldÂ
1:00 PM
ESPN+Â
COLLEGE PARK, MDÂ - No. 5Â Maryland men's lacrosse opens its 2024 season on Saturday, Feb. 3 at No. 19Â Richmond. The game is slated for a 1 pm start on ESPN+.
The Terps are coming off their 20th-consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 20th-consecutive 10-win season in 2023.Â
Saturday's game marks the first time since the 2017 season that the Terps will begin a season on the road. In that game, the Terps won at Navy by a score of 15-12 on Feb. 11. They went on to win the NCAA National Championship that year.
Â
series historyÂ
- Maryland has won all three previous meetings against the Spiders, with the first one coming in 2019.
- This marks the second straight year that the Terps and Spiders face each other in their respective season openers.
- While each of the first two games were decided by just one goal, the 2023 meeting was a 15-4 Maryland victory in the Maryland's season opener. The Terps got goals from 10 different players and held Richmond scoreless for 43:31 spanning the first through fourth quarter.
Eric Spanos totaled his first two career points in Maryland's season-opening 15-4 win over Richmond last year.
Season openers
- Maryland has won 30 consecutive season-opening games dating back to the 1994 season. The Terps are 94-3-1 all-time in season openers dating back to the program's first varsity season in 1924.
- In last year's season opener, the Terps hosted Richmond and ran away with a 15-4 win behind goals from 10 different players and a defensive effort that held Richmond scoreless for 43:31 spanning the first through fourth quarter.
- The Terps will open the season on the road for the first time since 2017 when they hosted Navy on Feb. 11 and came away with a 15-12 win. In the game, Maryland's attack unit of Matt Rambo, Colin Heacock and Dylan Maltz combined for 15 points while Dan Morris made 12 saves in his first career start. The Terps would go on to win the National Champion- ship that season.
Eventual Big Ten Freshman of the Year
Braden Erksa scored his first two career goals in Maryland's season-opening 15-4 win over Richmond last year.
About the 2024 terps
- The Terps welcome a large number of key returners from the 2023 team, including defenseman Ajax Zappitello, faceoff specialist Luke Wierman, attackmen Braden Erksa, Daniel Maltz and Daniel Kelly, and midfielders Jack Koras, Jack Brennan, Eric Spanos, Zach Whittier and Owen Murphy. Zappitello and Wierman were both First Team All Big-Ten and All-Americans last season while Erksa was the Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
- Zappitello will don the heralded and historic number one jersey for the Terps.Â
- In total, the Terps return over 90 percent of last year's goal scoring.
- The Terps also get back two key pieces from season-ending injuries suffered in 2022 NCAA Tournament MOP Logan McNaney and attackman Eric Malever who totaled 48 points (26G, 22A).Â
Wierman on the charts
- Luke Wierman is poised to become the program's all-time faceoff winner this season and is also climbing the groundball charts.
- Wierman currently has 637 faceoff wins to his name, good for second all-time in program history. He needs just 12 to pass Andy Claxton (1989-92) and claim sole possession of the record.
- She is supported by associate head coach Scott Tupper (third season), assistant coach Kasey Tapman Asper (third season)Â and goalie specialist Natalie Hunter Cyrus (first season).
- Wierman is also climbing up the career groundballs list and is one of only three Terps in history to scoop up 300 or more groundballs. He joined the exclusive 300 Club with his first of eight groundballs vs. Johns Hopkins on April 22, 2023.
Luke Wierman is currently second all-time in program faceoff wins and is just 12 away from setting the record.
History of success
- The Terps boast four NCAA Championships, 28 Final Four appearances and 522 All-Americans.Â
- With a 14-9 win at No. 5 Johns Hopkins on May 4, 2023 in the Big Ten Tournament Semifinal, the Terps extended their streak of double-digit win seasons to 20, the longest active streak in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse. The streak also coincides with the Terps making 20 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, also the longest such streak in the country in NCAA Division I men's lacrosse.
- Since joining the Big Ten in 2015, Maryland is 38-7 (.844) in conference play. The 38 wins are 14 more than Johns Hopkins, which has 24. Penn State and Rutgers each have 23 wins, Ohio State has 20, and Michigan has seven.
The Terps won the 2022 National Championship with a perfect 18-0 record.Â
99th season of maryland men's lacrosse
- The Terps boast an all-time record of 882-283-4 (.756), dating back to the first varsity team in 1924 (a team was not fielded in 1944 and 1945 due to World War II). Maryland has finished with a .500 or better record in all 97 seasons. The program reached the 800-win milestone with a 12-6 victory on April 12, 2017, at Albany.
- Maryland finished the decade of the 2010s 134-42 for a .761 winning percentage, making it the winningest decade in Terrapin lacrosse history. Nine of those seasons came under the direction of head coach John Tillman, who has posted a 122-38 record and a .763 winning percentage at the helm for Maryland.
- During the decade of the 2000s, Maryland went 111-49 for a .694 win percentage. In the decade of the 1990s, Maryland posted a 95-47 record. The .669 winning percentage matched Maryland's win percentage of the 1980s when the Terps went 83-41 and also compiled a .669 win percentage.
The Terps on the sidelines.Â
Staff Updates
- On Dec. 21, 2023, head coach John Tillman announced that he had hired Michael Phipps as the team's offensive coordinator/assistant coach. Phipps, a 2007 graduate of the University of Maryland, returns to College Park after two stints at Navy in addition to a five-year tenure at Georgetown where he oversaw prolific offenses. While at Maryland as a player, Phipps was a three-starter and a USILA honorable mention All-American in 2007 as an attackman. Phipps' grandfather, father and brother were all Terp lacrosse players as well. Phipps' hire came on the heels of Jake Bernhardt departing to become the head coach at Colby College.
- Additionally, Tim O'Branski, who joined the Terps in September 2022 as the team's volunteer assistant coach, was promoted to assistant coach. Before becoming a Terp, O'Branski spent two years as offensive coordinator and recruiting coordinator at Mercer University.
- Since joining the Big Ten in 2015, Maryland is 38-7 (.844) in conference play. The 38 wins are 14 more than Johns Hopkins, which has 24. Penn State and Rutgers each have 23 wins, Ohio State has 20, and Michigan has seven.
- The Terps also added a Maryland legend, Tewaaraton Winner, 2017 National Champion and a former NFL player to staff when they hired Jared Bernhardt (Maryland '21) as the Director of Player Development on Aug. 31, 2023.
Jared Bernhardt joined the staff in August as the Director of Player Development.
