TERPS ADVANCE: No. 13 Maryland Secures Spot In Big Ten Tournament Semifinals With 13-10 Win Over Rutgers

Saturday, April 25

College Park, MD

6 PM

Maryland

7-5, 4-2

Rutgers

7-7, 1-5

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Rutgers	0	4	1	5	10
Maryland	2	4	3	4	13

TERPS ADVANCE: No. 13 Maryland Secures Spot In Big Ten Tournament Semifinals With 13-10 Win Over Rutgers

4/25/2026 6:00:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score Photo Gallery

Nine different Terps scored on Saturday night as the Terps pushed past Rutgers.

COLLEGE PARK, MD — No. 13 (No. 3 seed) Maryland breezed past No. 6 seed Rutgers 13-10 on Saturday night in College Park in the opening round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Terps (7-5, 3-2 Big Ten) got goals from nine different scorers and will face No. 2 seed Penn State in the semifinal round on Apr. 30.

The Terps scored in the opening and closing minutes of the first quarter to bookend five saves from Brian Ruppel. Leo Johnson needed only seven seconds to give the Terps the lead on Saturday and Eric Spanos gave Maryland a 2-0 lead to take into the second quarter with his 21st goal of 2026.

Dodge to Johnson off the opening face-off!#BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/2LMgOl8LNV
— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) April 25, 2026

Maryland rattled off a four-goal second quarter to take a 6-4 lead into the halftime break. Spanos netted his second as AJ Larkin, Jack Schultz, and Spencer Ford all fouled the back of the net. Ruppel held Rutgers scoreless for the first 22:16 minutes and made eight first-half saves.

Spanos nets his second!#BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/LXbfMCJsRD
— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) April 25, 2026

Maryland used a 4-0 run to take full command of Saturday night's contest. Elijah Stobaugh, Chris Lyons, and Zach Whittier all added goals to ensure the Terps never trailed the Scarlet Knights as they moved to 38-2 all-time against Rutgers (8-7, 1-4 Big Ten).

Lyons gets on the board!#BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/PoYlJUsG5O
— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) April 25, 2026

Henry Dodge went 12-14 in the X, Ruppel finished with 11 saves, Spanos tallied five points as one of four Terps with two-goal games. The Terps are back in action on Thursday against the Nittany Lions in Piscataway, NJ. Penn State stands between Maryland and its eighth Big Ten Tournament Championship Game appearance since 2015.

How It Happened:
1st Quarter:

Johnson scored his 26th goal of the season seven seconds into the game to give the Terps an immediate lead.
Ruppel made his first save five minutes into the game.
Spanos' 21st goal of the season gave the Terps a 2-0 lead with two seconds left in the quarter.
Ruppel made five saves in the scoreless frame as Maryland led 2-0 after 15 minutes of action.

2nd Quarter:

Schultz opened the scoring with his second goal of the season five minutes into the frame.
Rutgers got on the board with 7:44 to play.
Spanos' second of the day came 13 seconds later to rebuild a three-goal lead.
Rutgers scored with 6:24 to play to cut the Terps' lead to 4-2.
Larkin's seventh goal of the season gave the Terps a 5-2 lead.
Rutgers crept closer with a pair of late goals.
Ford scored with six seconds left to give the Terps a 6-4 halftime lead.

3rd Quarter:

Stobaugh's 14th goal of the season opened the scoring in the second minute.
Lyons and Whittier scored back-to-back goals as the lead swelled to 9-4.
Rutgers snapped Maryland's 4-0 run with 3:05 to play in the quarter.
The Terps took a 9-5 lead into the final 15 minutes of action.

4th Quarter:

Lyons' second goal of the night opened the scoring in the fourth and got the Terps into double figures.
Rutgers rattled off three straight goals to pull within two in the closing minutes.
Johnson's second goal of the night gave Maryland an 11-8 lead with 3:19 to play.
Braden Erksa's 13th goal extended the lead late.
Rutgers scored with 93 seconds to play.
Whittier buried his second goal with 45 seconds left.
Rutgers scored the final goal of the night.
The Terps held on for the 13-10 win.

Multi-Point Terps:

Spanos (two goals, three assists) logged his 40th multi-point game, his 28th multi-goal game, and his 11th multi-assist game.
Johnson (two goals) scored multiple goals for the 38th time and collected multiple points for the 52nd time.
Whittier (two goals) logged his 10th multi-goal game and his 20th multi-point game.
Lyons (two goals) recorded his 41st multi-point game and his 35th with multiple goals.
Erksa (one goal, one assist) logged his 48th multi-point game of his career.

Big Ten Tournament Time

The Terps are a conference-best 13-6 (.684) all-time in Big Ten Tournament games.
Since joining the conference in 2015, Maryland has won the Big Ten Tournament four times (2016, 2017, 2021, 2022) and is hunting its fifth in 2016.
Maryland has only missed the title game three times, excluding the 2020 tournament, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Routing Rutgers:

Saturday marked the 40th all-time meeting between Maryland and Rutgers.
The Terps took a 38-2 lead in the series.
Maryland improved to 16-1 against Rutgers under head coach John Tillman and 23-1 in College Park.
The Terps' largest win in series history was a 15-0 victory in 1943.

Magic Number 10:

Since Tillman took over the program in 2011, Maryland has won 179 of the 204 games when scoring 10 or more goals for an .877 winning percentage.
The Terps are also 139-23 (.585) since 2015 when scoring at least 10 goals.

Home Cooking:

Maryland has won 37 of its last 45 (.822) home games, including a 5-2 2026 campaign.
The Terps are 95-21 (.818) overall in home games under Tillman.

Numbers To Know:

4: Four different Terps logged multi-point games.
5: Ruppel's scoreless first period marked his fifth black frame of the season.
5: Maryland moved to 5-2 at home in 2026.
7: Larkin became the first long-pole Terp to score seven goals since Brian Farrell in 2011 (8 goals, 6 assists)
7: The Terps scored seven seconds into the game.
11: Ruppel made 11 saves in the win.
13: Maryland won its 13th all-time Big Ten Tournament game.
10: Maryland won 20 of 27 draw controls.
23: Rutgers didn't score until the 23rd minute of the game.
38: Maryland earned its 38th all-time win over Rutgers.
40: Saturday marked the 40th all-time meeting between Maryland and Rutgers.

Up Next:

Maryland advances to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals to face No. 2 seed Penn State in Piscataway, NJ, on Apr. 30. The game is TBD but it will air on BTN.