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Maryland Lacrosse: Terps top High Point behind Cole’s career day

By Chris Bengel

May 17, 2015; Annapolis, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins midfielder Bryan Cole (45) shoots during the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Maryland Terrapins defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
May 17, 2015; Annapolis, MD, USA; Maryland Terrapins midfielder Bryan Cole (45) shoots during the second half against the North Carolina Tar Heels at Navy Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Maryland Terrapins defeated North Carolina Tar Heels 14-7. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Maryland lacrosse team faced some adversity on Saturday.

Behind Bryan Cole’s career day, the Terps topped High Point 15-10 in their season opener. For the 23rd consecutive season, Maryland came out victorious in their inaugural game of the year.

Cole had seven points (three goals & four assists) while fellow midfielder Colin Heacock and attackman Dylan Maltz added three goals apiece for Maryland. The Terps also outscored the Panthers 11-4 in the second half to help them cruise to victory.

With 6:27 remaining in the third quarter, High Point took their final lead of the game on an even-strength goal by attackman Dan Lomas. Lomas had a team-high five points (four goals & an assist) while also registering a team-high six shots-on-goal.

Then Maryland went on a three-goal run over the next 4:27 to take a 10-8 lead late in the third quarter. Cole, Heacock, and Maltz tallied the goals. Heacock and Maltz’s goals were of the unassisted variety.

Maryland outshot High Point 50-26 throughout the course of the game with attackman Matt Rambo registering a team-high 12.

Just 33 seconds into the game, Rambo scored off an assist from Cole on a man-up advantage.

Defenseman Bryce Young also got involved in the scoring with an unassisted goal with 10:10 remaining in the first quarter. Young’s goal gave Maryland an early 2-0 lead.

High Point seemed to wake up after that with a pair of goals from attackman Michael LeClair and another tally from Lomas to put the Panthers up 3-2 early in the second quarter.

With 10:57 left in the second quarter, Cole was able to walk right in on goalie Tim Troutner and switched to the left hand for the easy goal. Cole is coming off a season in which he recorded 17 goals and 22 goals and was fourth on the team in points (39).

The face-off circle was supposed to be a big question mark for the Terps, but Maryland did manage to win 15-of-27 face-offs. Freshman Austin Henningsen won nine of his 12 draws while sophomore Will Bonaparte was victorious on six of his 11 face-offs.

High Point really got their offense going in the first half.

Midfielder Dallas Bridle gave High Point the lead back at 4-3 with 5:57 to go in the first half. Just 56 seconds later, Bridle dished a nice pass off to T Moyer, who ripped one past Kyle Bernlohr to give the Panthers a 5-3 lead.

Bernlohr ended up registering eight saves on the afternoon.

With just 23 seconds left in the first half, Cole found the back of the cage once again as he dodged past a duo of Panther defenders. Cole’s tally cut the High Point lead to 6-4 right before halftime.

Maryland didn’t have a phenomenal opening half, but did manage to clamp down on defense and score the necessary goals. The Terps were able to get balanced scoring, which is considered one of the team’s biggest strengths entering the 2016 campaign.

Next: Terrapins fall to Minnesota

Maryland returns to the field next Saturday when they travel to Yale for a rematch of last year’s NCAA Tournament matchup.