FOXBOROUGH, MA – No. 2-seeded and No. 4-ranked Maryland men's lacrosse returned to the NCAA title game for the ninth time in the last 14 tournaments as it downed No. 6-seeded and No. 5-ranked Syracuse, 14-8, at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. Maryland will make its 18th championship game appearance as a program overall, where it will seek its fifth NCAA title and third in the last eight tournaments played.
Maryland improved to 14-3 overall with 10 wins over ranked opponents. It will play No. 1 seed Cornell in a 2022 title game rematch on Memorial Day, May 26, at 1 p.m. The game will be played at Gillette Stadium and televised on ESPN. Maryland defeated Cornell, 9-7, in the 2022 championship game to complete a perfect 18-0 season.
Syracuse (13-6) scored the game's opening goal less than a minute in, but Maryland responded by going on a 8-0 run to build a commanding 8-1 lead late in the second quarter. The Orange finally got on the board again before halftime, but the Terps held them scoreless for 26:53. The dominant start allowed Maryland to cruise back to the championship game.
Eric Spanos led the Terps' attack with four goals and an assist. The redshirt junior leads the team with five hat tricks this season. He has 10 overall in his career. As a team, the Terps have scored 18 hat tricks this season.
Geordy Holmes (two), Will Schaller, Jackson Canfield, Jack McDonald and AJ Larkin were Terps to cause turnovers defensively. Schaller shut down Syracuse's leading point scorer, Joey Spallina, holding him to one assist for the entire contest. Canfield also shined, shadowing the Orange's top goal scorer, Owen Hiltz. Canfield limited Spanilla to just one goal. This was the 14th time the Terps held an opponent to single-digit goals this season.
Maryland's other goal scorers were Daniel Kelly (2 goals & 1 assist), Bryce Ford (two goals (2 goals), Aidan Aitken (1 goal & 1 assist), Elijah Stobaugh, Braden Erksa and Luca Ward. Erksa has scored in every game this season, and Spanos and Kelly have points in every game this season. Ward scored for the first time in a Maryland uniform.
Larkin, a long-stick midfielder, also entered the scoring column twice. It was his first career multi-goal game, giving him four goals on the season and five for his career. The goal was also Maryland's fourth pole goal this season, continuing a tradition.
Goalie Logan McNaney finished the game with 14 saves between the pipes. It was his 15th time this season making double-digit saves.
Shea Keethler (9 wins) and
Jonah Carrier (5 wins) led the Terps from the faceoff dot. Together, they helped the Terps win 14 of 24 face-offs.
Maryland is 76-42 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Under head coach John Tillman, the Terps have made every tournament since 2011, going 34-11. This is Maryland's 47th tournament appearance and an NCAA-best 22nd straight appearance.
From The Guys
"I think it's a testament to our culture and what Coach Tillman has built over the years," Larkin said of the team's scoring versatility. "We're so tight that no matter who goes out there, we're ready to go, and we're going to stand behind them even if they make a mistake or not. … We have all the confidence in the world in those guys, and for them, being able to step up on a stage like that is huge for our team."
Tillman's Take
"We knew it'd be tough today. They've been lighting up the scoreboard and just doing an awesome job. But certainly proud of our guys, excited to have two more days together, and obviously a lot of work to do to play a really good team. But just proud of the effort today, the unselfishness, kind of what these guys have done all year."
Breaking Down The Action
- The Terps led 3-1 entering the second with goals by Eric Spanos, Elijah Stobaugh and a pole goal by AJ Larkin. The Orange scored less than a minute into the game but was held scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.
- Maryland led 8-2 entering the break after going on an 8-0 goal-scoring run. Syracuse finally re-entered the scoring column at the 2:15 mark after two goals by Daniel Kelly, another by Spanos and firsts of the game by Aidan Aitken and Bryce Ford. Logan McNaney had five saves at the break.
- The Terps led 11-5 entering the final frame. Spanos earned his third and fourth goals of the game, and Braden Erksa joined the scoring column.
- Ford, Larkin and Luca Ward netted goals in the fourth and Maryland advanced to its 18th title game in program history.
Hat Trick Terps
Multi-Terps Update
- Eric Spanos (4 goals & 1 assist) had the 32nd multi-point game of his career. It was his 23rd multi-goal game.
- Daniel Kelly (2 goals & 1 assist) had the 32nd multi-point game of his career. It was his 27th game with multiple goals.
- Bryce Ford (2 goals) recorded his 12th multi-point game as a Terp after transferring from Fairfield. It was his 53rd overall, including his 39th multi-goal performance.
- AJ Larkin (2 goals) posted his first career multi point game with multiple goals.
- Aidan Aitken (1 goal & 1 assist) posted his second career multi-point game.
NCAA Tourney Time
- Maryland is 76-42 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, with 30 Final Four trips, 18 Championship game appearances and four national championships (1973, 1975, 2017, 2022). Its 30 Final Four appearances are the most of any program.
- Under Coach Tillman (since 2011), the Terps have made every tournament, going 34-11 and earning 11 championship weekend appearances with two NCAA Championships. Tillman has the most NCAA Tournament victories of any active coach. He's also 9-2 in the semifinals.
- This is Maryland's 47th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its NCAA-best 22nd straight appearance.
- This season marks just the fourth time since the tournament began in 1971 that Maryland is the No. 2 seed.
McNaney On The Charts
- Logan McNaney is Maryland's program's career record holder for saves. With 14 in the game, he now has 778 for his career. He surpassed Kevin O'Leary's 705 from 1981-84, a record that stood for over 40 years, in his outing at Ohio State on April 12.
- He's also the program's all-time wins leader with 60.
- McNaney is back for his sixth season. The 2022 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player wears the program's historic No. 1 jersey this season. He's the first goalie to wear the number since Melvin Stephens (1989-91).
- The goalie, recently named First Team All-Big Ten, is a member of the Top 25 Tewaaraton Watch List and has a chance to become the first-ever goalie on the men's side to win the prestigious award.
Pole Goal!
- AJ Larkin continued the tradition of long pole goals, scoring the fourth of the season for Maryland in the first quarter. It was his third goal of the season and fourth of his career.
- Jack McDonald scored the other long pole goal this season.
- Last season, the Terps had seven pole goals. They came from Ajax Zappitello (two), Colin Burlace (two), Jack McDonald, Nick Alviti and Larkin.
- In 2023, the Terps also had seven pole goals. In 2022, the team had 10.
Single-Digit Defense
- Maryland is 139-13 since Tillman took over the program in 2011 when it allows nine goals or less. It includes a 51-game winning streak when holding foes to less than 10 goals from 2017 to April 20, 2024.
- Maryland has held its opponents to single digits in 14 games this season, surrendering three goals to Delaware; five goals to Air Force; six goals to No. 18 Virginia and No. 16 Georgetown; seven goals to No. 18 Richmond, Loyola and No. 2 Syracuse; eight goals to No. 7 Penn State (twice), Rutgers, No. 2 Ohio State and Johns Hopkins; and nine goals to No. 5 Princeton.
- It's 13-1 this season when holding opponents to single digits.
- The Terps went 6-1 when holding opponents under 10 goals in 2024. The wins were over Loyola, Princeton, Ohio State, Rutgers, Princeton and Virginia in the NCAA Tournament.
Get To 10 And Win
- Since John Tillman took over the program in 2011, Maryland has won 173 of the 197 games in which it has scored 10 or more goals.
- Maryland is also 135-21 when scoring at least 10 goals since 2015.
Dominating The Series
- This marked the 22nd meeting between two of the most storied programs in NCAA history, with the Terps holding the 16-6 advantage. The series dates back to 1927.
- Maryland is 8-0 against Syracuse in his time at Maryland.
- This was the ninth game between Maryland and Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament. The Terps lead the postseason series, 5-4.
- The Terps and Orange have played each other every year in the regular season since 2022, with the Terps winning all four of those meetings.
- Earlier this season, No. 6 Maryland topped No. 2 Syracuse in a back-and-forth game, 11-7, that saw six lead changes and five ties.
- The last meeting in the NCAA Tournament came in the 2016 quarterfinals in Providence, RI. The top-seeded Terps defeated No. 8 Syracuse, 13-7, behind a four-goal performance from Matt Rambo.
Numbers To Know
- 1: Ward scored his first career goal in a Maryland uniform.
- 1: Larkin posted his first career double-digit scoring game.
- 1: McNaney is Maryland's all-time saves leader.
- 2: Maryland is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 2 in NCAA Men's Lacrosse RPI.
- 4: The Terps are ranked No. 4 in the Men's Division I Media Poll.
- 4: The Terps have four long pole goals this season.
- 10: Spanos recorded his 10th career hat trick.
- 10: Maryland is 10-0 this season when winning to begin the second quarter.
- 10: Kelly has 10 straight games with a goal.
- 10: This was Maryland's 10th win over a ranked team this year.
- 11: Maryland has held an opponent scoreless for 20 or more minutes for the 11th time this season.
- 11: Maryland is 11-0 this season when winning after three quarters.
- 14: Maryland has held opponents to fewer than 10 goals in 14 games this season.
- 17: Spanos and Kelly have scored a point in every game this season.
- 17: Erksa has a goal in all 17 games this season.
- 18: Maryland has 18 hat tricks this season.
- 18: Maryland will make its 18th championship game appearance as a program.
- 22: Maryland leads the nation with 22 straight NCAA Tournament appearances.
- 30: Maryland has the most Final Four appearances of any program with 30.
- 34: Tillman's 34 NCAA Tournament victories are the most of any active coach.
- 47: This is Maryland's 47th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
- 51: McNaney made 10 or more saves for the 51st time in his career and the 15th time this season.
- 100: This marks the 100th season of Maryland men's lacrosse.
- 139: Maryland is 139-13 since Tillman took over the program in 2011 when it allows nine goals or less.
- 157: Maryland is 157-12 when leading at halftime under Tillman.
- 173: Since Tillman took over the program in 2011, Maryland has won 173 of the 197 games in which it has scored 10 or more goals.
- 906: This was Maryland's 906th win as a program. It is one of three programs with 900 or more wins.
Up Next
- Maryland will play No. 1 seed Cornell in a 2022 title game rematch on Memorial Day, May 26, at 1 p.m. The game will be played at Gillette Stadium and televised on ESPN.
