2019 Men’s College Lacrosse Year In Review: #7 Maryland Terrapins

With the 2019 college lacrosse season complete, it’s time to look back at how all 73 teams did during the season, along with an early look at each squad for 2020.

Note: These are not end of season rankings.

Here’s our last five Year In Review posts we’ve done:

• #12 Richmond
• #11 Towson
• #10 Georgetown
• #9 Army West Point
• #8 Notre Dame

To see all of our posts, check out the 2019 Year In Review section on the site.

Let’s continue our 2019 Year In Review with the teams that advanced to the NCAA Tournament!

#7 Maryland Terrapins

Conference: Big Ten
2019 Record: 12-5 (3-2 in Big Ten)
Postseason: Lost to Johns Hopkins in Big Ten semifinals, defeated Towson in NCAA First Round, lost to Virginia in NCAA Quarterfinals
Head coach: John Tillman (9th Season)

Statistical Leaders

Goals: Jared Bernhardt (51)
Assists: Logan Wisnauskas (35)
Points: Logan Wisnauskas (79)
Faceoffs: Austin Henningsen (148-of-254; 58.3%)
Ground balls: Austin Henningsen (67)
Caused turnovers: Nick Brozowski (9)
Goals against average: Danny Dolan (10.69)
Save percentage: Danny Dolan (51.5%)

Personnel Losses

Key seniors departing: D Curtis Corley (8 CTs, 19 GBs, 1 A), M Will Snider (8 Gs, 6 As, 11 GBs), FOGO Austin Henningsen (58.3% FOs, 67 GBs), SSDM Wesley Janeck (46 GBs, 36.7% FOs, 1 G, 1 A), A Louis Dubick (30 Gs, 8 As, 20 GBs, 6 CTs), LSM Nick Brozowski (9 CTs, 32 GBs, 1 A), G Danny Dolan (10.69 GAA, 51.5% SV %, 34 GBs, 3 CTs, 1 A), M Christian Zawadzki (6 Gs, 1 A, 7 GBs, 1 CT), SSDM/D Thomas O’Connell (1 CT, 5 GBs)
Senior scoring departing: 64 of 353 points (18.1%)
Senior starts lost: 72 of 170 (42.4%)

Season Summary

Thanks to a number of trips to Championship Weekend in the past 10 seasons, Maryland has been one of the best programs in the decade. They’ve reached Memorial Day Weekend in seven seasons and were looking to make their sixth straight trip in 2019.

Things looked that way early as the Terrapins began the season winning their first five games, highlighted by one-goal wins over Richmond and on the road against Penn in overtime. They also defeated Colgate as well, who was ranked 16th at the time.

With the Terps looking at a potential return to No. 1 in the polls, they first had to beat Notre Dame inside the Loftus Sports Center. It was a back-and-forth game that went to overtime when Brian Willetts put home the game-winner for the Fighting Irish. Maryland won their next three games against Albany, Villanova, and North Carolina to enter Big Ten play with an 8-1 record.

But in came Penn State, the number one overall team in the country with an insane offense. That offense bit the Terps hard in the first quarter with eight goals, including seven to end the quarter. But Maryland’s defense shut the Nittany Lions off in the second and most of the third quarters while the offense went on a 6-0 run to cut the Penn State lead by a goal. But the Nittany Lions came back with a three-goal run and was able to hold off Maryland for the win. After a tough win against former assistant Kevin Conry and Michigan, the Terps needed a big 10-goal second half to get past a first half deficit against Rutgers. The following week against Ohio State, the Buckeyes scored three straight to take a one-goal lead with 3:40 to go. But Logan Wisnauskas tied the game with 23 seconds left and Jared Bernhardt scored what was a very controversial dive goal to give Maryland a much-needed win.

Maryland was 3-1 in Big Ten play heading into their annual rivalry game against Johns Hopkins. The Terrapins had a 5-1 lead with 5:07 left in the first quarter and momentum on their side. But Hopkins, a bubble team that was looking from the outside in NCAA Tournament projections, was hungry and scored 11 of the next 13 goals to take a lead they would not lose en route to a five-goal win. The two teams met again in the Big Ten semifinals, and the Blue Jays waited until the second half to pounce on the Terps. This time around, Hopkins outscored Maryland 10-1 in the final 30 minutes for their second win in under a week.

Despite having an 11-4 record, the Terrapins’ resume was not as strong as it usually was. They were unseeded and unofficially the last team in the NCAA Tournament. Their first round matchup was on the road against Towson, a team they used to meet every season. The Tigers looked like they were going to pull out the win on a Brendan Sunday goal with 1:50 left. But Bernhardt found the back of the net with three seconds left to force overtime, where Louis Dubick potted the winning tally. Both goals came from very good feeds from freshman Kyle Long.

Maryland faced former ACC foe Virginia in the quarterfinals in what was a neck-and-neck contest. A 5-0 run gave the Terps a 12-7 lead with 10:38 to go and a sixth straight final four trip was within reach. But the Cavaliers mounted a comeback and were within striking distance when Michael Kraus’ shot hit the crossbar. It was a shot that one of the refs called a goal and stayed as a goal. Virginia eventually won on a Matt Moore goal in overtime, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of Maryland’s lacrosse program and their fans.

Wisnauskas and Bernhardt each had over 70 points at attack and started all 17 games along with Dubick at the position. Sophomore Anthony DeMaio became a big weapon up top at midfield, leading all middies with 46 points on the season. Classmate Bubba Fairman finished with 42 points while Will Snider was the third starter with 14. Long had a slow start to the season before picking up production on the second midfield, highlighted by his five-point performance against Towson. Christian Zawadzki and Russell Masci were also part of the second midfield unit.

Curtis Corley was the anchor of the Terrapin close defense unit and was joined by junior Jack Welding and freshman Brett Makar for the majority of the season. Nick Brozowski led the Terps with nine caused turnovers and was one of two long stick midfielders with Matt Rahill being the second one. Roman Puglise and BU transfer Michael Chiaramonte were the primary short stick defenders with Wesley Janeck, Thomas O’Connell, who also started two games at close defense, Alex Smith, and John Geppert also in the mix. Austin Henningsen and Justin Shockey took the majority of the draws with Henningsen going 58.3% and Shockey winning 50.3% of his faceoffs taken. Danny Dolan started all 17 games in his first and only season as the team’s top goaltender.

Looking Ahead

Maryland loses four starters as well as a few other key contributors in 2020. However, they do get three notable transfers.

The first is in goal with former Georgetown goalie Chris Brandau coming to College Park. He could be the favorite to earn the starting job, but Drew Morris is also a very good option at the position. With Corley gone, former Marquette defenseman Nick Grill should get immediate playing time and could be that third starter. Matt Rahill should be bumped up as the top LSM and four of Maryland’s shorties are back. Drew Harrison could see some more time as well. And at the faceoff X, former Lehigh FOGO Joel Trucksess comes in to give some competition to Shockey.

As for the offense, Dubick and Snider graduate. That leaves a vacant starting spot at both offense and defense. Could Long move down at the position? Or could Steven Shollenberger, who was going to be a starter in 2018 before suffering a season-ending injury, get the nod? At midfield, Alex Smith could move from defense to offense, where he was as a freshman at Hartford. Nicholas DeMaio could have a role in the offense as well.