Maryland men’s lacrosse defeats Marist, 13-7

Unlike its season opening win against Navy, Maryland men’s lacrosse found itself trailing to start the game.

That didn’t last long, as the Terps scored the following five goals and cruised to a 13-7 win over Marist.

Senior Connor Kelly and sophomore Jared Bernhardt both had career days to pace Maryland’s offense. Kelly had a career high eight points with four goals and four assists, and Bernhardt set career highs in goals (5), assists (2) and points (7). Logan Wisnauskas also had a multi-point game, finishing with two goals and two assists. Louis Dubick and James Avanzato also scored for the Terps.

Maryland spent most of the game on Marist’s end of the field, recording 42 shots and 30 on goal. When the Red Foxes did get the ball, Dan Morris was steady finishing with nine saves and a .625 save percentage.

After a rough day at the faceoff circle against Navy, Austin Henningsen bounced back at the X. The junior won 16-of -22 of faceoffs, including 13-of-14 in the first half.

Gannon Morrison put one past Morris with 13:06 left in the first quarter, but the jubilation was short lived for the Red Foxes. A minute later, Kelly tied it from about 10 yards out with 13:05 to go in the first quarter, then Bernhardt scored to give Maryland the lead 26 seconds later. The sophomore scored again when Tim Rotanz found him in front of the net, and then Kelly finished off a first quarter hat trick with feeds from Wisnauskas soon after.

Less than six minutes after giving up the first goal, Maryland had a 5-1 lead. Marist ended its 12-minute scoring drought with a goal from Logan Constant with 1:03 to go in the first quarter, which was the closest the Red Foxes would get for the rest of the game.

Kelly found Bernhardt with two seconds left in an extra-man opportunity less than a minute and a half into the second quarter, and Henningsen won the ensuing faceoff, passed ahead to Kelly, who tossed it to Wisnauskas for q goal just eight seconds later. The Terps converted another extra-man opportunity when Dubick scored with 11:21 left to take an 8-2 lead.

Maryland didn’t score again for another nine minutes, when Bernhardt found the back of the net to set a new career high of four goals. Marist scored just once over that span, and the Terps had a 9-3 lead at halftime.

Just like the second quarter, Maryland got a quick goal to start the third quarter when Kelly scored his fourth of the game 55 seconds into the start of the period. The Terps were more patient in the second half, and Marist goalie Brian Corrigan made some nice saves to keep it from being a complete blowout.

John Tillman emptied the bench late, and Maryland was 2-0 when the buzzer sounded

The Terps are on the road for the first time this season Saturday at High Point.

Three things to know

1. After the first goal, Maryland took over. Whatever glimmer of hope Marist had about beating the Terps vanished soon after the Red Foxes scored their first goal. Maryland’s offense was just too much for Marist’s defense, peppering them with shots from all areas of the field. The Terps defense was also, solid limiting opportunities

2. It was the Connor Kelly and Jared Bernhardt show on offense. The senior and sophomore were supposed be two of the top playmakers on offense this season, and they lived up to the billing Tuesday. Both set career highs in points, and Marist wasn’t sure how to stop either.

3. Faceoffs were much better. Austin Henningsen won more faceoffs in the first quarter then he did Saturday against Navy. A worse performance wouldn’t have made much of a difference, but this should help his confidence against tougher competition.