COLLEGE PARK, MD – In a game that featured five first-half lead changes, No. 4 Maryland men's lacrosse used a second-half surge to defeat Rutgers, 11-6, at SECU Stadium on Saturday. With the win, Maryland (8-3, 3-1 B1G) clinched a top-two seed in the Big Ten Tournament and secured a bye in the quarterfinals.
Maryland and Rutgers (7-5, 1-3 B1G) traded goals early but the Terps capitalized on its momentum coming out of the locker room. Braden Erksa and Jack Koras netted goals under the two-minute mark to grab a 6-4 lead at halftime, the largest lead of the game up to that point. Maryland proceeded to outscore Rutgers 5-2 in the second half, including four unanswered in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Daniel Kelly scored a season-high three goals and recorded the sixth hat trick of his career. He also recorded a game-high and season-high four points.
Koras and Ryan Siracusa each supplied two goals and an assist. Erksa added one goal and an assist and Eric Malever created for his teammates with two assists.
The Maryland defense held Rutgers scoreless for the first 14:10 of the game and 15:52 spanning through the second and third quarters. Goalie Logan McNaney made a season-high 15 saves and six different Terps caused a turnover.
Luke Wierman won 11 faceoffs and picked up five groundballs. He also scored a goal at 11:04 in the fourth quarter to give the Terps a 9-6 lead. It was his first goal of the season.
Maryland improved to 38-1 in program history against Rutgers and has won 19 consecutive meetings.
Breaking Down The Action
Maryland and Rutgers (7-5, 1-3 B1G) traded goals early but the Terps capitalized on its momentum coming out of the locker room. Braden Erksa and Jack Koras netted goals under the two-minute mark to grab a 6-4 lead at halftime, the largest lead of the game up to that point. Maryland proceeded to outscore Rutgers 5-2 in the second half, including four unanswered in the fourth quarter to put the game away.
Daniel Kelly scored a season-high three goals and recorded the sixth hat trick of his career. He also recorded a game-high and season-high four points.
Koras and Ryan Siracusa each supplied two goals and an assist. Erksa added one goal and an assist and Eric Malever created for his teammates with two assists.
The Maryland defense held Rutgers scoreless for the first 14:10 of the game and 15:52 spanning through the second and third quarters. Goalie Logan McNaney made a season-high 15 saves and six different Terps caused a turnover.
Luke Wierman won 11 faceoffs and picked up five groundballs. He also scored a goal at 11:04 in the fourth quarter to give the Terps a 9-6 lead. It was his first goal of the season.
Maryland improved to 38-1 in program history against Rutgers and has won 19 consecutive meetings.
Breaking Down The Action
- Daniel Kelly scored the first goal for Maryland off a feed from Eric Malever. Rutgers got on the board with 50 seconds remaining and the teams were tied 1-1 heading into the second quarter.
- Maryland led 6-4 at halftime after a second goal from Kelly, two from Jack Koras and singles from Braden Erksaand Ryan Siracusa. The game featured five lead changes but the Terps recorded two unanswered heading into the locker room.
- Maryland and Rutgers each scored one goal in the third quarter and entered the final frame with the Terps leading 7-6.
- Rutgers scored first in the fourth but the Terps scored four unanswered goals from Siracusa, Luke Wierman, Zach Whittier and Jack Brennan to put the game away.
- Daniel Kelly posted a hat trick on Saturday. It was the sixth hat trick of his career and the first of the season.
- Maryland has recorded a hat trick in 81 of its last 83 games dating to Feb. 2, 2019. This includes a remarkable streak of 67 straight games with a hat trick through the late 2023 season.
- The other hat tricks this season have come from Braden Erksa (three), Daniel Maltz (three), Eric Spanos (two), Jack Koras (two) and Eric Malever.
- Daniel Kelly (three goals and one assist) had his 15th multi-point game of his career and 10th game with multiple goals.
- Jack Koras (two goals and one assist) recorded his 20th multi-point game of his career. It was his 14th game scoring multiple goals.
- Ryan Siracusa (two goals and one assist) recorded the ninth multi-point game of his career. It was his fourth career game with multiple goals.
- Braden Erksa (one goal and one assist) had his 22nd multi-point game in his two years as a Terp.
- Eric Malever (two assists) had the 25th multi-point game. It was his 16th game scoring multiple assists.
- Luke Wierman became the program's all-time faceoff winner in the Terps' season opener. With 11 wins today, he added to his total of 781 for his career.
- Wierman is second in the Terps' history with 421 groundballs in his career. He added five today and is chasing Andy Claxton (1989-92) who stands alone with 451 career groundballs.
- Logan McNaney is fourth on the all-time saves list. With 15 in the game, he now has 527 for his career. Niko Amato (2011-14) is third on the list with 625 saves in his career.
- Maryland is 124-11 since Tillman took over the program in 2011 when it allows nine goals or less and has won 51 games in a row when holding foes to less than 10 goals.
- The Terps are 4-0 this season when holding opponents under 10 goals. Most recently, Maryland defeated Ohio State 8-7 thanks to a fantastic defensive effort that featured a 26:50 Buckeye scoreless span. Logan McNaney made 10 saves and Luke Wierman went 13-of-18 at the faceoff dot.
- The last time the Terps allowed less than 10 goals and lost a game was March 4, 2017 - a 5-4 loss at Notre Dame.
- Since John Tillman took over the program in 2011, Maryland has won 158 of the 180 games in which it has scored 10 or more goals. The Terps have scored 10 or more goals in nine of 11 games this season.
- Maryland is also 119-19 since 2015 when scoring at least 10 goals.
- Maryland has won 27 of its last 32 home games and is 5-1 at SECU Stadium this season.
- The Terps are 84-19 overall in home games under John Tillman since 2011.
- The Terps are an impressive 37-1 against Rutgers all-time and are winners of the past 19 meetings.
- Last season, the two teams met twice, first in Piscataway in the penultimate game of the regular season and then in the Big Ten Quarterfinals in College Park. Both games were close until the end, with the Terps taking each one by scores of 11-8 and 14-11, respectively.
- 1: Luke Wierman and Jack Brennan scored their first goals of the season.
- 7: The Terps held an opponent scoreless for 15 or more minutes for the seventh time this season.
- 11: Ryan Siracusa has scored a goal in all 11 games this season.
- 19: The Terps have won 19 consecutive games against the Scarlet Knights.
- 25: Braden Erksa has a 25-game point-scoring streak
- 26: Eric Malever has a 26-game point-scoring streak.
- 27: Maryland has won 27 of its last 32 home games.
- 38: Maryland is 38-1 against Rutgers all-time.
- 41: Maryland is 41-8 in conference play since joining the Big Ten.
- 45: Wierman has a streak of 45 consecutive games with 10 or more faceoff wins.
- 49: Wierman won 11 face-offs to give him his 49th career game with 10 or more wins in a game.
- 51: Maryland has won 51 games in a row when holding its opponents to single digits.
- 81: The Terrapins have had a player record a hat trick in 81 of the last 83 games.
- The Terps close out regular season play at Johns Hopkins on April 20. The game faces off at 4 pm and will be televised on ESPNU.
