ARTICLE BY TODD CARTON
When the final horn sounded after the first game of the Big Ten Men’s Lacrosse Tournament semifinal Thursday evening at Jesse Owens Field on the campus of Ohio State, the scoreboard read Maryland 8 Penn State 6. It marked the 34th time the teams had squared off in lacrosse and the 34th time the Terrapins left the field with the win. The Terps will now face the host Ohio State in Saturday’s final for a chance to claim the automatic qualifier.
Nick Manis and Bryce Young combined to set the tone early for Maryland. Manis turned over Mike Sutton and Young picked up the ground ball and the turnover led to an unassisted goal by Colin Heacock. A face off win by Austin Henningsen led to an unassisted goal by Tim Rotanz. Penn State would break the ice some four minutes later but not before Morris picked up his first save of the game and, as Johns Hopkins learned on Saturday, an early save can make Morris a very difficult man to get the ball past.
The story of the game however, is a revitalized Maryland defense. Entering the game, the Nittany Lions boasted the nation’s highest shooting percentage and the fifth highest scoring offense at more than 14 goals per game. Only twice this season had Penn State failed to reach double digits in 9-8 and 9-4 wins over Fairfield and Ohio State respectively.
Anchored by an all-world performance by goalie Dan Morris who registered 16 saves on 22 shots, and aided by a 50-50 split in face offs, the Terps defense held the Nittany Lions scoreless for nearly 24 and a half minutes – a period stretching from midway through the first quarter into the early third period. It was the first time all season Penn State had failed to score in a quarter. Maryland, meanwhile, added one more goal in the first and one in the second to take a 4-1 halftime lead.
Offensively for Maryland, the second half was the Connor Kelly show. The junior from Easton, Connecticut scored all four of the Terrapins’ goals. Kelly opened the scoring just 19 seconds in scoring off crisp passes from Matt Neufeldt and Isaiah Davis-Allen after Neufeldt scooped up the ground ball on the faceoff. Things got a little dicey as the Nittany Lions scored three straight – including a pair of man-up goals to narrow the margin to 5-4. But Kelly had the answer scoring twice more allowing the Terps to carry their three goal halftime lead into the fourth quarter.
When Kelly scored his third consecutive goal to put Maryland up 8-4 with ten and a half minutes to play, it felt as though he had effectively ended the game and, while Penn State would score twice late, to narrow the margin, that feeling proved true.
In a noteworthy aside, Penn State held Maryland’s Matt Rambo without a point. It is the first time in 52 games that the senior attacker has failed to register either a goal or an assist. Ohio State could be looking at a very dangerous man on Saturday.
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