(Photo Courtesy of Maryland Athletics)

Welcome to the Fall Snapshot series. Throughout the fall I will be taking an early look at DI men’s college lacrosse teams and giving a snapshot of where each is heading into the 2024 season.

Head Coach: John Tillman (14th Year, 2011-Current)

Maryland 2023 Record: 10-6 (3-2 Big Ten)

Key Departures: Brett Makar (D)

Key Returners: Braden Erska (A), Daniel Kelly (A), Eric Malever (A), Luke Wierman (FO), Ajax Zapitello (D), Logan Mcnaney (G), Brian Ruppel (G)

Transfer Additions: Griffin King (M, Brown) Nick Alviti (LSM, Vermont), Jackson Canfield (D, Vermont), Colin Sharkey (SSDM, Vermont)

Staff Changes: N/A

Maryland has been one of the most dominant programs in college lacrosse over the past decade-plus. Nine Championship Weekend appearances, seven title game showings, and two national titles headline the John Tillman era thirteen years in.

The Terrapins are, however, coming off its worst season under Tillman. Maryland went 10-6 overall, 3-2 in Big Ten play, and fell to Army West Point in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It is only the second time under Tillman that the Terrapins failed to advance to, at least, the quarterfinals and only the third time in the program’s past 16 tournament appearances that they saw a first round exit.

Attackman Eric Malever missed the entire season with a knee injury while goalie Logan McNaney went down with a season-ending injury late in the second game of the year versus Loyola. Thus, the Terrapins roster had to be shuffled and multiple younger players were given a bigger chance to shine – and they did. With the return of these two and the progression of many of those young faces, as well as veteran transfers, this Maryland team will be looking to get back to that Maryland standard in 2024.

Burning Questions

How Will Malever and McNaney Return to The Lineup?

During the 202 season, a young Eric Malever proved to be a balanced playmaker for that stellar and heavily-veteran Terrapins offense as he netted 26 goals and dished out 27 assists. On the other end of the field, Logan McNaney anchored the Maryland defense with 200 saves with a 59% save percentage. McNaney was named the Most Outstanding Player of the NCAA Tournament.

Maryland spent nearly all of last season with neither Malever nor McNaney on the field. Malever suffered a knee injury in the fall that held him out the entire year while McNaney went down during the second game of the season (a 12-7 loss to Loyola) with an injury that held him out for the rest of the year. Replacing Mcnaney would be freshman Brian Ruppel (138 saves, 48.4%). The Terrapins offense would see freshman Braden Erska assert himself as the top point-getter with 26 goals and 22 assists for 48 points.

In 2024, both Malever and McNaney will be back for Maryland and will be expected to return to that stellar 2022 form. The question is, how dominant of a return can each have? If they indeed return to their 2022 selves or even improve upon that, than this Maryland team may just have two of its missing pieces back for another Championship Weekend run.

What Impact Will The Vermont D Transfers Have?

Maryland brings in a four grad transfers with three of them are on the defensive end and all come from the same program: Vermont. Jackson Canfield was a two-time first team All-America East selection at close while Nick Alviti was a two-time first team All-America East selection at LSM. Colin Sharkey served as the Catamounts’ top defensive midfielder each of the past few seasons.

Canfield, Alviti, and Sharkey were part of a top-10 scoring defense (10.29 goals allowed per game) for Vermont last season. The trio now joins a Maryland program that had the 19th-best scoring defense in college lacrosse last year (10.94) and has typically performed better than most in the sport on that end in recent years. This is also a defense that loses its top pole in Brett Makar but still returns two of its starting poles in Ajax Zapitello and Colin Burlace.

What role each of those three transfers play within this Maryland defense and the exact impact they will have is one of the most interesting storylines to follow heading into the 2024 season for this Terrapins squad.

Potential Breakout Player

Colin Burlace, D, Junior

Burlace earned a starting role at close last season and thrived, grabbing ground balls and causing 11 turnovers. With some of the questions on that back end Burlace could very well step up and prove to be an even bigger part of the Maryland defense in 2024.

Freshman Class

Maryland brings in a seven-man freshman class with its 2023 recruiting efforts. That includes a pair of New Balance All-Americans in midfielders Thomas Gravino (Victor, N.Y.) and Elijah Stobaugh (IMG Academy, Fla.).