COLLEGE PARK — A week ago, No. 6 Maryland men’s lacrosse barely survived an overtime win against Richmond. On Saturday, the Terps cruised to an 11-4 victory over Loyola Maryland before an announced 2,778 at SECU Stadium.
Maryland (2-0) held the Greyhounds (1-1) scoreless in the first and third quarters and scored three goals in the decisive third to take command of the game. The Terps dominated a Loyola team that scored only one goal in the second half, which came from attackman Davis Lindsey with 1:53 remaining.
The Terps outshot Loyola, 47-31, won 14 of 18 faceoffs and outhustled the Greyhounds to finish with a 38-24 advantage in ground balls. The Terps were definitely more physical in the third quarter, though Maryland wasn’t called for a penalty the entire game, which is uncharacteristic of a team known for its physical dominance.
“We were great in just about everything,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “We were scrappier on the offensive end [compared with a week ago] and we tried not to beat ourselves. We’re a physical team and we want to keep teams in 6-on-6. When that happens, it’s a good thing.”
Maryland was led in scoring by attackman Daniel Maltz, who had two goals, while midfielder Eric Spanos had two assists. The key for the Terps was balanced scoring. Ten players recorded a goal, and six had an assist.
“We’ve been a little reckless,” Tillman said. “Sometimes we’ve gotten caught up in forcing things and Loyola makes you be patient and we showed that today. We weren’t selfish and more focused.”
Maryland also got a strong game from goalie Logan McNaney, who finished with 12 saves. A year ago, McNaney suffered a major knee injury against Loyola and missed 14 games. On Saturday, when the Greyhounds took errant shots, he made them pay for it by starting several fast breaks.
“A lot of props go to the training staff, the guys who work with us,” McNaney said. “I just tried to focus on one game, not about me going down last year.”
After an 18-10 win over No. 12 Georgetown last Saturday, Loyola coach Charley Toomey will have his team focusing on a few things this week. His goalie, Luke Staudt, played well and finished with 16 saves. Those are the types of games a team can win, even when it gets dominated on faceoffs, but the Greyhounds had very little offense. Well, they actually had none in the third quarter when they were outshot 16-8.
“We took some shots and they got some breaks on us,” said Toomey, whose team was also victimized in the first quarter when Maryland took advantage of matchups against Loyola’s short-stick midfielders.
“I just challenged our team. We didn’t show the type of energy needed in the third quarter when we got down. We played like we were ahead by three goals instead of down by three, and they pushed us to spots where we didn’t feel comfortable shooting.”
Maltz scored on a spinning feed from Spanos with 7:46 left in the third quarter and long-pole defender Colin Burlace scored with 3:08 remaining to put Maryland up 8-3. Maltz scored again as time expired in the third to push the Terps’ lead to 9-3.
Maryland got off to a strong start and led 4-0 after the first quarter by taking advantage of playing against Loyola’s short poles from behind the net. Terps midfielder George Stamos scored a long-range bomb with 3:30 left in the quarter.
The Terps’ first goal came from midfielder Zach Whittier, who beat midfielder Jacob Sullivan from behind the net with 9:52 remaining. The second came about a minute later, this one from midfielder Eric Malever, who got past Loyola midfielder Mustang Sally from a similar position for a 2-0 advantage.
Maryland went ahead 3-0 on a goal from attackman Owen Murphy and an assist from midfielder-attackman Jack Brennan near the midway point of the first quarter.
Loyola, which hit four posts in the first quarter, rebounded in the opening minutes of the second. Attackman Matthew Minicus, on an assist from Joey Kamish, scored with 10:31 left and midfielder Matt Heuston scored off a long-range runner to cut the deficit to 4-2 with 8:42 remaining in the second quarter.
Loyola pulled within 4-3 on a goal by attackman Henry Haberman with 6:34 remaining, but Maryland answered with two goals before the break. Midfielder Ryan Siracusa scored with 5:58 left and midfielder Braden Erksa scored with about four minutes to go as the Terps went into halftime with a 6-3 lead.
Maryland outshot Loyola, 20-18, and won 9 of 11 faceoffs in the first half.
No. 9 Syracuse at No. 6 Maryland
Saturday, 6 p.m.
TV: ESPNU
Loyola Maryland at No. 5 Johns Hopkins
Saturday, 1 p.m.
TV: ESPNU tape delay (Sunday, noon)