COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Ohio State’s offense is starting to emerge from a seemingly season-long slumber — and just in time to vault the Buckeyes back into the NCAA tournament conversation.

Sure, Sunday’s 12-10 victory at Maryland was easily the most noteworthy triumph in Ohio State’s uneven season. It was also the Buckeyes’ first encounter with the Terrapins since last season’s trilogy between the teams ended with Maryland celebrating after the national title game.

Postseasons past and future aside, this game was all about the Buckeyes’ present.

About how Ohio State (7-6, 2-2 Big Ten) capitalized on a 17-for-26 effort on faceoffs.

About how junior Jack Jasinski matched his season total for assists (five) while functioning as an exceptional conduit.

About how Colin Chell matched his career high with four goals and freshman Jackson Reid delivered three goals.

About how an offense that reached double figures only four times in a dozen games deposited 12 goals for the first time since Feb. 25, and did so with Tre Leclaire providing just one of them.

If the Buckeyes can summon a balanced and patient offense to complement its stingy defense, a spring spent muddling around .500 might be far from finished.

“We’ve seen it in practice. We took 44 shots versus the team up north last week, which was a season-high, so we felt like there was confidence from that,” coach Nick Myers said of a defeat of Michigan. “We only shot the ball 18 percent, but generating shots is where it starts, and generating scoring opportunities and getting looks. The fact of the matter is we have been doing that. …

“The message from us has been to continue to put snow on the roof. You have to keep shooting and keep hitting the cage.”

Also worth remembering: Regardless of the season, Myers’ teams are never short on feistiness. Ohio State had plenty for Maryland (10-2, 3-1), which Jasinski said crossed the 50-yard line into its half of the field during pregame warmups.

It was an act the Buckeyes did not take kindly to.

“We’re not scared of anybody,” Jasinski said. “We knew they were going to try to intimidate us. I don’t know if you were here pregame, but they tried to intimidate us. We stood our ground. ‘Hey, you’re not going to come in here and bully us.’ That was what we did on the first play of the game. Came down the field, one shot, one goal.”

Indeed, the most glaring part of the day for both teams was how they handled the opening minutes of both halves. The Buckeyes won the first three faceoffs of the game, scoring on each possession to prompt a Maryland timeout. The Terps would rally to take a 6-5 lead before Reid scored nine seconds before the break to tie it.

Ohio State then repeated itself, scoring three times before Maryland gained its first possession of the second half.

“We have to come out of the locker room with more energy,” Maryland midfielder Adam DiMillo said. “It was noticeable how they came out with a [3-0] run to start, and we took a breath and we got back on our feet. I’d say coming out at the first and after halftime, we have to come out with more energy. That just starts inside the locker room.”

SUNDAY FUN DAY: Both No. 1 and No. 2 go down. Led by Jack Jasinski (2G, 5A), @OhioState_MLAX upsets @TerpsMLax 12-10 on #ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/39SY6EDWAf

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) April 22, 2018

Energy wasn’t a problem for Ohio State. Controlling faceoffs helped, with Justin Inacio going 17-for-26 while getting help from wings Freddy Freibott and Ryan Terefenko. Maryland, meanwhile, didn’t use primary faceoff man Justin Shockey until the second half.

But Ohio State has received solid faceoff play more often than not this season, and it hasn’t led to offensive outbursts. Credit some of that to Jasinski, who matched a career high with seven points and scored a game-sealing extra-man goal with 33 seconds remaining.

“My role has been the same all year — draw doubles, make the right play and move it to where it’s supposed to be,” Jasinski said. “Today, I just happened to have a lot of guys open in the middle. Looks were there and guys were putting it away.”

The Terps defeated Penn State and Rutgers by a goal the last two Sundays, but clearly weren’t at their sharpest. That was particularly true while converting just 8 of 13 clears against Rutgers while also committing seven penalties.

Maryland survived that game despite some missteps on defense. Ohio State wasn’t as forgiving, flummoxing the Terps with their frequent inverts.

“They’re not an overly complicated group; they haven’t been all year,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “They didn’t give us anything different than we practiced. I think we had some communication breakdowns, and if you don’t do a good job and you’re not buttoned up, they’re not afraid to jam it in there. Based on last week and what we did, I would jam it in there, too.”

As for the Buckeyes, bagging a win in what has quickly become a testy conference rivalry kept alive their hopes of making back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances for the first time since 2003-04. It also was the Ohio State senior class’ 42nd victory, surpassing the 2017 group for the most in school history.

Win No. 43 — against Rutgers on Saturday — would get the Buckeyes back into the Big Ten tournament and provide a chance to create greater havoc on May.

The record itself, though, was a feat not lost on Myers, whose program has thrived since the Big Ten added lacrosse in 2015.

“To know we have one game that’s really our fate [in our hands] to keep this band together is really all we’re focused on,” Myers said. “I shared that number with them today because I’m just that proud of them to know that they, in this era of Big Ten lacrosse, have done something that they can be really proud of.”