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Maryland’s men’s lacrosse title defense didn’t make it through the second weekend of May.
The fourth-seeded Terrapins stumbled on Saturday night, losing 16-15 to Army while lagging much of the way at SECU Stadium.
Jacob Morin got the go-ahead with 3:36 to go and Gunnar Fellows 53 seconds from time to safety for the Patriot League champions Black Knights, who won their first NCAA tournament game since 2010.
Maryland (10-6), who last year became the first undefeated team in 16 years to claim a national title, became the first defending champion to lose in the first round since North Carolina in 2017.
Braden Erksa scored four goals and one assist for the Terrapins, who were unbeaten since a 16-8 loss to Cornell in 2013 in the first round.
Knox Dent made 16 saves for Army (13-3) as they face either fifth-seeded Penn State (9-4) or unseeded Princeton (8-6) in the quarterfinals on May 21 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis .
It was the latest – and final – twist in an uneven season, especially compared to last year’s juggernaut. Gone was a flood of experienced players forming a team that lost just once in two seasons.
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The result was an inconsistency that was both predictable and troubling for a program that has included nine trips to the NCAA Semifinals, seven title game appearances and two national titles since John Tillman took over the program ahead of the 2011 season.
These terps never won more than three games in a row all season. At least until Saturday, they hadn’t missed any consecutive games either.
Maryland bounced back from a five-goal deficit and took the lead for the first time when veteran defender Brett Makar scored in transition and Erksa found within less than two minutes late in the third quarter. But it remained a draw or one-goal contest for the entire fourth quarter until the last minute, with Erksa scoring the 14th final score with 5:18 to go.
As they had done throughout the night, the army responded immediately. Maryland eventually scored from Daniel Kelly with 36 seconds left and won the ensuing faceoff by three shots, but Christian Fournier’s groundball helped the Black Knights burn the final 10 seconds and seal the win.
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Maryland suffered a 5-14 loss to Michigan in the Big Ten title game, the program’s most lopsided loss since 2006. And with Ajax sidelined Zappitello for a fourth straight season, the Terps had to find a way to stingy one of theirs two best defenders.
That didn’t happen in the first quarter. Army scored the first three goals and took a 7-2 lead after 15 minutes. It was the most goals the Terps conceded in a quarter of an NCAA tournament game since they conceded seven against Hofstra in the third quarter of a first-round win in 2000, and most they conceded in the first quarter of a postseason contest since they Eight resigned against Princeton in the 1997 national title game.
Rather than backing down quietly, Maryland dominated possession in the second quarter, winning seven of eight faceoffs during that period and beating the Black Knights 16-5. The Terps scored five goals in a row, including one that Army goaltender Knox Dent accidentally put in, and went into the break tied with 8 points.