Princeton Slays Maryland, Bounces Back from Season-Opening Loss

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — There’s a bit to be said about a metaphorical slaying of the dragon, getting the better of a team that’s been the source of so much misery in recent years.

Value can also be found in simply putting together a good performance, especially in the wake of a forgettable opening game.

That made Saturday afternoon especially savory for Princeton, which managed to achieve both.

Ryan Croddick stuffed Maryland midfielder Elijah Stobaugh with two seconds remaining as the Tigers fended off Maryland 13-12 to earn their first victory over the Terrapins in 22 years. Maryland had won the last nine meetings, including six in the last four seasons.

“I think this was a really big testament to the fight we have,” Croddick said. “Losing last week was definitely not how we wanted to start the year, but coming into this week, giving it to a team that’s been giving it to us really bad the last couple of years, I was really proud of this group.

Peter Buonanno and Chad Palumbo — who swapped positions a week after a 13-7 loss to Penn State — had two goals and an assist for the Tigers (1-1), who also got multi-goal games from Colin Burns, Parker Reynolds and Jake Vana before 3,002 at SECU Stadium.

Eric Spanos scored four goals for Maryland (1-2), which was coming off an 11-9 loss at Syracuse. The Terps fell under .500 for the first time since they started 1-2 in 2016. That team wouldn’t lose again until Memorial Day.

“It’s not one thing,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “Princeton is very good. Syracuse is very good. But when you’re in these games, there’s all these decisions that you need to make and all these plays that you can or cannot make. Overall, we just have to be better. It’s not one thing. It’s not one person. I need to coach the guys better. We’re not far off, but we’re far enough that we have a lot of work to do.”

The final margin belied how much Princeton controlled much of the second half. The Tigers never trailed after the first quarter, taking a 7-6 lead into the break and eventually stretching the advantage to 13-9 on goals by Tucker Wade and Vana in the fourth quarter.

Spanos scored twice to halve the Terps’ deficit — the first in transition off a pass from long pole AJ Larkin, the second while getting popped off a feed from Zach Whittier — and grad student Chris Lyons got it to 13-12 with a charge down the middle.

While the Tigers won the next faceoff, Maryland’s Peter Laake forced a turnover near midfield to ignite a transition opportunity, whose shot with 22.6 seconds left sailed high. Matt Higgins went wide with nine seconds left then zipped behind the cage on the restart and found Stobaugh five yards from the cage.

But Croddick, a second-year starter, made the last of his nine stops just before the buzzer to set off a stampede from the sideline to celebrate.

“I feel like I just guessed and hoped for the best. Just try to read and respond and beat him there,” Croddick said. “Ball went on the ground for a moment and got a little scary, but jumped on it.”

Added Princeton coach Matt Madalon: “Look, if we go anywhere, it’s with him. He’s awesome. That’s pretty on-brand for him.”

Early season struggles — or struggles of any kind — aren’t on-brand for Tillman’s Terps, who have played on the final day of the season the last two years and figured to be title contenders again this spring.

That could still happen, but it’s going to require tightening a defense that was repeatedly burned in end-of-clock situations throughout the quarter. It was a distinct echo of Maryland’s triple-overtime loss to Michigan to open Big Ten play last season, when the Wolverines poked and prodded and bled the clock to shorten the game and still found ways to generate open shots.

Princeton wasn’t quite so deliberate, but the net effect was the same.

“Just super-efficient,” Tillman said. “They had a really good game plan, very similar to what we saw last year against Rutgers and Michigan. Be patient, be patient, be patient and unfortunately late, whether it was the shot clock or quarter, we were super-close but we didn’t finish, and they did a great job of jamming it inside.”

Maryland’s metronomic consistency under Tillman stems in part from the Terps’ ability over the years to not deviate from how it handles any situation. And that could prove especially useful with Maryland staring at the possibility of a rare full-fledged losing streak.

Next up is a visit from Notre Dame, last seen tearing up Bellarmine for 29 goals earlier this week. A loss would leave Maryland two games under .500 for the first time since it was 3-5 in 1993.

And yet … there should be no reason to panic over a loss at Syracuse, or a setback against Princeton that would have gone to overtime if not for Croddick’s spectacular save.

“Everyone has the same intentions,” Spanos said. “We just have to make it work.”

The sort of questions Maryland will stare at this week were some of the same Princeton dealt with coming out of its opener. And the Tigers found a reply, securing a celebration Saturday rather than feeling a whiff of early-season desperation with Syracuse and North Carolina set to visit next weekend.

And a well-earned celebration at that.

“This program has absolutely gotten the best of us early in the season and then late in the season,” Madalon said. “This is a championship program, year in and year out, so it’s a good step for our program.”