Maryland men’s lacrosse got their first conference win of the 2025 season with a dominant 13-8 win over the Penn State Nittany Lions. The win over Penn State avoided their first time going 0-2 in conference play since joining the Big Ten.
The Terps came out to an early 4-2 lead after the first 15 minutes of play but never looked back in the dominant win. The Terps defense caused 11 turnovers on the day with AJ Larkin and Will Schaller both leading the team with three which was massive in giving the Terps extra possessions to close out the win.
The Terps found the back of the net seven times in the first half thanks to five different goal scorers. Eric Spanos led the way with a first half hat trick while Braden Erksa, AJ Larkin, Matthew Keegan, and Eric Kolar all added a goal each.
Like the last several weeks, the Terps offense was finding the back of the net mainly with assisted goals. The Terps totaled 11 assists on their 13 goals with four different Terps leading the way with two. The Terps only turned the ball over 16 times today. While it was an improvement from last week, the offense still will need to play cleaner once you get to the postseason.
Logan McNaney got back into a groove in the cage today finishing the day with ten saves on 18 shots on goal. The Terps defense was stifling all day, not letting Penn State get many good looks off on McNaney. Penn State’s offense turned the ball over 16 total times on the day. The Nittany Lions were never able to claw back into the game. Only once today did Penn State score consecutive goals.
Takeaways
The Great
11 caused turnovers by a team in one game is an insane stat. The defense led by Schaller and Larkin was locked in for most of the game giving the offense as many possessions as they could to hold off any kind of comeback from Penn State.
The Good
Once again, the Terps scored off an assist more than 80% of their goals. The offense has shown that they are their best when they move the ball well and do not play iso ball.
Needs Improvement
If this game was any closer, the deficit at the face-off dot could have been a massive disadvantage for the Terps. The Terps as a whole only went 8/24 from the face-off dot. The Terps will not be able to make a long postseason run if they do not fix their troubles from the face-off.
Three Stars
AJ Larkin
Larkin finished the day with three caused turnovers, three ground ball pick ups, and also added a goal to his name
Will Schaller
Along with Larkin, Schaller led the team with three caused turnovers while also picking up four ground balls. Schaller also started several fast breaks today that led to goals for the Terps. While Schaller might be a lockdown defender, he also does a lot that massively helps the team that you will not see on a stat sheet.
Terps Attack Unit
The Terps attack unit of Eric Spanos, Braden Erska, and Daniel Kelly combined for eight goals and two assists on the day. Kelly led the unit with four total points off of two goals and two assists while Erksa and Spanos both added hat tricks to their names.
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