No. 6 Maryland men’s lacrosse entered a rainy SECU Stadium for a top-10 clash on the turf Saturday afternoon against No. 2 Syracuse — with the Orange looking to capture their first win in College Park since 1995.

Both teams came in undefeated with lots of momentum, looking to keep respective records intact. Maryland’s most recent win came in an overtime in-state victory against Loyola (Md), while the Orange’s offense entered Saturday averaging over 18 goals a game.

After a first-half scoring blitz, the Terps were able to limit Syracuse’s high-powered offense through the final 30 minutes — something no team has done thus far this season. Maryland capitalized, securing a dominant 11-7 defensive-heavy victory in another storied chapter in one of men’s lacrosse’s greatest rivalries. 

Syracuse (3-1) came into Saturday averaging six goals in first quarter’s this season. Its offense held true minutes in, courtesy of a Trey Deere behind-the-back goal. 

Strong performances from Maryland (3-0) goalie Logan McNaney, Jack McDonald and the rest of its defense helped limit the Orange’s attack. McNaney made four first quarter saves off of 11 Syracuse shot attempts. 

Syracuse and Maryland sat tied at 2 after one frame.

“Everyone just pulled their weight,” Jack McDonald said. “And when that happens, and when you have six guys able to play off each other, that’s where the magic happens.”

Not only was the Maryland defense strong in its area of expertise, but the backline also dabbled with a little offense of their own; long-stick midfielder AJ Larkin scored a coast-to-coast goal to open the second quarter. 

The Syracuse offense did all it could before the half to find the back of the goal, and it executed successfully. The Orange scored three times on 10 shots. 

Conversely, Maryland’s offense struggled to close the first half. The Terps took just three shots and turned the ball over on eight separate occasions.

“We had eight turnovers in the first half, and that’s kind of where we were last week,” head coach John Tillman said. “When we become that team, we really shoot ourselves in the foot, and part of that is Syracuse so you have to give them that.”

Maintaining a narrow 3-2 lead late in the second quarter, Syracuse attackmen Joey Spallina took charge. 

Spallina, tied sixth in the country in points per game, scored two consecutive goals to give the Orange a 5-4 lead heading into the half. 

The road lead didn’t last long.

Nearly all of Syracuse’s momentum was dismantled in the third quarter. Maryland’s offense erupted, scoring four straight goals to take an emphatic 8-5 lead. 

“Sometimes it might be me, sometimes it might be someone else. When we’re just playing in the flow, the game comes to us, and that’s kind of just where we excel the best,” Eric Spanos said. 

Eliot Dubick scored his first goal of the season on a man-up opportunity, helping lead Maryland’s third quarter charge alongside Daniel Kelly and Eric Spanos.

Maryland’s defense fired on all cylinders Saturday. The Terps held a high-powered Syracuse offense to single-digit goals for the first time this year, an area that’s long been a point of emphasis for the Terps under Tillman. 

Since becoming Maryland’s head coach, Tillman holds a 128-12 record when holding opponents to single digits. 

The Terps’ defense did just that, all while translating defense to offense in a flurry.

Maryland’s offense stayed red-hot through the latter half of the second half, extendings its lead to four off timely goals from Bryce Ford and Daniel Kelly.

This lead proved too much for the Orange to overcome. Maryland extended Tillman’s record over Syracuse to 7-0 — picking up a convincing early-season ranked victory.

“Let’s get back to work on Monday. Let’s clean up the things that maybe we didn’t do as well on,” Tillman said. “But to beat a team as good as Syracuse — and I have so much respect for their team and program — I want the guys to enjoy it for a couple days.”

Maryland looks to sustain its red-hot play next Saturday when it takes road turf at Princeton at noon.