No. 1 Maryland men’s lacrosse soars past Loyola Maryland in season-opener, 19-10

Written By Apo February 7, 2026 Add Comment

No. 1 Maryland men’s lacrosse’s transfer class was talked about as the best in the nation, and rightfully so. The Terps brought three of the top-five pieces alongside defensive starter Mikey Alexander.

While it took that new group a bit of time to adjust in their first game in a Maryland uniform, it was only a matter of time before their impact was felt. With the Terps tied at two against Loyola Maryland after the first quarter, that takeover began to unfold.

Leo Johnson and Chris Lyons rattled off four straight Maryland goals to fuel it to a two-goal halftime lead. Henry Dodge lost just four of his 16 faceoff bouts to help the Terps dominate that facet. Alexander was lockdown in Maryland’s defensive trio.

Those four performances alone were instrumental in the Terps’ 19-10 victory Saturday afternoon inside Jones-Hill House. Maryland continues its dominance in season-openers, where it has not lost since 2000.

Johnson and Lyons combined for nine of the team’s 19 goals to cement their strong debut in College Park.

The Terps’ offense last season largely relied on Eric Spanos to beat his one-on-one matchups, and the strategy largely paid off. Spanos found his teammates out of double-teams to help ease some of his scoring pressure.

But this season, that is far from the case.

During Maryland’s second-quarter onslaught, Spanos wasn’t tasked with much responsibility. Instead, it was Johnson and Lyons trading electric scores. The duo — who combined for 56 goals last season at Yale — couldn’t be contained.

Whether it was off one leg or Lyons’ nasty behind-the-back score in the second quarter, Loyola had no answers for the pair. Eventually, the Greyhounds threw double-teams at the Yale transfers.

That opened the door for Spanos to take full flight. Maryland’s leading scorer totaled a pair of goals in just three minutes early in the third quarter. Those scores helped the Terps gain a 7-5 lead and the momentum after Loyola had cut the deficit.

With Maryland’s lead in jeopardy of slipping, Lyons and Johnson took back over. The latter netted a hat trick alone in the third quarter. Lyons added his third goal with the game clock winding down in the third period.

Alongside the Terps’ offensive explosion, their faceoff unit controlled the X. Maryland won 15 of 16 faceoff clashes during the second and third quarters. Dodge and Jonah Carrier gave the Terps’ attackers more prime opportunities.

Outside of Maryland’s impressive showing from its transfers, much of the conversation about the team this year hinged on Brian Ruppel’s performance in goal. The senior starred during the 2023 season after Logan McNaney went down with injury.

But in his first full season as the starter, Ruppel needed to start with a strong showing. He delivered in the opening quarter, producing five stops on the seven shots he faced. However, he wasn’t called upon much during the middle quarters.

The Terps’ dominant defense in 2025 — one that conceded the second-fewest goals per game in the country (8.11) — didn’t spend much time in action. Will Schaller and Alexander paired up with Peter Laake to form Maryland’s starting trio against Loyola. Each player forced a turnover on Saturday.

While Loyola scored three unanswered goals in just under two minutes of action in the fourth quarter, Lyons responded seconds later. His fourth score of the afternoon effectively shut the door on the Greyhounds’ comeback efforts.

Maryland scored 13 of its 19 goals in the second half to overcome its slow start.

Three things to know

1. Game moved indoors. With the freezing temperatures in the area, Maryland was forced to move the contest indoors. The Terps’ second game in Jones-Hill House all-time produced another dominant victory.

2. Supporting class shines. Despite Maryland’s stars getting most of the attention from Saturday’s contest, the Terps’ depth shined. Twenty-nine players saw the field, with nine scoring goals. Braden Erksa chipped in four assists — three of those came in the second quarter.

3. Difficult road ahead. Saturday’s contest would have been easy for the Terps to overlook with three top-10 opponents on the horizon. Maryland travels to No. 3 Syracuse next weekend in its first early-season test.

from Testudo Times https://ift.tt/rS0VIRL