Maryland head coach John Tillman looked like he hadn’t slept in days.
Heading into the NCAA Quarterfinals matchup against No. 8 Syracuse in Providence, R.I., expectations were as high as ever for this Maryland team.
The Terrapins entered this past Saturday’s matchup with a 14 game win-streak and with pressure to perform. They have been considered the tournament favorites, and announcers have even argued that no team is better than the Terps right now.
Tillman knows the team has now has its best chance at winning an elusive national title. The Terps couldn’t be more familiar with the championship game. They have appeared in three finals since 2011 and lost them all. However, this team differs from the previous ones.
The offense is filled with scorers from any point of attack.
Matt Rambo, Colin Heacock, and Dylan Maltz all cannot be guarded at once. More importantly, when one of them is having an off day, the others pick up the slack.
There is a reason this offense averages 11.33 goals per game. Adding to the arsenal of goal scorers are two lines of midfielders that provide depth without a drop in production. Tillman has not had depth like this on a team in years alongside a defense that is one of the nations best.
Maryland’s 13-7 win against Syracuse wasn’t pretty by any means.
The Orange controlled the faceoffs throughout the game and were always able to inch closer and closer to Maryland because of it.
“Ben Williams (Syracuse) does a great job of being on the whistle and he’s a better athlete than just about anybody that he’s going against,” Tillman said in the post-game press conference. “And not only is he really good if he wins, but if he doesn’t win he is a great counter guy.”
Maryland will now face Brown in its Final Four matchup this Saturday.
Maryland should have a much easier time with the Bears as Brown star attack Dylan Molloy broke his right foot recently and will not be able to play. Molloy had to watch his team from the sidelines on Saturday as the Bears were able to squeak by Navy with a 11-10 win.
As for the other side of the bracket, North Carolina defeated Notre Dame, one of the only teams to beat Maryland this season, and Loyola (Md.) beat local Towson to advance to the Final Four.
Out of the schools left in the tournament, Maryland looks to be the favorite. However, Tillman will never look at it that way. He makes sure that the team remains very humble and realizes that they could lose any game to any opponent and it is all over.
On my flight back to Baltimore, I thought about this Maryland team — they’re different.
Before the matchup with Syracuse, the coaches and players shaved their heads. However, this wasn’t any playoff stunt for good luck.
Earlier in the fall, a boy named Fionn joined the men’s lacrosse team through Team IMPACT, an organization that places young children with life-threatening illnesses into sports programs.
Fionn is fighting cancer currently, but he isn’t fighting alone. Tillman challenged his team to join him and was the first one to shave his head for Fionn. The team responded and the long hair that once stuck out of the back of the lacrosse helmet was gone.
Maryland has the best opportunity to take championship hardware back home with them. The field has played into their strengths and the bond they possess on and off the field is special.
In a week, hopefully Tillman can finally get some sleep when it’s all said and done.
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