No. 3 Maryland men’s lacrosse suffers first loss of season, falling to No. 6 Notre Dame, 14-9

Maryland men’s lacrosse came into South Bend, Indiana, hunting for the nation’s No. 1 ranking. A win over Notre Dame, the defending national champion, would’ve in all likelihood vaulted the Terps there.

But they fell victim to the Fighting Irish and their physical style, which held Maryland’s offense to single-digit goals for the first time all season in 14-9 result.

It didn’t take long for Notre Dame to show Maryland why it’s a different beast than anything the Terps have faced this season. Daniel Maltz broke the deadlock to put Maryland up 1-0, but Notre Dame quickly responded with four straight goals.

One of the four was Pat Kavanagh getting the better of Ajax Zappitello by turning around and finishing over his shoulder with his back to the cage. Eric Malever scored with less than 30 seconds left in the first period to send the Terps into the second quarter down 4-2.

Notre Dame’s physicality gave Maryland fits, with the patented “Kavanagh Ride,” an aggressive high-pressure style, forcing Maryland into 13 first-half turnovers.

Notre Dame added three goals early in the second quarter, with Jake Taylor and Devon McLane both securing first-half hat tricks. Will Schaller gave the Fighting Irish two first-half extra-man opportunities, and they made the Terps pay both times; they’re among the nation’s most lethal man-up units.

Maryland went into the break facing a four-goal deficit, the largest it’s seen all season.

Before Sunday’s game, John Tillman recognized that his team would need to put together a complete 60 minutes against a team of Notre Dame’s caliber, avoiding the scoreless stretches it’s been prone to. The Terps failed to do that, though, going silent between Ryan Siracusa’s goal with over six minutes left in the second quarter and Jack Koras’ strike with just over two minutes left in the third.

In that time, two sport-star Jordan Faison added two third-quarter goals for the Fighting Irish, putting them up 11-6 heading into the final quarter.

Eric Spanos finally broke free in the fourth quarter with two goals to momentarily cut the Notre Dame lead to three, but it proved too little, too late.

Three things to know

1. Budding rivalry? In a matchup of the last two national champions, Maryland fell for the second year in a row to Notre Dame.

2. Erksa was silenced. As Maryland has looked for a true top offensive option, Braden Erksa has inched toward filling that role. He did not step up in this one, though, recording just one assist. He was shut down by freshman Shawn Lyght.

3. Faceoffs. Last year, Maryland’s Luke Wierman won 20 of 31 faceoffs against Notre Dame. This year, with Maryland needing every possession it could get, Notre Dame platooned Colin Hagstrom and Will Lynch to generate an even split against Wierman.