The Terps mounted a three-goal fourth quarter comeback to improve to 2-0 on the season.
For three quarters, Maryland men’s lacrosse did not look like itself.
“It’s hard to put balls in the goal when you’re turning it over and their goalie is playing great,” said head coach John Tillman. “But [getting back in it] was a matter of us getting some sort of rhythm.”
With its backs against the wall, Maryland found the resilience that will be needed for Tillman’s team to go far this season.
Sparked by four goals from Eric Spanos and 10 saves from Logan McNaney, Matthew Keegan’s overtime goal ultimately spared the No. 4 Terps’ blushes in a come-from-behind, 8-7 overtime victory against Loyola.
Early-season lacrosse weather was in full display today. With winds pushing temperatures below freezing, the ugly conditions mirrored the opening quarter of play.
Thanks to intense defense from the Terps, Loyola had just four shots on six first-quarter possessions. However, Maryland struggled to translate its on-field dominance to the scoreboard.
The Terps enjoyed long stretches of offensive possession early, but they lacked the final, incisive ball to create a golden opportunity. Most shots came from deep, making things relatively easy for Loyola goalkeeper Max Watkinson, who finished the period with seven saves.
Finally, Daniel Kelly broke the deadlock with three and a half minutes remaining in the opening quarter. But even that goal came from 10 yards out and was unintentionally screened by a Greyhound defender — the Terps still struggled to scheme open a golden look.
Maryland’s inability to convert looked as though it would cost them immensely. On its first two second-quarter possessions, Matthew Keegan threw a poorly-chosen ball across the goal and Braden Erksa uncharacteristically dropped a simple pass.
Those two turnovers led directly to Loyola goals that turned the game on its head. A fadeaway shot from Kenan Everhardt beat McNaney high, and a heroic dive across the goalmouth from Matthew Minicus gave Loyola the advantage. Another Greyhound goal on their next possession left the Terps looking stunned.
Halfway through the quarter, Maryland finally found their look. Daniel Kelly slid into a pocket of space in Watkinson’s face. But in a fitting encapsulation of the Terps’ inability to make the simple things work offensively, the shot went wide.
Maryland entered the second half down 4-2 thanks to another Loyola goal scored in the waning seconds of the second frame. Following two more empty Maryland possessions, the Greyhounds nearly scored another, denied only by the post.
Loyola eventually got their fifth goal, with the third quarter proving a familiar tale for Maryland. The Terps’ offense hoped to reset and find momentum coming out of the break but finished the third quarter with five turnovers and four shots — all of which were off-target.
It seemed to all watching that the Terps were replicating their 2023 visit to Baltimore, when the then-No. 1 Terps scored just seven goals on 42 shots and were stunned by the unranked, unheralded Greyhounds.
But as the game turned over to the fourth quarter, Spanos revived the Maryland offense. The senior found a crack in the Loyola defense that had proven difficult to penetrate, with cuts coming from the X to Watkinson’s left proving potent.
Spanos scored Maryland’s first of the fourth quarter two minutes in with that exact motion. Off a play from the same corner, Maryland drew a minute-long unnecessary roughness penalty. Spanos scored again, this time pump faking his defender and crashing the net from deep.
Maryland won the faceoff and stormed down the field. With momentum on their side, everything flowed more easily for the Terps. Braden Erksa was able to convert another possession. Exactly five minutes into the fourth quarter, the game was tied.
Not even a minute later, Spanos once again got the ball behind the net, drove to his right, and unleashed a shot that beat Watkinson high. It was a six-minute hat trick and four-goal game for Spanos, who was held without a goal last week.
“Eric’s an unbelievable player and an unbelievable person,” said Matthew Keegan. “We needed a steady force like that. Things weren’t going our way, and Eric took us all under his wing and made some big plays for us.”
The Terps pressed to extend their advantage and looked set to capitalize, but Loyola defender Remi Reynolds was able to peg back the Terps. Reynolds knocked the ball loose from Noah Armitage and drove coast-to-coast, beating McNaney with a stunning shot to level the game.
For the first time Saturday, though, Maryland’s offense was in a groove, and the Terps were able to quickly respond. Kelly took a shot from long-range, and the ripple in the back of the net made up for his earlier miss, pushing Maryland back ahead with three minutes left.
The Terps had the opportunity to end the game with 90 seconds on the clock, but a tame shot gave Loyola an opportunity to equalize. And with 2.2 on the shot clock, Everhardt swung from behind the net and somehow sneaked a shot past McNaney on his near post.
In overtime, it was simple for the Terps. A faceoff win by Shea Keethler gave Maryland the chance to convert, and after seeing a shot go wide, Keegan restarted play for the Terps from the X. The Binghamton transfer drifted towards midfield before pivoting and sending a low shot into the Loyola net, sparking celebrations among a team that knew it should have won far more comfortably.
“There’s definitely some growing pains that we’re going through, but I’m proud of the guys,” said Tillman. “It wasn’t going well, the crowd was getting into it, they had a lot of momentum, and we just kept trying to grind and grind and grind.”
Ultimately, the grind was successful against Loyola. But the Terps will need more to conquer No. 2 Syracuse next weekend and go as far as they hope to go.
Three things to know
1. Six hundred saves for McNaney. Just over six minutes into the game, McNaney swallowed up a shot from Loyola’s Kyle McCarthy for his 600th career save. He is the fourth Terp to achieve the feat all-time.
2. Turnovers tell the tale. Maryland finished the game with 18 turnovers. The Terps had 12 turnovers to Loyola’s five across the second and third quarters, several of which halted offensive momentum.
3. Terps dominant in the circle. Shea Keethler went 8-for-10 and Sean Creter went 5-for-9 on faceoffs — including a combined streak of five straight wins in the fourth quarter — to help fuel the comeback.