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Maryland Lacrosse: Terps looking to end national title drought

By Chris Bengel

May 23, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Maryland Terrapins attacker Colin Heacock (2) shoots past the defense of Johns Hopkins Blue Jays midfielder Phil Castronova (22) during the first quarter in the semifinals of the NCAA division I men's lacrosse championships at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
May 23, 2015; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Maryland Terrapins attacker Colin Heacock (2) shoots past the defense of Johns Hopkins Blue Jays midfielder Phil Castronova (22) during the first quarter in the semifinals of the NCAA division I men's lacrosse championships at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Maryland lacrosse program is one of the most storied in the country.

Despite appearing in 13 national championship games. the Terrapins have only hoisted the trophy twice (1973 & 1975). Maryland will look to end the stigma of falling just short this month

The Terps enter the NCAA Tournament as the number-one overall seed this postseason. Maryland finished the 2017 campaign with a 12-3 (4-1 Big Ten) record and a Big Ten Tournament title.

“It’s been a long time but we don’t really think about it too much,” Colin Heacock told Paul Carcaterra earlier this season. “It’d be special just to bring it back to the whole state of Maryland and for all the alums.”

This senior class has accumulated the most wins in program history. Given the amount of depth and overall talent that this group has, that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise.

2016 was the year that it looked like the drought was set to be put to rest. Maryland even held a 13-11 lead over North Carolina in the fourth quarter, but the Tar Heels were able to tie the game with 3:22 left.

On a man-up advantage in overtime, Chris Cloutier buried the game-winning goal past Kyle Bernlohr to bring the national title to Chapel Hill.

Maryland did lose a significant amount of talent from the 2016 group. Midfielders Bryan Cole. Henry West, and Pat Young were integral parts of the Terps’ success throughout that historic season.

The biggest question mark entering 2017 was if the midfield unit would be able to produce.

That question was definitely due to huge seasons that were put together by Connor Kelly (37 goals & 11 assists) and freshman Jared Bernhardt (18 & seven). Kelly ended up joining teammates Matt Rambo and Tim Muller on the All-Big Ten First Team.

Aside from Rambo, it’s not crazy to say that Kelly was the most important player for the Terps. His 37 goals were the most on the team and he shot 41.6 percent (second on the team behind Dylan Maltz).

Rambo was arguably the best player in the country, which is why he was named a finalist for the Tewaaraton Award earlier this week. He record 67 points (34 goals & 33 assists) while launching a team-high 117 shots.

The Terps haven’t tasted glory since the 1975 season when they defeated Navy 20-13 in the national title game. Frank Urso, who is one of the top players in Maryland history, scored five goals in the championship game and was named MVP.

Maryland appeared in the national title game twice over the following four seasons, but fell short at the hands of Cornell (16-13, 1976) and Johns Hopkins (15-9, 1979).

Since John Tillman became the team’s head coach in 2011, Maryland has gotten to four national championship games, but has lost all four. The Terps were only ranked as the top seed in 2016.

Next: Melo Trimble bounces back at Draft Combine

Maryland has been one of the most highly-respected programs around, but 1975 will surround it until the drought is over. The Terps have the firepower to finally erase it this May.