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15-3, 4-1 B1G ROSTER SCHEDULE |
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1:00 PM – MONDAY, MAY. 29 GILLETTE STADIUM FOXBOROUGH, MA |
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ESPN2 WATCHESPN |
Monday's NCAA men's lacrosse national championship game will pit a perennial powerhouse against an up-and-comer as top-seeded Maryland is set to appear in its third-straight national championship game while Ohio State is playing in its first ever.
It's an unfamiliar NCAA title matchup, but these are not unfamiliar opponents. The Big Ten foes met twice previously, playing two of the best, most highly-contested lacrosse games of the season. After over 120-minutes of action, the teams enter Monday's deadlocked at an aggregate score of 20-20, splitting a pair of one-point wins.
Monday's game will be the rubber match with the winner being crowned national champions. If the teams' previous matchups are any indication, it's going to be an absolute thriller.
Buckle up.
Maryland Breakdown
After topping No. 5 seed Denver in the semifinals, the top-seeded Terrapins are back in the NCAA championship game for the third-straight season and the fifth time in seven seasons.
Though Maryland is a regular in the title game, the Terps are just as hungry as the Buckeyes. Maryland hasn't won the national title since 1975, falling in nine-straight championship games since then.
This time, though, the Terps are stacked.
Maryland had nine players named USILA All-America this season — the most for the program since 1998 — headlined by four first teamers: Isaiah Davis-Allen, Connor Kelly, Tim Muller and Matt Rambo.
Rambo, a Tewaaraton finalist, leads the high-powered Terrapin attack. He is the program's all-time leading scorer and all-time points leader and is the only player in program history to record 40 goals and 30 assists in a season — and he's done it twice.
Since the start of the NCAA Tournament, Rambo has been on a tear. He has 18 points so far, which is tied for second-most in a single tournament in program history, behind his program-record 23 points last season.
Rambo spearheads a Maryland attack that ranks No. 10 nationally in scoring offense and No. 1 in shot percentage. With those numbers, the Buckeyes will have their hands full on Monday afternoon.
Ohio State Breakdown
Ohio State has already reached its first semifinal — and now first championship game — in program history, set a new program record for wins in a season and downed nine top-20 opponents.
If the season ended in a semifinals loss to Towson, it still would have been the best season in Ohio State lacrosse history. But it didn't. The Buckeyes came from behind to top Towson and are playing for their first-ever national title on Monday afternoon.
“We posed the question to them earlier in the week and just said, 'Listen — at the end of the day this is going to go down as the most successful, competitive season of Buckeye lacrosse. That's done. You've already checked that box,'” Ohio State coach Nick Myers told our Eric Seger. “'Do you want to be remembered as the first Final Four team or do you want to be remembered as the first national championship team?'”
It's no fluke that Ohio State got this far. The Buckeyes are one of the most talented, well-rounded teams in the country.
Ohio State boasts an attack that's No. 5 nationally in scoring offense and No. 5 in shot percentage led by two players who've tallied over 60 points this season: Eric Fannell and Big Ten Freshman of the Year Tre Leclaire. Fannell leads the team with 63 points while Leclaire leads the team in scoring with 48 goals.
On the defensive end, the Buckeyes are almost equally stellar, giving up just 8.8 goals per game, good for 13th nationally. The defense is led by senior defenseman Ben Randall, who became the first player in program history to be named a first-team All-American, as well as goalkeeper Tom Carey, who has already come up huge for Ohio State this tournament, stopping 12 shots against high-powered Loyola in the opening round.
Despite the power of those units and the talent of those players, Ohio State's most decisive advantage will not be on offense or defense on Monday, but at the faceoff X. The Buckeyes have the top faceoff save percentage in the country thanks to two-time Big Ten Specialist of the Year Jake Withers. Ohio State wins 73.3 percent of faceoffs while Maryland wins just 49.8.
When you compare Ohio State's season and postseason to the preseason expectations, its run seems a little improbable. But on Monday afternoon, the Buckeyes are hoping to prove that they belonged at the top of the rankings all along.
“When we came into the season No. 22 with no preseason All-Americans for the first time in my tenure here," Myers said. "I'd be lying if I told you that wasn't something we took personally. The rankings are what they are, it's all about how you finish.”
How to Watch
The national championship match between Ohio State and Maryland will be broadcast nationally at 1 p.m. on ESPN2 and the WatchESPN app.
