Jim Bernhardt, standing adjacent to the University of Maryland bus and ongoing team tailgate in the US Lacrosse Headquarters parking lot on Saturday night, flipped through his iPhone Camera Roll. He was searching for a photo from years back that showed his older sons, Jake and Jesse, standing in their Lake Brantley High School (Fla.) jerseys along with younger brother, Jared, who barely made it to his brothers’ shoulders.

Jake and Jesse Bernhardt starred at Lake Brantley before choosing to play lacrosse at Maryland, a relatively unprecedented step in the Florida lacrosse scene. Jared Bernhardt, seven years the younger brother, followed in his brothers’ footsteps and joined the Maryland program.

Now, Jared Bernhardt is the tallest of the three brothers by an inch. Time flies when you’re making your mark in the lacrosse world.

“Looking at it now, and especially in light of today, it’s almost comical,” Jim Bernhardt said, combing through old photos, wearing a black Maryland jacket with a Team USA hat in hand.

It wasn’t hard to imagine why Jim Bernhardt, the director of football research for the Houston Texans, was beaming with pride when talking about his three sons. Saturday night was the first time they played on the same field — Jake and Jesse on Team USA and Jared for Maryland — in an official game. 

And it was a good one. Maryland took Team USA Blue to the wire in the first game of the Team USA Fall Classic before eventually falling 10-9. Jared Bernhardt, although seldom matched with his brothers (Jake the SSDM and Jesse the defenseman), scored three goals in an impressive effort from the defending champion Terps.

The three Bernhardt brothers met after the game for a photo that neither knew would ever happen. 

“I definitely didn’t want to lose to them,” Jared Bernhardt joked shortly after. “To be within one of Team USA, I’ll take it.”

“We never imagined that we’d get on the same field at one time,” Jake Bernhardt said. “We just don’t know if it will happen again. We try to take advantage of these moments, and it’s just special to have the whole family here because we are all over the place.”

It certainly wasn't easy to orchestrate a Bernhardt family reunion for the Team USA Fall Classic. Jared and Jesse, a Maryland assistant, made the quick trip to Sparks, Md. But Jake Bernhardt and his parents flew in from different areas of the country — Jake from Vermont, where he's an assistant, Jim from Houston before the Texans hosted the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night and his wife, Catherine, from their hometown in Florida.

But they made it to US Lacrosse Headquarters to witness a piece of family history. 

“Obviously, it would be cooler if we were on the same squad,” Jesse Bernhardt said. “Just to be out there there together is really special. Both of our parents flew in, so they were able to fly in and fly out to see it. To get us all here at once magnifies and speaks for itself a bit.”

Although the brothers weren't matched up with each other often, watching the game play out was easy for Jim and Catherine Bernhardt. With Jared playing attack and Jesse and Jake both on the defensive side of the field, they could fix their eyes to one half of the field the entire game.

The Bernhardt parents, however, weren’t the only ones at the Team USA Fall Classic proud of their three sons. Maryland coach John Tillman, who has coached all three brothers, said the Bernhardts are some of the best to ever suit up for his program.

Tillman came into the matchup with Team USA looking to continue his team’s progress through the fall season, but he realized the magnitude of the moment for the Bernhardt family.

“I am very thankful for Mr. and Mrs. Bernhardt every day,” Tillman said. “They are great people and they’ve raised three terrific kids. I guess they’re not kids anymore, but they’re terrific sons that are good people first. … I wish they had more kids. I think that ship has sailed, but if they had 50 kids, we’d definitely like all 50 of them.”

He got all three of them, and it set up for a day Jared, Jesse and Jake will never forget.

“It was fun to see all three of our boys’ dreams come true,” Jim Bernhardt said.