The biggest indictment of the University of Maryland’s lacrosse team came in the preseason.
That’s when the coaching staff announced it was breaking with tradition for the second straight year and giving goalie Logan McNaney jersey No. 1, an honor which had been given to the team’s top offensive player before defenseman Brett Makar received it in 2023.
The No. 2 Terps (14-4) could have used some offensive firepower Monday in a 13-10 loss to top-seeded Cornell in the Division I men’s lacrosse championship at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
This game brought back memories of outstanding Maryland offensive players like Joe Walters, Grant Catalino, Matt Rambo, Jared Bernhardt and Logan Wisnauskas, and the Terps needed it to counter Cornell’s dynamic duo of attackmen CJ Kirst (six goals) and Ryan Goldstein (four goals), both of whom accounted for five of the Big Red’s seven second half goals.
Kirst, a senior, was dynamic, scoring three straight in the third, and the final one on an empty netter with 50 seconds in the fourth. Goldstein, a sophomore, had two goals in the fourth quarter. The first one practically eliminated Maryland from title contention as the Big Red went ahead, 10-7, with 13 minutes and 42 seconds left in the game.
That goal came off a failed clear by Maryland near midfield and forced defenseman Will Schaller to make the choice of staying with Kirst or Goldstein. He stayed with Kirst and Goldsten stuck the shot from about 10 feet out.
Big players make big plays in big games, and the Terps don’t have any alphas on the offensive side of the ball. Kirst, the presumptive winner of the Tewaaraton Award given annually to college lacrosse’s top player, took control of the game in the second half. While he was warming up in the first, Goldstein carried the Big Red through the first two quarters.
They fed off each other, especially Kirst, who didn’t have a point in Cornell’s 11-9 win over Penn State in a semifinal game Saturday.
“Goldstein and Kirst were excellent,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “And two guys like that is hard. You know, one guy is hard, but to have two guys like that, and [attackman Michael] Long, you’re talking about three guys that you could say deserve No. 1, and no one else has that in terms of dodging ability in the country.”
Kirst finished the season with a record-tying 82 goals.
“He’s been amazing,” Tillman said. “I know he’s been dinged up a little bit. But then you combine that with Ryan, and like, you know, you’ve got 10 of your goals from those guys. I mean, it’s really hard, and they are complemented by some really good guys.”
Maryland has its own version in attackmen Eric Spanos (two goals, two assists) and Braden Erska (two goals), but they aren’t in that class. Few players are.
Maryland tried different defensive combinations on Kirst and Goldstein, but the results were the same. The Terps tried different slide packages as well but that didn’t work either. Fortunately, McNaney was strong in the goal with 11 saves, but at times he got peppered from short range.
Once Kirst scored from behind the goal with 6:25 left in the third period to push Cornell’s lead to 9-6, there was a sense that this game was nearly over.
Why?
To say the least, Maryland’s offense is as slow and deliberate as a turtle. The Terps looked for an offensive leader, but there was no Kirst and Goldstein.
There are some who will criticize Tillman, and rightfully so. He joined Princeton and Denver head coach Bill Tierney and Syracuse’s Roy Simmons Jr as the only head coaches to make nine title game appearances. Tierney was 7-2, Simmons 7-3 and now Tillman is 2-7.
But this loss wasn’t just about Tillman. His strength is having a week to prepare for the next opponent. Few want to face Tillman in that situation as opposed to playing in the title game with only one day of preparation. In those cases, the results might be based more on athleticism and rest than anything else.
Simply put, Cornell had a better team. Besides Kirst and Goldstein, the Big Red ran two exclusive sets of offensive midfielders and an endless wave of short-stick middies. Uncharacteristically, the Terps failed on four clears, three in the final quarter. But in retrospect, Tillman milked this team for everything he could.
“We did our best but at the end of the day, they kind of just played a more complete game, their offense versus our defense, but you know, it’s not something we’re going to forget; I can promise you that,” Schaller said.
But in lacrosse, like every other sport, there has to be a time when great players take over in a big game. It’s their time of separation from an average player to a great one.
Maryland had only one and that was McNaney. And when a goalie wears No. 1 at Maryland, it says a lot, and certainly not much about the offense.
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.
