#19 Men's Lacrosse Hosts #7 Maryland, 2:30 Today **(on BTN)**

#19-ranked men’s lacrosse is home today to host the #7 Maryland Terrapins in front of a sold-out crowd. Game is at 2:30 and will air on the Big Ten network. *[The State Street facility is sold out but the program’s ops director said they will be adding bleachers and admitting standing-room only to accommodate more fans.]*

Michigan’s season is at a precipitous turning point. The Wolverines were putting together a promising young season when things started to veer off-course against a plucky Harvard team two weeks ago. Then the St. Patrick’s Weekend Massacre last week at ND really blew it off course into dangerous territory. Now Re-Tourney Quest, Part II: The Sequel is in trouble. Not all is lost, but Michigan will have to win as many conference games as possible and then win at least a few in the conference tourney to get in. They may have to replicate last season’s late run. If they don’t win the B1G tournament/AQ, I would put their magic number at 5 total remaining wins for them to make a case for an at-large bid. 

Michigan also has on-field problems a-brewing that they seriously need to address if they’re going to have any chance. Their shooting, which was a problem in the Harvard game, did not improve vs the Irish. In the last two games, Michigan has taken 96(!) shots and scored…20 goals. That’s not good. They’re also experiencing some goalie troubles. Hunter Taylor hasn’t been his characteristic self; he only recorded 11 saves against Harvard and then had a very rough day at ND, giving up 17 goals compared to 7 saves before getting pulled for the 4th quarter. Michigan needs to improve significantly on both ends of the field-  and fast.

BUT, Michigan’s renaissance last year started with a shocking win against Maryland. They followed it up by running the Terps off the field in the B1G final a few weeks later. So, this could be a good matchup for Michigan and hopefully history repeats itself.

Maryland is 5-2 and like Michigan, suffered losses to ND and Virginia in which they did not look particularly sharp. The Terps still have athletes and guys who can score - Erksa, Siracusa, Spanos, etc. - but they no longer have the downright atomic offensive firepower they had during their incredibly dominant stretch from 2019 to 2022. On defense, Ajax Zapatello is one of the best longsticks in the country so it would be unwise for Michigan to challenge him (he’s also great at picking passes out of the air). 

There will be a lot of alumni in attendance so hopefully there's a great crowd/atmosphere there today.  GO BLUE!!

Thought I was out of Simpsons bits to reference…