Maryland Lacrosse: Men Lose No. 1 Spot to Syracuse, Women Take Care of Virginia in Home Opener
*All rankings are based on the USA Lacrosse Magazine (M) and (W) and Inside Lacrosse (M) and (W) Week 1 Polls
Both Maryland lacrosse squads entered this weekend with a ranked matchup in their sights, but only one came out victorious.
In a Friday night showdown in front of over 10,000 fans, the No. 1 Maryland Terrapins men's squad fell 11-9 in a tight contest to No. 2 Syracuse, who is sure to leapfrog the Terps into the nation's top spot.
Then on Saturday, Cathy Reese and the No. 7 women's team made their first game at SECU Stadium a memorable one, taking down No. 12/15 Virginia 17-9.
John Tillman's group fell behind early in Friday's battle for the No. 1 ranking. Leo Johnson started things off with his sixth goal of the season, but the early tally was soon erased by an Orange offensive onslaught.
Leo Johnson gets the Terps on the board first! #BeTheBest pic.twitter.com/7s0Vwc8NiX
— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) February 13, 2026
The Terps were trailing 7-4 at halftime and also losing the possession battle badly, with nine of 13 faceoffs going the other way.
While Henry Dodge later returned to form against John Mullen in the faceoff dot, the SU offense kept humming along with three more goals in the third quarter. Twice, Maryland made it a one-goal contest, and twice Syracuse responded in kind.
Joey Spallina finished the day with an SU team best four goals, while Jimmy McCool stood tall in net and stopped half of the 18 shots on goal.
On the Terps' side, Elijah Stobaugh scored his first career hat trick, and Johnson, Eric Spanos, and Braden Erksa all picked up two goals. Brian Ruppel saved 10 of 21 in net.
Back in College Park, WLAX put on a show for the home crowd of just under 1,500. Maryland opened with a 4-1 lead and expanded that margin to 10-6 at halftime.
Maryland scores 🔟 goals in the first half against Virginia 👊 pic.twitter.com/GvTDaGNeS5
— Big Ten Lacrosse (@B1GLacrosse) February 14, 2026
A three-goal outburst to start the third, which kicked off a six-out-of-seven run, effectively put the game away.
The Terrapins' scoring was spread around in droves. Kori Edmondson led the way with four goals, while Jordyn Lipkin and Keeley Block both had three goals and one assist.
Meanwhile, grad transfer Kristen Shanahan played the role of distributor, collecting six assists in addition to her lone goal. J.J. Suriano followed up her Big Ten Defensive POTW performance with nine more saves, picking up her 17th career win in the process.
Next up, MLAX (1-1) doesn't get a break as they return home to face Princeton (0-1), who was upset by Penn State after starting the year ranked No. 3. That game is Saturday at 12pm and will be streamed on B1G+.
The women's team (2-0) has a busy week ahead, with games at Georgetown (2-0) and Saint Joseph's (1-1) Wednesday at 7pm and Friday at 2pm, respectively. Both will be streamed on ESPN+.
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Mike joined Maryland On SI with over four years of sportswriting experience. He started off his career in Syracuse on the Orange football beat, where he was featured on CBS Sports' Cover 3 Podcast and local ESPN sports talk radio. After that, he had a brief stint reporting on Major League Baseball before returning to college sports.
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