By: Jacob Steinberg
On a meaningful day for all eight seniors, No. 3 Maryland (9-2, 1-1 B1G) defeated Michigan 16-12 in a game filled with runs, but the attackmen duo of Jared Bernhardt and Logan Wisnauskas proved too much for the Wolverines.
Each finished with eight points, leading the Maryland offense and making the Wolverines pay for their unconventional consistent ten-man ride.
“[That run] definitely helped, I felt like we picked up some momentum,” head coach John Tillman said.
The first quarter was back-and-forth, with both teams ending the quarter tied at three despite Maryland leading in faceoffs 7-1, a trend that would continue the remainder of the game. The Terps had four turnovers early on, having trouble navigating Michigan’s quick defensive slides and rotations. However, as the first quarter progressed the Terps began to find their stride offensively.
“We definitely had too many [turnovers], you also have to think that you get some potentially easy goals and potentially give up some possessions,” head coach John Tillman said.
Despite the early struggles the Terps struck first, sophomore attackmen Logan Wisnauskas finished into the empty net, the first of three first half goals. The goal displayed Maryland’s offensive unselfishness, completing the tic-tac-toe passing senior midfielder Will Snider to Bernhardt to Wisnauskas for the finish. Senior midfielder Brent Noseworthy finished on the extra-man opportunity for Michigan, making the Terps defense pay for leaving him open space inside tying the score at one.
Sophomore attackmen Alex Buckanavage put the Wolverines on top with his second goal of the quarter 3-2. Both were on side-arm shots making it difficult for senior goalie Danny Dolan to detect the angle. Less than 30 seconds later, junior Anthony Demaio tied it up at three absolutely rocketing a lefty shot top-shelf past goalie Gunner Garn ending the back-and-forth quarter.
The Terps dominated in the second quarter particularly in the last five minutes, scoring five unanswered goals. Senior Louis Dubick opened up the second quarter scoring consecutive goals, each displaying his lacrosse IQ by finding space in the defense. On both goals, Dubick cut to the open area and made himself available for feeds from teammates and taking his time to finish in tight windows matched up one on one with the goalie.
With Dubick’s consecutive goals, Maryland seemed to start building momentum. However, Michigan bounced right back through freshman attacker Bryce Clay who cut just above goal-line extended and snuck the close shot past Dolan cutting the Maryland lead to 5-4. The final 4:46 of the first half, Maryland was firing on all cylinders on both ends of the field allowing them to catapult its half-time lead to six.
Snider got the run started for Maryland, using the rocker step to create separation from the defender rifling the time and room shot into the back of the net. After three and a half minutes without a goal, sophomore midfielder Bubba Fairman found a wide open Wisnauskas about seven yards from the cage without a defender in the vicinity.
Each of the last three goals of the half for Maryland, were created as a result of the Terps solving the Wolverines 10 man ride. With Garn moving out of goal to guard a man it left the net wide open, Bernhardt and Wisnauskas capitalized scoring three goals in the final 56 seconds. On each goal, the Terps pushed the tempo jumping out into transition leaving Garn no chance to return back into the net.
“I think we saw some openings and we were able to make plays,” Bernhardt said. “We saw some openings, we were just trying to take advantage of that.”
In the third quarter, Michigan came out of halftime with solid adjustments, outscoring Maryland 5-1. Decker Curran got going for the Wolverines in the third, scoring two goals and the Wolverine offense as a whole used quick ball movement to catch the Terps defense out of position.
However, Wisnauskas and Bernhardt scored three consecutive goals for Maryland extending the lead to 14-9 once again. However, all hope for the Wolverines seemed to be lost when sophomore defender Matt Rahill fired the shot from 55 yards away into the empty net. Rahill’s goal was the first of his career and senior defender Curtis Corley picked up an assist on the shot.
The Wolverines continued to fight back scoring three consecutive goals, but it was too late as the Terps will now travel to Piscataway to take on Rutgers next Sunday.
