While Maryland’s offense was firing on all cylinders late, it wouldn’t have happened without the play of Shockey and sophomore goalkeeper Chris Brandau.
After losing eight of the first 10 at the dot to Kyle Gallagher, Shockey battled back to finish almost even at 17-for-35. The Terps won five of seven faceoffs in the fourth quarter, making an adjustment to get the wings involved instead of having Shockey try to win it clean.
“It wasn’t always clean, but there were a lot of hustle plays in the middle of the field,” Tillman said. “Justin Shockey, statistically, maybe not great, but I thought the most impactful game he’s played year. Just his effort, keeping the ball and getting it loose…As the game got going, we made plays and seized momentum.”
Brandau made a critical save on a two-man up opportunity for Penn with 9:56 left, which helped set the tone for the comeback. After allowing a goal to Sean Lulley with 7:56 left, Brandau, the transfer from Georgetown, saved Penn’s last 10 shots on goal to finish with a career-high 19 saves.
It was a different story for the first 38 minutes, when Penn built a lead and stayed in control. Though Maryland jumped out to a 2-1 lead following a goal from Sam Handley 42 seconds into the game, Penn quickly jumped back out in front. Lulley, Bartolo and Drew Robshaw each had goals over the next few minutes to put the Quakers back in front.
Bernhardt answered back with his first goal of the game to tie it, but Gallagher’s strong early performance gave Penn a possession advantage and allowed it to find holes in the Maryland defense. The Quakers led by as many as four goals in the first half, before leading 12-9 at halftime.
After losing several key players from last year, Penn had seven players score and eight record a point in its opener. Lulley led the Quakers with four goals and two assists, and Dylan Gergar and Handley each had a hat trick and two assists. Adam Gardner, who led Penn with 56 goals in 2019, had two third-quarter goals to go along with two assists.
On defense, sophomore long-stick midfielder BJ Farrare led the way and Virginia transfer Patrick Burkinshaw got the start in goal. Burkinshaw made seven saves in the first half, but just two in the second.
As for Maryland, Tillman knows his team has plenty of playmakers. It’s just about putting it together so that improbable comebacks don’t become the norm.
“We just have to get back to work,” Tillman said. “Whatever it takes right now is what we need to do. Beating good teams like the ones we’re playing is not easy. The key is when things aren’t going well, we have to handle that better.”