Men’s Lacrosse Team Takes Big Ten Championship

The No. 1-ranked and undefeated Maryland men's lacrosse team won its third Big Ten Tournament championship on Saturday night at Panzer Stadium, rallying to beat Johns Hopkins, 12-10. The Terps (12-0) captured the Big Ten Conference's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament, receiving the No. 3 overall seed.

Kyle Long's goal with 5:34 left in the fourth quarter gave Maryland the lead for good at 10-9 as the Terps reeled off five goals in a row in the second half to rally from a 9-6 deficit early in the third quarter. Daniel Maltz scored a team-high three goals, including two in the decisive fourth quarter.

Jared Bernhardt was named the Tournament MVP after recording 10 goals and three assists for 13 points in the event. Bernhardt, Nick Grill, Brett Makar, John Geppert and Anthony DeMaio were named to the All-Tournament team.  

A Tewaraaton Trophy favorite, Bernhardt set the Maryland record for goals in a single-season with two in the game, surpassing Mark Douglas' record of 52 set in 1991. Bernhardt now has 53 and counting in 2021. He added to his program record for career points with three and now has 266. Bernhardt also holds the program record for goals per game with 4.42 per game.

Hopkins led by three goals on several occasions—at 8-5 in the second quarter and 9-6 in the third quarter—before the Terps mounted their comeback. After allowing six goals in the first quarter, the Terps' defense tightened up and allowed just two goals over the final 45 minutes.
Maryland reeled off five consecutive goals in the second half to seal the victory.

After seeing his goal-scoring streak end at 35 games in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal, Logan Wisnauskas was back in the goal-scoring column with two, along with an assist for three points. With four assists in the semifinal, he now has points in 54 consecutive games, the third-longest active streak in the country.

This season marked the first time since the Terps-Blue Jays rivalry started in 1924 that the teams played three times in one season, with Maryland winning all three games. Johns Hopkins leads the all-time series 67-47-1.

It was also Maryland’s third Big Ten Tournament title and first since 2017. Overall, this is Maryland's 43rd men's lacrosse conference championship, including regular-season and tournament titles.

At 12-0, Maryland is off to its best start since after starting 12-0 in 1987. That season ended at 12-1 with a loss to Johns Hopkins in the NCAA semifinals. The last time Maryland had an undefeated season was in 1973, when the NCAA champion Terps went 10-0.