Michigan
6-3, 1-0B1G
Maryland
5-3, 0-1B1G
Michigan Bests Visiting No.7 Maryland in Big Ten Opener
3/23/2024 6:42:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse
» Michigan's offense was led by five goals from Justin Tiernan and five points from Ryan Cohen.
» A U-M Lacrosse Stadium-record 2,507 fans were on hand.
» The contest featured seven ties and seven lead changes and was U-M's third straight win versus Maryland
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- The No. 19-ranked University of Michigan men's lacrosse team began Big Ten play with a 12-11 victory over No. 7 Maryland on Saturday (March 23) in front of a U-M Lacrosse Stadium-record crowd of 2,570 fans.
Eight Wolverines recorded points, led by five goals from graduate student Justin Tiernan, tying his season-high, and a five-point (one goal, four assists) performance from junior Ryan Cohen. His output puts him in third place in the U-M career record book, passing Ian King (2014-17) for third-most in program history.
Senior Michael Boehm totaled three points (1G, 2A), and is two points away from the U-M career record for points, two goals from the all-time goals record, and one assist from the all-time assists record.
Michigan (5-3, 1-0 Big Ten) opened the scoring at the 12:59 mark of the first quarter when Cohen made a long run up the field and provided the assist for Tiernan's first goal of the game. Cohen recorded another helper at 10:17 when junior John Morgan scored to put the Wolverines ahead 2-0.
Following a holding penalty on the Wolverines, Maryland (5-3, 0-1 Big Ten) took advantage of the extra-man opportunity and scored its first goal of the game with 1:01 remaining in the first quarter.
At 13:48 in the second quarter, an unassisted score from Boehm at 13:48 briefly gave the Wolverines a two-goal lead. Maryland responded with a goal less than a minute later (12:58) before scoring again to tie the game at three at the 10:18 mark. The Terrapins found their offensive rhythm and took their first lead of the game with 9:21 left in the second quarter, followed by another goal at 6:01.
Following a four-goal run for Maryland, Cohen capitalized off an assist from Boehm at the 4:20 mark before graduate student Beau Pederson provided the assist for Tiernan with 1:22 left in the second quarter. Maryland scored in the final 30 seconds to take the 6-5 lead at the half.
The second half was scoreless until the 6:30 mark of the third quarter when junior Aidan Mulholland found the back of the net off a pass from Boehm to bring the score even at six. Maryland responded quickly, regaining the lead at the 5:11 mark before an unassisted goal from Pederson at 4:54 tied the game again. With 2:46 left in the third quarter, Michigan took the lead 8-7 with an unassisted goal from Mulholland, giving the Wolverines their first lead since the 10:18 mark in the second quarter.
With 11:07 on the clock in fourth quarter, sophomore Bo Lockwood provided the assist for Tiernan's third goal of the game, bringing the score to 9-7 in favor of the Wolverines.
Two Maryland goals at 10:38 and 8:31 brought scores level again. Another Maryland score at 6:37 gave the Terrapins the lead for the first time since the 5:11 mark of the third quarter.
With 5:40 left in the game, a goal from senior Isaac Aronson with a helper from Cohen tied the game 10-10. Maryland took the lead at the 3:47 mark before the game was tied again at 11 following Tiernan's fourth goal of the game at 2:36.
Following a failed Terps clear off a caused turnover on a ride back from Boehm, Tiernan gained possession and made a diving shot across the face of goal that found the back of the net, giving the Wolverines the lead, 12-11, with 1:13 left in the game and proved to be the eventual game-winner.
Senior faceoff man Justin Wietfeldt won 15 of 24 with 10 ground balls, while sophomore goalie Hunter Taylor made nine saves. Close defender Cathal Roberts had two caused turnovers and collected a trio of ground balls while midfielder Pederson had a goal, three ground balls and two caused turnovers.
Next up, Michigan hits the road, traveling to Homewood Field in Baltimore, Md., to take on No. 11 Johns Hopkins next Saturday (March 30) at Noon. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN2.
