EAST HARTFORD, Conn. — A hoard of Maryland men’s lacrosse players headed toward the crease, wearing grey “National Champions” shirts and rocking the black hat that said the same. Once the group reached its destination, they turned back toward the Terps’ bench and waited for the man of the moment.

Long-stick middie Justin Sherrer pointed a pair of scissors in the direction of Logan McNaney, the junior goalie who had just made 17 saves, including three in the final minutes, in Maryland’s narrow victory over Cornell in the national title game.

McNaney grabbed the scissors, stepped into the crease and began cutting down the nets of the cage he had given everything to protect.

“Yeah Logan!” screamed the crowd forming around him.

“Yeah, 30!” shouted some as he struggled to rip apart the nets for the first time.

McNaney had made 11 saves and allowed 17 goals in last year’s national championship game loss to Virginia. He returned one year to the date, making 17 saves and allowing just seven goals en route to Maryland’s second national title win in the last six seasons.

The All-American goalie made 36 combined saves in wins over Princeton and Cornell on the way to the NCAA championship, earning him Most Outstanding Player honors. McNaney tallied double-digit saves in nine of his final 10 games.

When the national title game got tense and the Maryland defense got tired, it was McNaney who came up big. He made three saves in the final six minutes to keep the Terps in the lead when Cornell brought a relentless attack and attempted to mount a comeback.

A stalwart all season long, McNaney gave Maryland plenty of confidence as it closed down an undefeated season.

“I know Brett [Makar] and those D guys, Logan, that’s the backbone of that defense,” said Anthony DeMaio, who had four goals in the win. “I knew that they were going to come up with stops.  Yeah, we were gassed, but we had so much faith in them.  I've seen those guys in the weight room and everything that they've invested, the 5:00 a.m. wake-ups and everything that they do.”

It wasn’t exactly McNaney’s dream to make 17 saves in the national championship game. As a child, he would have much rather scored the game-winning goal than try to stop it. The native of Corning, New York spent his time imagining scoring on Memorial Day.

“Going to some of the Final Four tournaments, watching it on TV, playing at camps, [I was] reenacting scoring the game-winning goal for the National Championship,” he said. “Turned out I played goalie, but seeing all the other teams do what they did and then going out there and doing it ourselves is pretty special to me.”

The 5-foot-8 Salisbury School product had plenty of doubters, mostly due to his size. However, Coach John Tillman saw a potential starter — and one that hailed from his hometown. Tillman made sure to reference the connection between the coach and recruit when pitching him on Maryland.

Corning, dubbed “America’s Most Fun Small Town,” just happened to boast a national champion coach and future national champion goalie.

“I was selling a lot of Corning stuff in the process, how close we are, and only five and a half hours [from Maryland],” Tillman joked. “… The first time I showed him around, he was like, ‘Coach, that school is kind of big, and our town is not the biggest town.’ But when he came back. we walked it together and he fell in love with the place, and his teammates fell in love with him.”

McNaney shouted out his hometown in the postgame press conference, and his coach smiled with pride.

“Growing up, I'm sure I could speak for all the guys on the team, even the coaches,” McNaney said before Tillman cut him off.

“Growing up where?” Tillman said.

“Corning, New York, baby,” his goalie answered.

After appearing in just two games his freshman season, McNaney earned the starting job for Maryland last season. Just like this year, McNaney was stellar, leading an unbeaten Maryland team to the national title game. Virginia dropped 17 goals on the Terps’ on Memorial Day last year, leaving McNaney and his team with plenty of motivation.

In 2022, McNaney dropped his goals-against average from 9.89 to 8.54. He improved his save percentage from 52 percent to nearly 60 percent during Maryland’s unbeaten season. When the games became more important, McNaney rose to the occasion.

The Terps’ goalie stopped over 60 percent of his shots in his final seven games, including a 70.9 save percentage in the NCAA tournament. Over Memorial Day weekend, he stopped 36 of the 50 shots on goal in victories over Princeton and Cornell, holding the two Ivy League powers to 15 total goals.

McNaney was locked in early for Maryland in the national title game, making six saves in the first quarter. He kept the Cornell offense at bay, and the Terps’ defense helped him by forcing low-percentage shots.

With four minutes left in the third quarter, McNaney almost made his childhood dreams come true. On the ride, he carried the ball past midfield and the crowd noise collectively rose as he streaked toward the Cornell defense.

He decided against taking it all the way, eventually turning the ball over on a pass that sailed too high for Owen Prybylski.

“[I was] pretty close,” he said about shooting. “I saw the Cornell goalie Chayse Ierlan. He was playing a man and a half with the goal, so I tossed it over.”

McNaney didn’t let the turnover phase him, stepping back into cage and making big stop after big stop down the stretch. He used his experience from the 2021 loss to Virginia to help him on Memorial Day — drilling home the basics.

“I knew going into the weekend that it was going to be challenging for the rest of the guys on the team with the heat, the hydration and all that, playing two games in three days,” he said. “We practiced that throughout the season. Just knew I had to come in, see ball, save ball.”

Mission accomplished.