Maryland men’s lacrosse’s trio of attackmen powered its offense in 2019

Entering the 2019 season, head coach John Tillman led Maryland men’s lacrosse into what many expected to be a transitional year for the program. Having lost several key stars from across the roster, the Terps needed players to step up all across the roster. Some did just that, while others fell short of expectations, and Maryland’s season finished with a 12-5 record and a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals.

In this series, we’ll take a look at how each position group fared this spring, starting with the attack.

2019 recap

As has become tradition around Maryland lacrosse, whoever wears the No. 1 on his back is expected to “embody performance and leadership on the offensive side of the field,” an honor bestowed upon junior attack Jared Bernhardt this season. Bernhardt welcomed the pressure that came with wearing the No. 1, helping lead Maryland to a top-20 finish in scoring offense. Bernhardt finished the season with a team-high 51 goals, just one off the program record, and showed extreme poise with the ball in his crosse at crucial moments this season en route to being a Tewaaraton finalist.

Redshirt sophomore Logan Wisnauskas also had a dominant season. After putting up 35 goals and 15 assists for the Terps in his first season in College Park, Wisnauskas returned to his starting spot opposite of Bernhardt to lead the team in points with 79. Half of that came from his 44 goals, but where Wisnauskas really grew this season was as a facilitator, doubling his total from 2018 with a team-best 35 assists.

Rounding out the attack group for Tillman was Louis Dubick, a senior who came to Maryland in 2016 after a decorated high school career but didn’t become a starter until this season. Standing at just 5’8 and 165 pounds, Dubick made up for his lack of size by working almost exclusively around the crease, succeeding on cut after cut to put up 30 goals this season, including one that’ll be remembered for a long time.

Tillman didn’t stray outside of this trio very much over the course of the year, with each starting all 17 games for the Terps. The only other players listed at attack on the roster to record a point this season were junior Stephen Shollenberger and sophmore Kyle Brickerd, who notched one goal apiece.

2020 outlook

Although Maryland returns Bernhardt and Wisnauskas for the third consecutive season, Dubick’s departure leaves a spot up for grabs. Shollenberger and Brickerd will certainly have a crack at the starting job like Dubick did, but Dubick had the experience of playing on Maryland’s extra-man unit in each of his first three seasons, something neither Shollenberger nor Brickerd can say for themselves.

Tillman could also opt to drop someone down from the midfield, as he has several players at that position with attack experience in their background. Bubba Fairman was in consideration for Dubick’s spot entering the season after having played attack in high school, but he’s been a mainstay on the first midfield line for each of his first two years with the Terps, so a move for him isn’t incredibly likely.

Anthony DeMaio and Kyle Long are both listed on the roster as attackmen, but spent all of this past season at midfield as well. DeMaio made a couple starts at attack in 2018 before scoring 28 goals as a first line midfielder, while Long totaled over 400 points and 300 assists in high school and showed promise late this season. Both would work fine alongside Bernhardt and Wisnauskas, but it’ll ultimately come to down to where Tillman and offensive coordinator J.L. Reppert think they fit within the offense.

Another possible candidate for the starting job will likely be rising sophomore Nicholas DeMaio, the younger brother of Anthony. DeMaio was a former five-star recruit out of Coronado High School in California, finishing second in the state for all-time points, behind only his older brother. After originally committing to Boston University, Inside Lacrosse’s No. 7 recruit flipped his commitment to join Anthony and an attack group that should be wide open in 2020.

The Terps are also slated to add three freshman attackmen in the 2019 class, two of which are ranked in the top 100. Dylan Pallonetti (Ward Melville, N.Y.) and Jack Sawyer (Calvert Hall, Md.) check in at No. 9 and No. 78, respectively, in Inside Lacrosse’s rankings, and both could push for playing time next season and beyond.