The 1-0 Maryland Terrapins hosted their first game of the 2024 season in Secu Stadium on Saturday, defending their home turf against the No. 12 Loyola Greyhounds, also 1-0.
Maryland looked to extend its win streak to two after beating Richmond 12-11 in double overtime last weekend. Loyola was in the same position after dropping 18 points on No. 11 Georgetown at home.
The Terps were met with a sense of déjà vu entering this game. After beating Richmond in its first game of last season, Maryland played Loyola for its second game, but away in Baltimore. That game marked the last meeting between the two teams, in which Loyola won 12-7 to end the Terps’ 19-game win streak.
Maryland was successful in securing its revenge on Saturday, beating Loyola 11-4.
“You watch that Georgetown game and see that they’re a good team,” Maryland head coach John Tillman said in his post-game presser. “And obviously last year they beat us up pretty good, so we were definitely on guard.”
After five scoreless minutes, the Terps strung together three points in the span of a minute and a half with goals from Zach Whittier, Eric Malever and Owen Murphy. Loyola head coach Charley Toomey called his first timeout after Murphy’s goal, but the break would just briefly slow Maryland’s offensive momentum.
“I think from last week to this week, we definitely have improved,” Malever said post-game. “We’ll keep getting great game plans from our coaches and we’re gonna keep getting better.”
Defenseman George Stamos scored his first goal of the season to give Maryland a four-point cushion heading into the second quarter.
The script seemed to flip for Maryland as the next quarter neared halfway. Loyola quickly cut its deficit down to a single point with three goals of its own, but Maryland made sure to respond with two more. The Terps went into the half on top at a 6-3 score.
Last week against Richmond, Maryland face-off specialist Luke Wierman set the program record for most career faceoff wins. In the first half of this game, he contributed to the Terps’ lead by winning 9 of his 11 faceoffs, a stat he coincidentally carried in the first half against Loyola last year.
The scoreboard would not change again until midway through the third quarter. Attackman Daniel Maltz dumped in a shot while standing right on the crease to give Maryland back its four-point lead. Maltz would score again right as the clock hit zero, and with a goal from long-pole Colin Burlace minutes before, the Terps entered the final quarter up by six.
Maryland successfully prevented Loyola from scoring for 50 minutes. Loyola attackman Davis Lindsey managed a goal with two minutes left, but the effort would not be enough with Maryland racking on two more points before time expired.
For the first time since 2017, the Loyola Greyhounds only scored four goals. Maryland goalie Logan McNaney finished the game saving 12 of Loyola’s 16 shots on goal.
“We had a good game plan coming into this week,” McNaney said. “Our scouts do a tremendous job week in and week out just trying to get an idea of what their players can do, so give props to those guys.”
Now 2-0, the Terps will head to New York next Saturday for a match against Gary Gait’s Syracuse team.
