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Maryland men’s lacrosse coasted to a 16-8 win against Saint Joseph’s to start the season 2-0, holding the Hawks to just two second-half goals.
Ten different players got on the board for the No. 2 Terps, with Matt Rambo, Colin Heacock and freshman Jared Bernhardt all notching hat tricks.
The offense has now scored 31 goals in the first two games, while keeping Navy and Saint Joseph’s to just 20 goals in total.
Bernhardt scored less than a minute into game play, and Maryland quickly racked up a 5-2 lead by the seven-minute mark of the first quarter.
It looked like the Terps were going to run away with it just as quickly as the game had started, scoring on nearly every offensive possession. Saint Joseph’s took a well-advised timeout, and it completely changed the flow of the game.
The Terps wouldn’t score for the rest of the quarter, and the Hawks quickly converted twice to start the second quarter to make it a 5-4 contest.
Third-generation Terp Louis Dubick took charge, feeding Matt Neufeldt in transition and converting off a Matt Rambo setup to put the Terps back up 7-4. Saint Joseph’s rallied back to make it 7-6, but Maryland scored the last three goals of the first half.
The Terps stayed hot in the second half, out-scoring Saint Joseph’s 6-2. Maryland’s 9-2 run carried into the end of the game.
Three Things to Know
1. Jared Bernhardt was a welcomed surprise. The freshman cracked the starting lineup for the first start of his collegiate career, and made good use of it. The Florida native drew first blood, scored on an extra man opportunity and completed his hat trick off a feed from Rambo. The former U-19 World Championships MVP now has four goals on the season, and could carve a permanent spot in the starting lineup.
2. Austin Henningsen had a vital bounce-back game. He struggled against Navy, but recovered against Saint Joseph’s Mike Lanham and went 18-for-24 at the X. Lanham is considered one of the best face-off specialists in the country, and a stellar performance should give the sophomore confidence going forward.
3. Maryland hasn’t even played at home yet. A 2-0 start, and the Terps have done it on two straight road games. They don’t have to travel the rest of February, with home games coming against High Point and Yale the next two weeks.