Relax. Take a breath. Enjoy some sunshine, go outside and touch grass, get a game of catch in with your kids. Do yardwork, if your weather is better than mine. Tomorrow is going to be a bloodbath, and it won't be the good kind. Maryland welcomes the Buckeyes to College Park, and unless a bunch of injuries get resolved, it's going to get ugly.
Yes, I could sit here and spin tales of hope, but that's not going to stand up past Q1. Ohio State is in dire straits, and this will not be a pleasant game to follow. Maryland is the closest thing to a perfect team DI lacrosse has seen since 1990. And we've all just got to accept that.
Maryland comes into this week's matchup with an absolutely mind-boggling statline. The Terps average a margin of victory of 8.7 goals per game. For context, two years in a row that was roughly Ohio State's entire scoring output per GAME! And that's how badly Maryland is beating teams.
Maryland's closest game was a 2-goal win over Notre Dame early in the season when teams were still shaking the lead out. And Notre Dame seemed to be respectable. After that, the Terps went on an absolute tear. No one has gotten closer than 8 goals after the Notre Dame near-miss, including Virginia. The Terps posted an 11-goal blowout over the Cavs, scoring 23 goals in the process.
This is not a flawed team. No one is invincible. But this year's Maryland squad is dang near close. The Buckeyes are going to have a heckuva time trying to keep this respectable.
Offense
Maryland almost completely changed their offensive group from 2021 to 2022. Bubba Fairman (#2) is a midfielder who would immediately start at offensive middie for Ohio State, moved to SSDM this year for the Terps. Dan Maltz (#37), who scored 40 goals in 2021, has been demoted to a role player. Jared Bernhardt graduated last year. And, somehow, the Terps got BETTER.
Logan Wisnauskas (#1) set the career points record at Maryland last weekend, and leads the charge down low at attack. Kheegan Khan (#19) transferred in from Villanova, and immediately supplanted Maltz at attack. Jonathan Donville (#3) transferred from Cornell to Maryland and immediately became Maryland's top middie. Kyle Long (#23) and Eric Malever (#4) round out one of the most complete, balanced units in college lacrosse.
Maryland works like a metronome, constantly probing and attacking the defense. If you lose focus for an instant, a cutter is there to punish you. Maryland can get skip passes on a rope, overpower you on the dodge, and sting you from behind the net if you're not perfect in every phase. Notre Dame managed to keep Maryland in check the longest, but no one since has even come close.
Bobby Van Buren will draw the tough assignment of Wisnauskas, most likely, because he is the most physically talented defender the Buckeyes have. After that, Snyder and Gallagher are going to struggle to contain Khan. It's a problem every team has been unable to deal with.
Add to that the incredible Maryland midfielders, and it will be a long day in College Park. Anything under an 8-goal loss should be counted as a win.
Defense
As good as Maryland is offensively, they're nearly as good on defense. High Point, in game one of the season, scored 13 goals on Maryland, but no one else has gotten past 12. In games where the defense allows 10 goals or more, Maryland averages a 7.2 goal margin of victory.
Down low, Maryland starts Matt Rahill (#7), Ajax Zappitello (#36), and Brett Makar (#43). Zappitello and Makar are likely All-American candidates. Maryland also puts out Bubba Fairman and Roman Puglise (#8) at SSDM. Puglise may be the best SSDM in the Big Ten this year, perhaps DI.
This is a unit that will knock you senseless, keep you off your offensive rhythm, and generally make life miserable. It's talented, experienced, and disciplined. Exactly what you need to be to shut down Jack Myers.
If Jason Knox and Griffin Hughes still can't go, this will be a long, long day for Ohio State. Hughes has missed over half the season, but no one has word on Knox for tomorrow's game.
Goalie
Again, Maryland will have an advantage. Logan McNaney (#30) mans the pipes. McNaney put up 13 saves against Rutgers, and only allowed 8 goals. McNaney is also saving shots at a 54.3% clip, against stiffer competition than the Buckeyes. This is going to be a rough day shooting the ball.
Buckeye goalkeeping has been bad for a while. Skylar Wahlund is doing better, but it's still not championship level. It will be a challenge to keep the Maryland shooters at bay.
Faceoffs
Even on a good day, this would be challenging. Maryland is the best faceoff unit in the country now. Luke Wierman (#52) is winning 67% of his faceoffs. Obviously, that's a lot. Add to that Ohio State's struggles, and there will be a lot of make-it, take-it lacrosse for Maryland.
Coaches, including myself, like to preach that groundballs win games. The overwhelming majority of that at the DI level is faceoffs. Get faceoff groundballs, you win the game. To have a chance, Ohio State will need to overpower the Maryland wings and make the draw a scrum. I don't think they can do it.
Special teams
Maryland is somewhat of a mixed bag at special teams. They're converting 48% of their Man Up chances, which is excellent. The Terps are also allowing goals 44% of the time on Man Down. That is really, really poor. If Ohio State can take advantage somewhere, it will be on Man Up. But a lot has to go right for that to work out in a significant way.
In nearly every phase, Maryland is significantly better than Ohio State. They're healthier, better in terms of talent and coaching, plus the Terps have all the momentum in the world. Ohio State is hurt on offense, has regressed at the faceoff dot, and is decent on defense. This game will be ugly, and not close.
Final prediction: Maryland 19, Ohio State 10.
Go Bucks!
