#4 Maryland (2-0) (0-0 B1G) at #7 Syracuse (3-0) (0-0 ACC)
February 17, 2024
JMA Wireless Dome
6 PM
ESPNU
COLLEGE PARK, MD - No. 4 Maryland (2-0) heads North for a top-ten showdown on ESPNU at No. 7 Syracuse (3-0).
The Terps opened their 2024 season in thrilling fashion as
Owen Murphy scored the game-winning goal from deep to propel the Terps over No. 19 Richmond in double overtime. The next week, the Terps followed that up with an 11-4 win over No. 12 Loyola in College Park where Maryland held the Greyhounds without a goal in both the first and third quarter.
Syracuse has gotten off to a fast start, winning all three of its games so far by a combined score of 54-20. Most recently, the Orange topped Manhattan 16-3.
series history
- Maryland holds a 13-6 record against the Orange and are 5-0 since John Tillman took over the Terrapin program in 2011.
- This is just the fifth regular-season meeting between the two national powers since the NCAA era began in 1971.
- Most recently, Maryland topped Syracuse 15-12 in College Park. Daniel Kelly (four goals) and Jack Koras (three) combined for seven goals to lead the way for the Terps. Teddy Dolan made nine saves for Maryland.
- The last time the two teams met in Syracuse, the Terps came out on top 14-10 led by four goals from Logan Wisnauskas and 12 saves from Logan McNaney.
Maryland topped Syracuse 15-12 in the last meeting between the two teams.
About the 2024 terps
- The Terps welcome back 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.
- 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).
Ajax Zappitello is the second consecutive close defenseman to wear the Maryland No. 1 jersey.
Wierman on the charts
- With his 12th of 17 face-off wins against Richmond on Feb. 3, Luke Wierman became Maryland's all-time program leader in face-off wins. He broke Andy Claxton's record of 648 that had stood for over three decades. Against Loyola, Wierman added 13 more faceoff wins, including 12 in his first 14 attempts on the day, and now has 667 all-time
- 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. With 7 groundballs against Loyola, Wierman now has 356 total, good for third overall in program history. Next on the list is No. 2 Brian Haggerty (1996-99) with 380.
Luke Wierman became Maryland's all-time leading faceoff win leader against Richmond.
McNaney Returns, continues to climb rankings
- When Logan McNaney took the net at Richmond on Saturday, Feb.3 , it marked his first game action in just under a year. After suffering a season-ending ACL injury against Loyola last season, McNaney missed the remainder of the 2023 season. Against the Spiders, McNaney played all 65:05 minutes and made 13 saves, including two in overtime.
- McNaney followed up that performance with 12 saves against Loyola, holding the Greyhounds to just four goals for their lowest scoring total since 2017.
- McNaney has 431 career saves, good for sixth all-time. He is just 69 saves away from becoming just the four Terp ever to eclipse 500 career saves.
Logan McNaney was named to the USILA Team of the Week on Feb. 13 following his effort against Loyola.
History of success
- The Terps boast four NCAA Championships, 28 Final Four appearances and 522 All-Americans.
- 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.
99th season of maryland men's lacrosse
- The Terps boast an all-time record of 884-283-4 (.757), 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.
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.
- 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.
