It is awfully simplistic to suggest Marc O’Rourke has served as an avatar for what Bryant’s men’s lacrosse program faced over the last six-plus months.

Yet it isn’t a stretch to reach that conclusion, either.

O’Rourke missed much of this season after being diagnosed with myocarditis related to a case of COVID-19 but returned to score 20 goals in the Bulldogs’ final four games. O’Rourke and Bryant won two road games in the Northeast Conference tournament last week and visit fourth-seeded Virginia (10-4) on Sunday.

Along the way, the Bulldogs (9-3) had three virus pauses, lost three players to season-ending knee injuries and dropped back-to-back games last month to Hobart and Saint Joseph’s to fall to 5-3.

But O’Rourke’s absence was probably the most massive variable.

The fourth-year junior, who began his career with back-to-back 30-goal seasons and had 26 goals in seven games last season, figures to be one of the top players in the NEC and an All-America contender. He scored seven goals in last year’s final game against North Carolina. He was well-positioned to help Bryant back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2017.

In September, he was tested positive for COVID-19. The next month, he was diagnosed with myocarditis, or the inflammation of the heart. Doctors told coach Mike Pressler that about 3 percent of all COVID positives developed the condition. O’Rourke was part of the unlucky 1 in 33.

“We absolutely got deflated immediately,” Pressler said. “There’s no timetable. It could be a month, two months, six months.”

There would be no on-field competition, no extensive exertion for O’Rourke, who initially hoped for an April 1 return. If there was any solace, it was the absence of any effects of the condition beyond being sidelined.

“I was able to do some light exercising, so I was walking a lot,” O’Rourke said. “At practice, I was shooting a little bit on the goalies and playing wall ball and staying somewhat active for what I could, but for the most part, I felt pretty good.”

O’Rourke acknowledged how challenging the experience was but believed his cardiologist was leading him in the right direction. And feeling well physically gave him reason to think he’d be back on the field before long.

Assuming Bryant could stay on the field. It lost one game in March. Then another on April 10 against Long Island, which did more than create a postponement. It put the Bulldogs’ season in the cross hairs of public health officials.

“After our third pause, we were one positive test away from being shut down by the Rhode Island Department of Health,” Pressler said. “That’s where we were a month or so ago. Our goals changed. It wasn’t game to game. It wasn’t day to day. It was minute to minute.”

Bryant returned a week later but was shelled 13-5 at Saint Joseph’s, then in the midst of a nine-game winning streak.

The Bulldogs haven’t lost since, in part because the next week was their best off the field in a long while. O’Rourke had an implantable loop recorder — a device that constantly monitors his heart activity and sends the data to his doctors — placed in his left pectoral muscle. He was cleared to practice and to appear in games.

He made his season debut April 24 and had a lot to cram into his shortened season.

“Not necessarily making up [for lost time] — I was moreso concerned about how I was going to feel after playing,” O’Rourke said. “I hadn’t really done any exercise in a while. I was definitely sore. But for the most part, as soon as I got out there, it was like I never left.”

It’s exactly what Bryant needed, too.

“Boy did it change the world for Bryant lacrosse,” Pressler said. “He practiced for three days. He hadn’t practiced since October. He starts against Sacred Heart and has six goals. And we have never looked back since Marc O’Rourke’s return. Not only his play, but he has elevated everyone’s play, especially at the offensive end of the field.”

O’Rourke scored another six goals in a makeup game against Long Island to close the regular season, then he delivered a pair of four-goal outings as the Bulldogs paid back losses to Hobart and Saint Joseph’s in the conference tournament.

Without O’Rourke, Bryant was averaging a solid 12 goals but was only intermittently explosive. With him, the Bulldogs have posted 17.5 goals a game to secure their fifth NCAA berth since 2013 — and the chance to reach the quarterfinals for the first time since their first-round breakthrough against Syracuse in 2014.

“It was something we had set out to do from day one,” O’Rourke said. “We had a lot of fifth-year and sixth-year guys come back for that specific reason, to go through what we went through this year with the pauses and injuries and what not. We remained resilient the entire time, faced adversity head on. We stayed the course and ultimately got it done in the end. We’re looking forward to doing it again on Sunday.”

NUMBERS OF NOTE

9

Maryland is the first team in nine years to enter the NCAA tournament with an undefeated record. Prior to the third-seeded Terrapins, the last team to make it through the regular season without a loss was Massachusetts in 2012.

17

Rutgers’ 17-year gap between NCAA tournament appearances is tied for the third longest in the event’s history. Air Force went 26 years between appearances (1988-2014), Yale had a 20-year drought (1992-2012) and Air Force had another 17-year stretch (1971-1988).

18

Maryland is making its 18th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance, the third longest streak in the event’s half-century history. The Terrapins, who have made each tournament played since 2003, trail only Johns Hopkins’ 41-year streak (1972-2012) and Syracuse’s 24-year run (1983-2006).

60-8

Since the tournament expanded to 16 teams in 2003, top-four seeds are 60-8 in first round games. The most recent top-four seeds to lose were Denver (against Towson) and Yale (against Navy) in 2016.