Men’s Lacrosse Downs Syracuse to Advance to National Championship

Maryland men's lacrosse will return to the NCAA title game for the ninth time in the last 14 tournaments after downing Syracuse, 14-8, on Saturday.

Maryland will make its 18th championship game appearance on Monday, when it will face off against No. 1 seed Cornell in hopes of winning a fifth NCAA title.

The No. 2 seed in the tournament and ranked No. 4 nationally, Maryland improved to 14-3 overall with 10 wins over ranked opponents. The title game will be played at 1 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., home of this year’s tournament, and televised on ESPN. Maryland defeated Cornell, 9-7, in the 2022 championship game to complete a perfect 18-0 season.

No. 6-seeded and No. 5-ranked Syracuse (13-6) scored the game's opening goal less than a minute in, but Maryland responded by going on a 8-0 run to build a commanding 8-1 lead late in the second quarter. The Orange finally got on the board again before halftime, but the Terps held them scoreless for 26:53. The dominant start allowed Maryland to cruise back to the championship game.

"We knew it'd be tough today. They've been lighting up the scoreboard and just doing an awesome job,” Coach John Tillman said of the Syracuse team. “But certainly proud of our guys, excited to have two more days together, and obviously a lot of work to do to play a really good team. But just proud of the effort today, the unselfishness, kind of what these guys have done all year."

Eric Spanos led the Terps' attack with four goals and an assist. The redshirt junior leads the team with five hat tricks this season and has 10 in his career. As a team, the Terps have scored 18 hat tricks this season.

Terps Geordy Holmes (two), Will Schaller, Jackson Canfield, Jack McDonald and AJ Larkin caused turnovers defensively. Schaller shut down Syracuse's leading point scorer, Joey Spallina, holding him to one assist for the entire contest. Canfield also shone while shadowing the Orange's top goal scorer, Owen Hiltz. Canfield limited Spanilla to just one goal. This was the 14th time the Terps held an opponent to single-digit goals this season.

Maryland's other goal scorers were Daniel Kelly (two goals and one assist), Bryce Ford (two goals), Aidan Aitken (pne goal and one assist), Elijah Stobaugh, Braden Erksa and Luca Ward. Erksa has scored in every game this season, and Spanos and Kelly have points in every game this season. Ward scored for the first time in a Maryland uniform.

"I think it's a testament to our culture and what Coach Tillman has built over the years," Larkin said of the team's scoring versatility. "We're so tight that no matter who goes out there, we're ready to go, and we're going to stand behind them even if they make a mistake or not. … We have all the confidence in the world in those guys, and for them, being able to step up on a stage like that is huge for our team."

Larkin, a long-stick midfielder, also entered the scoring column twice. It was his first career multi-goal game, giving him four goals on the season and five for his career. The goal was also Maryland's fourth pole goal this season, continuing a tradition.

Goalie Logan McNaney finished the game with 14 saves between the pipes. It was his 15th time this season making double-digit saves. Shea Keethler (nine wins) and Jonah Carrier (five wins) led the Terps from the faceoff dot. Together, they helped the Terps win 14 of 24 face-offs.

Maryland is 76-42 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. Under Tillman, the Terps have made every tournament since 2011, going 34-11. This is Maryland's 47th tournament appearance and an NCAA-best 22nd straight appearance.