University of Maryland: Men’s, Women’s LAX Teams Sweep Big Ten Tourney
The Terps men’s and women’s lacrosse teams went into the Big Ten Tournament this weekend as No. 1 seeds, and both came out as champions for the fourth time.
The men won their second title in as many seasons with a 17-7 victory over No. 3 Rutgers on Saturday night at Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium. The women won 18-8 in Piscataway, N.J., on Sunday, overpowering the Scarlet Knights in the second half by flipping the score from 7-5 to 17-7.
The undefeated men (14-0) head into the 2022 NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and will host the winner of Vermont or Manhattan on May 15 at Maryland Stadium. The women (17-1) received a No. 2 seed and first-round bye in the NCAA bracket announced Sunday night; they will host Duke or Johns Hopkins in the second round May 15.
“To be able to represent our school and win a Big Ten championship means a lot,” men’s Head Coach John Tillman told The Washington Post after Saturday’s win. “Lacrosse means so much in this area, and we have so much great tradition here and so many people that care so much.”
Tournament MVP Logan Wisnauskas scored four goals and added three assists for his 37th career hat trick, a Maryland program record. He finished with seven points and now has 321 in his career on 192 goals and 129 assists. Now Maryland’s all-time leading point scorer, he stands second in goals only to Jared Bernhardt’s 202 and third in assists (Ray Altman with 146 and Bob Boneillo, 143).
Anthony DeMaio notched his second consecutive hat trick in the Big Ten Tournament and finished with four goals and two assists for six points. Jonathan Donville had four points on one goal and three assists. Jack Koras and Eric Malever had a pair of goals each. Luke Wierman won 20 of 26 faceoffs as he scooped up 12 ground balls. He set the school record for faceoff wins in a season with 236.
The men held Rutgers (13-3) to its fewest goals of the season with seven. The Terps are 11-0 against Rutgers since both teams joined the Big Ten for the 2015 season.
The women’s victory on Sunday was also the 300th for Head Coach Cathy Reese. The Maryland alum has a 300-33 career record in her 16 years leading the program. She’s also won five national championships and has reached 11 Final Fours.
“What a day for the Terps. I am so proud of my group,” Reese said. “We started a little slow and hesitant all over the field in the first half—credit to Rutgers for coming out strong. I am really pleased with how we came out in the second half. Defensively we were all over the place, we were excellent on the draw control and offensively we shared the ball really well, found some good openings and shot the ball really well in the second half.”
Aurora Cordingley totaled nine points, scoring four goals and adding five assists, rising up to fifth on the single season points list with 111. She was named the Big Ten Tournament MVP after totaling 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) over two games.
Libby May netted five goals and also collected an assist. Eloise Clevenger had a pair of goals and four assists as well. Abby Bosco won nine draws, Shaylan Ahearn won seven, and Shannon Smith controlled four. Emily Sterling made four saves in goal.
Maryland now holds a 23-1 all-time record against Rutgers.