No. 1 Maryland men’s lacrosse entered Saturday with extreme confidence after defeating then-No. 1 Notre Dame Fighting Irish last weekend — and trading places in the rankings.

The Terps’ previous three matchups have all been against top-five ranked opponents. The trend broke on Saturday, as Maryland took the turf against unranked Delaware for the first time since 2002 — and the first time coach John Tillman has ever faced off against the Blue Hens.

Maryland entered the weekend undefeated against Delaware in College Park. It continued Saturday, as the Terps picked up a dominant 14-3 victory to remain undefeated.

Binghamton transfer transfer Matthew Keegan got the offense started for the Terps. Not long after, Bryce Ford notched his first goal of the afternoon off a well-timed feed from Eric Spanos.

“Very fortunate that he decided to come here this year, and [Matthew] and Bryce have been great line mates for me,” Maryland midfielder Zach Whittier said. “So just having two guys that can do so much, it’s been really helpful.”

Sophomore Elijah Stobaugh capitalized down the alley with his left, scoring his second goal of the season while continuing a red-hot first quarter for Maryland — who held onto an early two-goal lead.

It was déjà vu to begin the second period. Whitter linked up once more for Keegan’s second goal of the first half. 

After assisting Keegan twice, Spanos repaid the favor. He fed Whittier, who found the back of the net midway through the second quarter. 

Whitter’s second goal of the day came not long after. He closed the first half with five points.

“Whit had one of his best half’s he’s ever had. He had five points in the first half, and he did it a variety of ways,” Tillman said. “He’s behind the goal, he’s in front of the goal, he was feeding, he was scoring. So I was psyched for him there.”

The Terps were rolling offensively in the first half. They tallied a whopping 26 shots, compared to a Delaware total of just 11. Maryland entered the break with a commanding 9-2 lead.

Even through early defensive troubles, Delaware goalie Kevin Ellington held stout by ending the first half with nine total saves — and finishing the contest with 15.

It was a scoring parade today for Matthew Keegan and Braden Erksa. Keegan had himself a first-half hat trick while Erksa reached the mark early to begin the second half of play.

Maryland, who averaged 13.6 turnovers a game this season, managed to keep it clean all contest. The Terps only tallied eight turnovers on Saturday.

Furthermore, Terps’ goalie Logan McNaney, sporting the No. 1 jersey, notched 15 saves, continuing his streak of double-digit saves in every game this season.

After the Terps lost all-time winning faceoff man Luke Wierman a year ago, Shea Keethler and Sean Crater stepped into the role with big shoes to fill. 

The Terps were able to hold their own against a Delaware team who ranked first in the country in faceoff win percentage, winning nine of 19 on the dot.

“We definitely put more into it this week, knowing that if there was a big slant at face offs, that could really change things,” Tillman said. 

Maryland looks to continue its undefeated season next weekend, when it travels to Virginia in a 2024 Final Four rematch. 

“At the end of the day it’s one week, and we’re only barely into March, so trying to get better and then trying to prep for our opponents is really all we care about right now,” Tillman said.