There is no such thing as a down year if you are a Maryland Terrapin. Coming into this season, many fans would agree that Maryland was not one of the clear front-runners to make it to Championship Weekend or even win the Big Ten. Something John Tillman has taught us over the years, though, is that you can never count his teams out. Time and time again, the Maryland Terrapins always seemingly exceed expectations despite what many of the fans and analysts have to say going into the season. Let’s look back at the Maryland Lacrosse 2025 season to understand how exactly they are back at Championship Weekend once again.
Maryland’s regular season was certainly interesting to say the least, due to the number of highs followed by extreme lows. Looking at the resume and schedule, it’s insane how many impressive victories the Terrapins were able to pull off this season. There is no other team in the country that can confidently say they have more ranked wins than the Terrapins, taking down Richmond, Syracuse, Princeton, Notre Dame, Penn State, and Ohio State. Every regular season big game Maryland showed up for, they were able to handle business. However, it seems like the Terrapins may have overlooked some of the games that were deemed less important than their highly ranked matchups. A shocking loss to Michigan in overtime definitely hurt morale, but an even more stunning loss to Rutgers took away their hopes of a Big Ten regular season title.
Entering the Big Ten Tournament, Maryland was able to get by Penn State yet again by a score of 10–8. All season long, Maryland has had no problem slowing down the game, working for the highest quality shots, and banking on their stout defense. I’m sure the Terrapins were eager to go up against the Buckeyes once more—this time in the Big Ten Championship game. Unlike the first time around, however, Ohio State played a much better game and was able to exploit the Terrapin defense. Maryland lost that matchup 10–14, which meant they finished Big Ten play with no hardware in 2025.
Going into the NCAA Tournament, the Terrapins’ RPI really helped them out when it came to seeding. Despite not winning any share of the Big Ten this year, Maryland was still rewarded with a favorable seed, drawing Air Force in the first round. A 13–5 win was expected and carried Maryland into the quarterfinals. There, they matched up against Georgetown in a game that was a defensive bout from start to finish. Maryland controlled possession time and forced Georgetown to play their style of lacrosse in a low-scoring affair of 9–6. This would take the Maryland lacrosse program back to Championship Weekend yet again—a consistent standard within the program.
When you look at the numbers for how exactly Maryland was able to make it this far, you have to address the defense. Normally, it’s easy to talk about the offense first, but this defense is just too solid not to mention first. Allowing only 7.8 goals per game puts them at number two in the country and has led to the majority of the team’s success this year. The offense has been well below mediocre, averaging only 11 goals per game, which ranks 43rd in the country. Their scoring margin of +3.19 keeps them in the positive column, but the defense carries all of that weight. The Terrapins have no problem slowing the game down to their level, which makes sense when you’re able to clear the ball at a 91% rate. However, when it comes to face-offs, they hover around 50%, so not having an elite guy could potentially hurt them when the lights are too bright.
When you talk about their star players, it is very rare for a team’s best player to come between the pipes. Logan McNaney currently has the fourth-best save percentage in the country at 59.5%. The defense does an excellent job at giving him the shots he wants to see, but he does an incredible job at saving the ball even when he’s not supposed to. Offensively, Eric Spanos has been solid this year, but he ranks just 97th in the country in points per game at 2.8.
At the end of the day, the Terrapins have made it this far for a reason. I am fascinated to see how the offense will perform, but even more intrigued to see how this defense plans on slowing down a lethal Syracuse offense. It is tough to coach against John Tillman, as he is one of the best in the game. One thing is for certain, however—and it’s that Maryland is the most experienced program in the country when it comes to semifinal games.
