By Sydney Fazio
Maryland Men’s Lacrosse dominated Marist College 13-7 in their second-ever meeting in program history on Tuesday.
Junior faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen won the opening faceoff for Maryland, but the Terps quickly lost possession and senior attackman Gannon Morrison scored the game-opening point for Marist.
The Terps didn’t let that opening goal set the tone of the game.
Within the first two minutes, senior midfielder Connor Kelly scored the first goal for Maryland– setting the stage for a sweeping victory.
In the first half alone, the Terps scored nine goals, won 13 of 14 faceoffs and had four players score. Kelly, one of the four scorers, earned his 15th career hat trick eight minutes into the game. The Terps continued their momentum throughout the remainder of the game.
Maryland coach John Tillman said that despite being a midweek game, his team displayed great stamina and leadership.
“It’s midweek, smaller crowd, you know, there’s not much juice so you have to create it and I think our guys did that tonight,” Tillman said. “Wasn’t always pretty, I just like how hard our kids played and how well they stuck together.”
Attackman Jared Bernhardt (seven) and Kelly (eight) both had career highs in points, combining for 15. Bernhardt tallied five goals and two assists, both career marks for the sophomore.
He said the victory set the bar for the rest of the season.
“I just try to go out there, practice, game, you know, always come with 100 percent,” Bernhardt said. “Obviously I expect high things from myself, obviously personal goals, and team goals too.”
The Terps continued with the offensive ferocity in the second half, while also suffocating Marist defensively. Redshirt freshman midfielder Logan Wisnauskas slammed one of his two goals in the second half. Fellow freshman, attackman James Avanzato, got his first collegiate goal in the third quarter.
Senior goalkeeper Dan Morris finished with 10 saves and was eventually replaced by fellow senior Danny Dolan, who came up with two stops in the fourth quarter.
Maryland Men’s Lacrosse, now No. 2 in D1, prepares to play the High Point University Panthers in North Carolina on Saturday at noon.