No. 2 Maryland Men’s Lax falls to Michigan for first time in program history

On the cusp of heading back to Ann Arbor with a win over Maryland for the first time ever, Jacob Jackson and Michael Boehm scored goals just 10 seconds apart to extend the lead to four as time wound down to close the Terps out. The two combined for seven goals, while senior Josh Zawada added another seven points for the Wolverines en route to a 16-11 win. 

The Terps (6-3) hosted Michigan on Saturday afternoon, riding a three game win-streak into the contest, including two-straight ranked opponents. 

Michigan (5-4) lost its Big Ten opener to Johns Hopkins last weekend after cracking the Top-20 rankings for the first time all season, and visited College Park knowing that one more conference loss could put them well on their way to another finish at the bottom of the rankings. 

Maryland knew they’d have their hands full with a Michigan offense that ranks 16th in efficiency and sixth in faceoff win percentage, two areas that propelled the Wolverines out to an early lead. 

“I felt at times we weren’t on the same page,” said Head Coach John Tillman. “They have some pretty good offensive players and we knew that going in. It just felt like we were not in the right spot or just a step behind on a couple of plays.”

Led by key faceoff wins from Nick Rowlett and Justin Wietfeldt – 5/9 in the first quarter –  Michigan went on a 5-0 run to end the first, holding Maryland scoreless for 11 minutes. Michigan was also efficient, scoring six of their first nine shots on goal. 

“Credit to the Michigan guys in the middle of the field,” said LSM John Geppert. “They were mucking it up with us in the middle all day, and that’s something we pride ourselves on. They did a really good job.”

After starting out hot with two goals in the first four minutes from Dan Kelly and Braden Erksa, the Terps failed to score for the remainder of the quarter, attempting only 10 shots, a season low. 

The second quarter was a different story. FOGO Luke Weirman, who has been everything and more for the Terps this season, finally settled in, winning 4 of 6 faceoffs, helping the defensive unit hold Michigan to just seven shots in the second. 

After bringing themselves to within one, Maryland was awarded the first man-up opportunity of the day with two minutes to play in the half, but failed to convert and went into the locker room trailing 7-6. 

After winning the first three faceoffs of the second half, and capitalizing on all three possessions, Michigan found themselves up 10-6 against the No. 2 team in the country, and every fan wearing the Maize and Blue was on their feet.

Erksa scored on Maryland’s first possession of the third quarter at the 12:39 mark, leading both sides into a scoring drought for the next 10 minutes before Michael Boehm scored his third of the day to put Michigan up four. 

When the Terps needed it most, Erksa scored to record a hat trick with eight seconds left in the quarter to give Maryland some life heading into the fourth. 

After winning the third quarter 4-2 and heading into the final frame up 11-8, Michigan was just 15 minutes away from winning their first ever game against Maryland. 

With their unbeaten streak on the line, Ruppel made an early save to start the fourth, leading to a man-up goal from Danny Maltz to cut the lead to two. After Maltz’ second of the day with 13:32 left, the Terps had two possessions to score but couldn’t convert, and Michigan opened things up.

With 9:36 remaining, Jacob Jackson drilled a step down from 15 yards out to get the lead back to three, and just 10 seconds later, Boehm beat Ruppel on the crease for another, sending Michigan into a frenzy. 

“We knew they had a super talented attack, one of the better groups we’ll see this year. They’re comfortable playing all over the field,” said senior defenseman Brett Makar. “I thought at times we handled it well and at times it wasn’t great. That’s kind of the beauty of it, gotta pick yourself up off the mat and get better.”

Michigan continued to win faceoffs, scoring two more within the next three minutes. Eric Spanos scored for the Terps a minute later, but it was too little too late for a Maryland team that looked lifeless from the start. 

Weirman went under .500 from the spot for the first time all season, only winning 13/28 faceoffs, and Maryland could never settle in offensively, dropping their third loss of the season.

“We have a lot of young guys out there, so it’s still about the teachable moments and trying to improve,” said Tillman. “Whether we won this game or lost this game, we’d still have a big game in Ohio next week.”

The Terps will look to bounce back against another rival in Ohio State next Friday in Columbus, while Michigan will look to carry their momentum into Rutgers.