Maryland Men's Lacrosse recap: Terps breeze past Penn State 12-5

Maryland's start to Big Ten play was relatively routine with an easy win over Michigan last week. The expectation for today's game vs Penn State was much of the same. The Terps lived up to that expectation and more with a 12-5 win. This moves the Terps to 2-0 in Big Ten play and gives them their 8th win in a row.

First Quarter

Maryland jumped on top early, not even two minutes in. Dylan Maltz got his defender hung up and after attacking from Goal Line Extended fired a high to low shot past Connor Darcey from the left alley. 1-0 Terps. After a one shot PSU possession off a face-off win the Terps extended their lead on their next trip. Matt Rambo and Jay Carlson played an effective two man game, and similar to Maltz's goal, Carlson wrapped around and fired home to put UMD up 2-0.

With his two linemates getting on the scoresheet it was only fitting that Rambo followed. A typical step in and lefty laser that quickly got past Darcey. Maryland's offense was looking extremely efficient early on, creating open shot opportunities and cashing in. PSU's first tally came at 7:56. Mike Sutton picked the ball up in the left alley and spun past his defender before sneaking one past Bernlohr. The response was nearly immediate though. Bringing back shades of last week, Isaiah Davis-Allen picked up the ball in an unsettled situation off a face-off and ripped a burner on the run to restore the three goal lead.

The efficiency on Maryland's offensive possessions continued after their 4th goal as well. Penn State's D forced them into a few less than stellar shots, but eventually Brian Cole picked up a mismatch on a short stick and after a nice swim dodge drove strongly to the front and finished high to high to make the Maryland four with 3:58 left.

The Nittany Lions were doing an admirable job at the face-off X, winning four of the first seven draws. Despite that, their offense was very slow and Maryland's active defense was forcing turnovers. One of those turnovers led to a quick counter attack and it finished with Matt Rambo lowering the shoulder, taking the ball to the rack and finishing past Darcey.

A scary situation developed for the Terps after the next face-off win. Charlie Raffa tried to score immediately off the draw, but took a big hit after getting his shot off. It looked like he got hit square in the shoulder/arm area and went down in a heap. Eventually he was able to walk off under his own power, but he looked seriously banged up and had to go straight to the locker room. And for a guy as tough as Raffa....that's never a good sign.

Maryland still had the possession though and continued to cash in on them. Henry West used the face dodge and pump fake effectively to glide past his defender and slotted his shot into the far corner. Another goal followed just over a minute later, courtesy of Jay Carlson. Carlson got a feed from Rambo who was parked behind the cage; his first shot was saved but as always he got the rebound and converted. 8-1 Terps.

The final tally of the quarter came from PSU and Mike Sutton again. Sutton used the roll dodge effectively once more and bounced one five hole past Bernlohr basically right at the buzzer. After Q1, the score was Maryland 8-2 Penn State.

Second Quarter

Maryland continued to pepper Darcey to start the 2nd Quarter, but he made some strong stops on West and Maltz. Both teams offense was pretty slow and measured in the early stages. Maryland was content to cycle the ball around the top waiting for an opening. They weren't really creating many clear opportunities though, with most being just long range shots with little chance of finding the net. Penn State was looking to get into a rhythm with their sets but Maryland just kept on forcing turnovers.

They finally started to find some good looks on their 3rd offensive possession of the quarter, both from the midfield and attack. West just missed an open shot from the left alley. Maltz shot high on a question mark dodge. And then Rambo rang a pipe on a bullet from the right alley. After the shot rang off the pipe it rolled all the way to the half-way line where Penn State won a battle for the GB while the Terps committed an offsides penalty. They would commit another penalty on the ensuing possession after a push, giving PSU a 6-on-4 extra man opportunity. Unsurprisingly PSU cashed in, with Sanders making a great inside roll on Ikeda and finished at point blank range.

Maryland continued to create some solid looks from the outside, but weren't able to accurately put their shots on cage. They would go scoreless in the second, but held a comfortable five goal lead at the half.

Halftime: Maryland 8-3 Penn State

Third Quarter

Maryland started the second half on a one minute EMO. They successfully cashed in on the opportunity, courtesy of Colin Heacock as the midfielder uncorked a bullet to the top shelf after some strong ball movement. Jon Garino continued his great work at the face-off X in relief of Charlie Raffa. Matt Rambo tried another bull dodge towards the cage but was called for stepping in the crease.

After another caused turnover, Maryland's transition offense did it's thing, breaking ahead of Penn State and went tic-tac-toe to find Rambo on the doorstep and he notched his hat-trick. Rambo is an absolute machine on transition goals, always moving well to get open in front of the cage. And when he gets it....he's always finishing it.

The Terps D was it's usual self. Giving no easy looks, always active with their sticks in one on one match-ups, and creating lots of turnovers. There's no scheme they can't run, they're superb in man to man D and a zone. And they have the best goaltender in the nation backstopping it.

Penn State's D was extremely packed in during the 3rd Quarter. It was basically an extreme version of a zone. They cut off any lanes to the net or dodges from behind the cage. Maryland's shooting was both off the mark at times and Darcey just made some great stops.

After 3, Maryland led Penn State 10-3.

Fourth Quarter

The quality looks kept coming to start the 4th for the Terps. After multiple shots from the outside, Joe LoCascio finally got his first tally of the game by dipping underneath his man, switching hands and firing a lefty burner into the far corner.

Mike Sutton got a hat-trick for himself in the early stages of the quarter. Henry West got Maryland's 12th on a right alley dodge and nice finish to the low corner. Mike Aronow added one more for Penn State late.

Final: Maryland 12-5 Penn State

The Terps offense got off to an incredible start, posting 8 goals in the first quarter and then rode their defense and Jon Garino at the face-off X to a comfortable win. They scored goals in all different situations, and also got goals from eight different players. They're now 2-0 in Big Ten play and 9-1 on the year.

Maryland will return in midweek at 8 PM on Wednesday for an in-state showdown with Loyola.