Forty – the span of time in years since Maryland men’s lacrosse last won a national championship.
Seven – the number of times the Maryland men’s lacrosse team had reached the championship game before May 25, 2015.
Four – the number of times the Maryland Terrapins and Denver Pioneers had met before Monday’s championship game. And the number of wins by Maryland over Denver.
Maryland’s title drought extended to 41 years. John Tillman’s record fell to 0-3 in title games. Denver Coach Bill Tierney won his NCAA record seventh national championship and became the first coach to win titles at two different schools. The Pioneers dominated the Terrapins from the outset. The Terps never led and Denver won going away 10-5.
First quarter Numbers favor Denver
Forty – the span of game time in seconds the Denver Pioneers needed to score the first goal of the game when Wesley Berg took a pass from Sean Cannizzaro in the right alley and blistered a shot past Kyle Bernlohr.
Two – the number of consecutive faceoffs won by Denver’s Trevor Baptiste to open the game.
One and one – The number of saves for Bernlohr and turnovers by Maryland on Denver’s second and Maryland’s first possession.
Two – the extent of Denver’s lead and the number of goals for Berg who scored on a swim move against a short stick after the turnover.
Four – the number of saves by Denver goalie Ryan LaPlante in the first quarter as the Pioneers took a 4-1 lead after one as Berg picked up the hat trick on a play from the left alley that mirrored his first goal and Connor Cannizzaro scored from just in front of the crease. Colin Heacock scored the Terrapins only goal on a dodge from behind the net.
Second quarter – Counting it down
Three – the number of faceoffs Baptiste won to start the quarter before Dylan Maltz picked up a ground ball after Bryan Cole’s goal.
Two – the number of first half faceoff violations by Maryland’s Charlie Raffa. The number of saves in the quarter by both Bernlohr and LaPlante. The number of goals scored by Maryland in the quarter. Maryland’s deficit at halftime.
One – The number on Matt Rambo’s uniform. The number of goals, assists and turnovers by Rambo in the second quarter. The number of faceoffs Maryland won in the second quarter The number of Denver goals in the period.
Intermission – Help me Obi-John you’re our only hope
Maryland trailed 5-3 at the half but seemed to have played an uncharacteristically tense, nervous and disorganized half. Raffa was more or less holding his own against the nation’s faceoff leader Baptiste. Ryan LaPlante made some big saves for the Pioneers but the Terps also made it easy on him at times by taking the first rather than the best shot.
In addition to occasional poor shot selection, the Terps had three turnovers and one failed clear. Maryland could not have played much more poorly than they did and they still trailed by only two. If head coach John Tillman and his staff could use the break to calm the Terps, make the necessary adjustments particularly getting better spacing and ball movement on offense and get them focused, a comeback wouldn’t be out of the question. If either the coaches failed to adjust or the players failed to execute, a comeback would be out of the question. The answer came quickly.
Third quarter – No help for the Terps in this countdown
Five – Maryland’s deficit halfway through the period despite Raffa winning the first two faceoffs.
Four – Maryland’s deficit at the end of the quarter. Denver scored the first three goals of the period using three different goal scorers – Zack Miller who was in the right place at the right time to pick up a ball on a near turnover with the Pioneers operating under the game’s second shot clock warning, Colin Woolford sweeping past his defender and surprising Bernlohr who looked a bit unprepared for the shot, and Berg simply being Berg on a rug burner from 15 yards. Maryland’s only goal came from Rambo as the Terps would trail 8-4.
Three – The missed opportunities for Maryland to take possession after Matt Rambo’s second goal of the game. Raffa missed an opportunity to intercept a lob pass by Baptiste on the faceoff. Isaiah Davis-Allen failed to clear after Matt Neufeldt caused a turnover in the middle of the defense. Bernlohr didno’t secure the ball on the first of his two saves on the sequence.
Two – The scoring edge by Denver for the period.
One – The number of quarters left for Maryland to spring an unlikely comeback.
Fourth quarter – The numbers don’t lie
I could continue this countdown but only three numbers count (two in terms of the play). The first is four the number of saves by Ryan LaPlante in the fourth quarter alone (he finished with 13). The second is, most obviously, the final score: Denver 10 Maryland 5.
The third is my editorial comment about the two meaningless goals Denver scored in the final 1:21 of the game. On the first, they were leading 8-4, had possession of the ball and a significant block of time remaining on a one minute extra man opportunity. With Bernlohr chasing, they chose to attack the goal out of a timeout. They did more or less the same after winning the ensuing faceoff though without the extra man advantage.
The game was, for all intents and purposes, over. In my opinion, the two late goals by Sean Cannizzaro and Wesley Berg were unneeded, unnecessary and unsportsmanlike. But I’m old and grumpy and don’t believe in running up the score. That’s just me.
A final comment
After the game, as he congratulated Coach Tierney and the Pioneers, Maryland coach John Tillman described Denver’s play and their season, “They had a tremendous season in a lot of places. They started the season as the number one team in the country and are certainly a worthy champion. They played well all year and played very, very well today. They played a very clean game in every aspect of play.”
During the post game press conference, the coach and the players, Matt Dunn and Brian Cole, spent a considerable amount of time talking about the journey of the season. And it was quite a journey. I’ll take a close look at it, including what the coach and players had to say, later this week. For now, let’s accept that Denver was the better team today and take some Maryland Pride in the accomplishments of the 2015 Terrapins men’s lacrosse team.
freddy from boca
on tv it looked like denver was a much bigger, more physical team. md didn’t seem to play with much emotion throughout the game and certainly with little urgency in the 4th q.
the style of play both teams exhibited will do nthing to excite new fans to the game.
· 11/12/2019
Todd
Denver was preseason #1 but had a stumble or two in the regular season (two losses on the road each by 2 goals at OSU and UNC). They were a better and deeper team. Terps had to play a near perfect game to win. Just didn’t happen.
· 11/12/2019