No. 4 Maryland men’s lacrosse loses first game of season to Villanova, 13-12

For the third consecutive game, No. 4 Maryland men’s lacrosse entered the fourth quarter trailing. With a two goal lead going into the final quarter, Villanova notched three unanswered goals in the first seven minutes of the fourth to extend its lead.

But as they have done in their previous two games, the Terps fought back, receiving goals from freshman Daniel Maltz and junior Bubba Fairman to cut the Wildcats’ lead to two.

Less than a minute later, redshirt junior attackman Logan Wisnauskas cut Villanova’s lead to only one after catching a feed from Anthony DeMaio with 38 seconds remaining.

However, for the first time this season, Maryland was unable to put together a fourth-quarter comeback and lost 12-13 to Villanova — its first loss of the season and second loss in program history to the Wildcats.

As it had done most of the season, Maryland found itself in another early hole after Villanova scored three unanswered goals within the first eight minutes of play.

With their team facing an early 3-0 deficit, Wisnauskas and senior attackman Jared Bernhardt were forced to carry the load for Maryland offensively, once again.

With 6:14 left in the first quarter, Wisnauskas ripped a shot into the back of the cage passed Villanova goalkeeper Will Vitton to make it 3-1 and finally give his team some life on the offensive end. Less than two minutes later Wisnauskas potted another goal, cutting the deficit to one and tallying his 29th career multi-goal game.

Maryland found itself trailing by two goals after Wildcat Keegan Khan netted his first goal of the game with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Bernhardt remained hot and notched his first goal of the game off an assist from Wisnauskas. About a minute later, Bernhardt drilled a wide open shot to tie the game, which marked his 24th consecutive multi-goal game.

Khan, who assisted on Villanova’s first two goals, was able to net two goals of his own, while recording his 100th career point. The junior attackman continued to pour it on the Terps, scoring his second goal of the game nearly the 13-minute mark to put the Wildcats back on top, 5-4.

Bernhardt brought the Terps back in it again, tying the game up at five. The senior’s hat-trick is his third all-time against Villanova and the junior scored up to his 12th career goal against the Wildcats.

The Wildcats and the Terps then traded a goal each, including Maryland freshman Jake Smith’s first career goal. Villanova got the last crack on the scoreboard in the first half and went into the break with a one goal lead.

Just 57 seconds into the third quarter, Villanova senior midfielder Connor Kirst scored a his second goal of the game, giving Villanova a two goal lead. DeMaio was able to tally a goal and make the deficit just one, again.

Exactly seven minutes after Kirst’s second goal, he ripped another one passed Maryland goalkeeper Chris Brandau to make it 9-7.

Patrick Daly then extended Villanova’s lead to three goals for the first time since the beginning of the contest. But, Wisnauskas put in his third goal of the game making it 10-8, while tallying his third hat-trick of the young season.

Villanova gained a four goal lead in the fourth quarter before Bubba Fairman plotted two goals and Wisnauskas scored one to make it 13-12.

The Terps had a prime opportunity to steal another game in the fourth quarter. But before the team could make anything happen offensively, Maryland head coach John Tillman called a timeout.

On the following possession out of the timeout, Fairman attempted to make a play happen but turned the ball over, leading to the Terps’ first loss of the 2020 season.

Three Things to Know

1. Jake Smith scores first goal in home state. Outside of Bernhardt and Wisnauskas, Smith was the only Terp to score in the first half — and did so in his home state of Pennsylvania.

With just over three minutes remaining, the Landenberg, Pennslyvania, native caught a pass from fellow sophomore Kyle Long, who was behind goal, and sent a shot to the back of the Wildcats’ net, tying the game at six apiece.

2. Conor Calderone was the go-to guy in the faceoff X. For the first time this season, Calderone was the sole Terp to take faceoffs. The freshman finished 17-of-28.

3. Maryland was outshot by its opponent. For the second consecutive contest, the Terps were outshot by their opponent Tuesday afternoon. Villanova outshot Maryland, 45-38, but had one less shot on goal.