Maryland men’s lacrosse sophomore faceoff specialist Austin Henningsen and incoming freshman midfielder Jared Bernhardt were instrumental in leading Team USA to a dramatic comeback victory over Canada to claim the Federation of International Lacrosse (FIL) U19 Men’s World Championship Saturday evening in Coquitlam, British Columbia.
Bernhardt finished with 10 goals and 5 assists in six games en route to being named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, while Henningsen was dominant at the faceoff X throughout the tournament with a 67 percent winning percentage. Both Bernhardt and Henningsen were also named to the All-World Team.
“It was an honor to represent Team USA at the World Championships and I’m so happy we were able to come away with the gold medal,” Henningsen said. “It was a tremendous experience full of memories I will never forget.” The world championship is the eighth consecutive for the United States, and they remain the only nation to win the event since its inception in 1988, improving to 47-2 all-time in FIL U19 play.
Canada scored the first six goals of the game, led 8-2 at the half, 11-8 after three quarters and still had a three-goal lead at 12-9 with just over seven minutes to play before the U.S. mounted its final comeback. Timmy Kelly scored with 7:04 left to cut it to two, Mac O’Keefe scored with 5:36 left to cut it to one and then Bernhardt buried an outside shot to tie it with 2:34 remaining.
Henningsen was sensational on faceoffs throughout the second half for the U.S., and he won the faceoff after Bernhardt’s goal. Tyler Dunn held the ball for most of the possession for the U.S., even after a stall warning was put on. Bernhardt started a drive from the left wing, but was cut off and the U.S. moved the ball behind. Simon Mathias found a cutting Ryan Conrad, who scored the go-ahead goal with eight seconds remaining.
Henningsen burst onto the national scene as a freshman this past season, most notably winning a career-high 19 faceoffs in a spectacular effort against North Carolina in the NCAA Championship game. He won a Maryland freshman record 151 faceoffs on the season and finished with a .590 win percentage.
Bernhardt, the younger brother of former Terrapins Jesse and Jake Bernhardt, just wrapped up a decorated career at Lake Brantley High School in Florida. Bernhardt totaled 236 goals and 198 assists at Lake Brantley, in addition to being named all-state on the gridiron as a quarterback. He was the Orlando Sentinel Boys Athlete of the Year for the 2015-16 school year.
Todd
And though we can be happy in this performance and look forward to another great year of Maryland lacrosse, May’s heartbreak still lingers.
· 11/12/2019