Maryland Wins Clash of Styles in NCAA Semifinals

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It was a case of been there, done that in Maryland’s 14-8 rout of Syracuse in Saturday’s NCAA semifinals.

The second-seeded Terrapins, oozing with the familiarity of college lacrosse’s grandest stage, pounced early before 31,524 at Gillette Stadium and were never seriously threatened in the second half as they rolled into their fourth title game appearance in five years.

Eric Spanos had four goals and an assist for Maryland (14-3), which will face top-seeded Cornell (17-1) on Monday in a rematch of the 2022 title game won by the Terps.

“They’ve been here, and they know how to play in these games and they know how to strangle you when you’re down,” Syracuse midfielder Sam English said. “That’s an unbelievable Maryland team that will give Cornell a game on Monday. I just think they know how to win and they know how to step on your throat.”

English had a goal and two assists, while Michael Leo and Finn Thomson both scored twice for the sixth-seeded Orange (13-6), who were making their first semifinal appearance since 2013.

Maryland has won its last eight meetings against Syracuse, a streak that began on the same field in the 2011 quarterfinals. That game changed the trajectory of both programs. The Terps would go on to reach the first of nine title games under coach John Tillman. Syracuse, a virtually unstoppable force in the quarterfinals for decades to that point, would only win one more at that stage before last week.

It set up a profound clash of styles. The Orange, aggressive and a bit more inconsistent, hoping to apply pressure to a Maryland program known for its ability to mind the subtlest details.

It didn’t take long to figure out which approach would prevail Saturday.

Although Owen Hiltz scored 51 seconds in, it would be Syracuse’s only lead of the day. Maryland erased the modest deficit on Spanos’ first goal, and second-line midfielder Elijah Stobaugh and long pole AJ Larkin found the net in a 33-second span.

It was a spark that ultimately buried Syracuse, with Maryland rattling off eight consecutive goals. It scored coming out of a timeout. It scored in transition. It scored after killing off a man-down when short stick Geordy Holmes picked off a pass and cleared it, with second-liner Aidan Aitken scoring his first goal in more than a month moments later.

It scored when Daniel Kelly collected a carom of Zach Whittier’s shot off Syracuse goalie Jimmy McCool (12 saves) and quickly fired it back.

It was pure, unadulterated Maryland.

“We knew they wanted to speed up the game for our defense and they wanted us to make mistakes,” said Larkin, who later had an empty-netter for his first career multi-goal day. “We tried to flip the script and counteract those and make them make mistakes.”

Other things tipped to the Terps, too. Shea Keethler won 9 of 12 faceoffs largely against Syracuse’s John Mullen, who was just 9 of 20 on the day as the Orange couldn’t monopolize possession and have a chance to dictate tempo.

Logan McNaney, whose six-year college career will conclude as he plays in his fourth national title game Monday, made 14 saves in front of a stout defense.

And the Orange’s potent offense, a week removed from dropping 19 goals on Princeton in the quarterfinals, shot 2 of 16 in the first half.

“They executed like a team that’s been to a dozen final fours in the last, what, 14 or 15 years?” Syracuse coach Gary Gait said. “Lots of experience, and the execution was outstanding. Unfortunately, we came in and played the first half like it was the first time we’d been here in 12 years.”

Perhaps Maryland’s most notable defensive effort was Will Schaller’s. Tasked with defending Joey Spallina for the second time this season, Schaller smothered the junior who entered the day with a team-high 89 points and was held without a goal on four shots.

Spallina’s lone point came on an assist to English with 2.9 seconds remaining.

“Being able to have a guy like Will guard dudes like that and us being able to roll with our game plan and roll with the punches is super-important,” Larkin said.

The Orange’s lone semblance of a burst came in the third quarter, when Thomson, Leo and Luke Rhoa all scored in a span of barely more than four minutes to close within 10-5. Given Syracuse’s comeback history in this postseason — erasing the same 8-2 halftime deficit it faced Saturday in the first round against Harvard, as well as an early three-goal hole against Princeton — it had to be taken seriously.

But the Terps managed another transition goal, this one a Spanos tally off long pole Jack McDonald’s pass, and Syracuse never got closer than five the rest of the way.

“The biggest goal of the game I thought was Spanos’ goal from J-Mac,” Tillman said. “They had really controlled that third quarter for about six minutes. They had the ball, long possessions, some resets and just were grinding us down. … Getting that goal was huge. We just needed to give our defense a little bit of a break.”

The victory tied Tillman with Bill Tierney (Princeton and Denver) and Roy Simmons Jr. (Syracuse) for the most title game appearances as a coach with nine. And it also tied him with Simmons and his successor with the Orange, John Desko, for the fourth most games won in the NCAA tournament (34).

Now 9-2 in the semifinals, Tillman has the Terps in familiar territory, this time with a team that didn’t have many established stars beyond McNaney entering the season and still doesn’t have a 35-goal scorer (Kelly and Spanos are both one shy).

But that doesn’t account for the cohesion — practice after practice, game after game, month after month and year after year — that binds Maryland’s program as it once again prepares for the quick turnaround from winning the second semifinal and moving on to the final day of the season.

“We scored in a variety of ways, a lot of different guys, but that’s been our identity all year,” Tillman said. “It’s just kind of a different guy, we don’t have to rely on one guy. These guys are so unselfish, and [offensive coordinator] Michael [Phipps] does such a good job with the offense that it’xs just make the extra pass, share it, look for a good shot, if you have a good shot, just go for it and no regrets once you shoot it.”

With Memorial Day beckoning once again, there is little for the Terps to rue. They’ve been here before.