Projecting the ’23-24 Terps after the portal closes with a surprise

Men’s Lacrosse – Game 16, Army, SECU Stadium, Saturday at 7:30 PM, NCAA Tournament First Round

Season Records: #5 Maryland (10-5), #11 Army (12-3)

Series Record: Maryland, 20-19

Last Meeting: 2004, 16-12 Maryland in NCAA Tournament

Media: ESPNU

Stats: HERE

Quick Preview

Two teams that nearly appear to be statistically mirror images of each other meet in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in College Park. The Army Black Knights enter the game on the heels of winning the Patriot League championship, which secured their automatic selection into the tournament. The Terrapins secured an at-large selection into the tournament on the heels of their most lopsided loss in over a decade at the hands of the Michigan Wolverines in the Big Ten championship. That loss and the surprising placement of Army as Maryland’s opponent has some believing that the Terrapins are vulnerable to the first-round upset.

The Opponent

The Black Knights in some ways resemble a familiar opponent – Rutgers. Like Rutgers, Army lacks scoring depth. Due to injuries across the lineup, the Black Knights feature just six double-digit scoring field players. Like Rutgers, the offense has two main initiators – junior Reese Burek (33g, 23a) and freshman Evan Plunkett (20g, 22a) – that are surrounded by complementary scoring pieces in Jacob Morin (32g, 6a), Paul Johnson (28g, 14a), Gunnar Fellows (17g, 6a), and Ryan Sposito (8g, 7a). Midfielder Bailey O’Connor (15g, 4a) has missed games due to injuries, which elevated Sposito into a prominent role.

The Black Knights’ offense ranks 31st in adjusted efficiency against a strength of schedule that ranked 32nd in the nation. The Black Knights score 13 goals a game, and they shoot at just under 30 percent, which ranks 32nd in the nation. For comparison, the Terrapins’ offense ranks 33rd in the nation against the second-strongest schedule in the nation. The Terrapins average 12 goals a game, and they shoot right at 30 percent on the year – good for 31st in the nation.

Maryland native Will Coletti (6g, 4a) has won 62 percent of faceoffs on the season. While he has not faced a gauntlet of FOGOs like Maryland’s Luke Wierman, Coletti has played relatively well against Lehigh’s Mike Sissleberger, considered a top-three FOGO in the country. In his two match-ups against Sissleberger, Coletti went 9-22 in a 12-10 early season win over Lehigh and 16-35 in a 19-13 win over Lehigh in the Patriot League semifinals.

Coletti’s work at the faceoff dot has Army’s faceoff efficiency as the fifth-best in the nation.

Army features two All-American caliber players on its defense. Goalie Knox Dent, a senior and first-year starter who is playing with a torn ACL, has saved 54 percent of the shots he’s faced this season. Dent, despite the knee injury, has great athleticism and regularly steals saves that make highlight reels.

Sophomore AJ Pilate earned the Patriot League’s ‘Defender of the Year’ award for his work during the…