COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Maryland fancies itself as attacking national champions, not the more traditional description as “defending champions.”

The Terrapins had to attack a whole lot in the second half to survive its NCAA tournament opener Sunday against Robert Morris.

Connor Kelly scored four goals and Dan Morris made 13 saves as the Terrapins overcame a shaky first half to earn a 14-11 victory. Maryland (13-3) will meet either Cornell or No. 8 seed Syracuse next Sunday in Annapolis, Md.

“It certainly wasn’t pretty in the first half,” Maryland coach Tillman said. “Robert Morris was a team that everybody I talked to said glowing things about them. You turn on the tape, and it was no different. They were exactly what we expected. Just a real tough team, athletic, dangerous, skilled, very competitive and tough. It took everything we had to come back and get a big win.”

Jimmy Perkins scored three goals for the Colonials (13-5), who were attempting to become the first team to upend a No. 1 seed in the first round of the tournament in its 16-team era (since 2003).

“These guys certainly proved themselves that they can compete with the best,” Robert Morris coach Andrew McMinn said. “People probably thought the team coming out of this game — meaning Maryland — would end up going on to compete for the national championship again. For us to be in the position that it could have been us to knock them off and take their seed moving forward, hats off to these guys for the work they’ve done.”

It was the end of a riveting nine-day stretch for the Colonials, who earned their first NCAA tournament trip in the program’s 14-season history when it edged Saint Joseph’s in overtime to claim the Northeast Conference title on May 5. A night later, the NCAA’s cost-containment demands led to a play-in date with Canisius rather than a more appropriate direct placement into the round of 16.

The Colonials shrugged that off, dusting off Canisius 12-6 before throwing a credible scare into the tournament’s No. 1 seed.
Robert Morris was masterful in the first half, giving Maryland a dose of the strategy the Terrapins used earlier in Tillman’s tenure to make a pair of national title games as an unseeded team. The Colonials dominated possession, providing plenty of protection for Reynolds.

Maryland maintained possession for barely more than four minutes in the first quarter, while Robert Morris peppered Morris with shots over the first 30 minutes. The Colonials built a 4-1 lead, saw Maryland work to close within 4-3 and then scored twice in a six-second span to get the advantage back to 6-3 at the break.

HALFTIME: @RMUMLacrosse 6, @TerpsMLax 3. You read that right. Bobby Mo three-goal advantage courtesy of a #PoleGoal pic.twitter.com/frEPLz7TF4

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) May 13, 2018

The margin could have been even larger were it not for Morris’ 11 saves in the first half. Meanwhile, Robert Morris backup goalie Chris Reynolds — making his second consecutive start in place of injured all-NEC goalie Alex Heger — faced only six shots on goal in the first half.

It marked only the second time since the tournament expanded to 16 in 2003 that the No. 1 seed trailed at halftime of a first-round game. Notre Dame rallied from a goal down at the break to beat Towson 12-10 in its 2015 tournament opener.

“We just preached to the guys there was a lot of game left,” Tillman said. “What the seniors were talking about and their approach to things was there was a lot of time left, a lot of lacrosse to be played. Just make the next play and be positive. Don’t let the first half impact the second half.”

The Terps didn’t. Roman Puglise scored less than a minute into the third quarter in transition for his first career goal. Kelly delivered a pair of goals in a 22-second span. And redshirt freshman Anthony DeMaio, who entered the day with three assists in 15 games, provided the feed on three goals in a little more than five minutes.

Within eight minutes, Maryland had reclaimed the lead for good.

“I don’t think there was any frustration whatsoever,” Kelly said. “We have a calm, collected group. We just had to bring it together. … That’s the first round. You see a bunch of the games yesterday. They’re neck and neck and people go on runs. Credit to Robert Morris. They’re a great team, top to bottom. They’re a stout team on defense, but I thought we did a great job of answering.”

Kelly, a Tewaaraton finalist, managed just a transition goal in the first half as he was contained by Zachary Bryant, the Colonials’ superb senior defenseman. But he made an impact after the break and bumped his season goals total to 44, tied for the fifth most in a single season by a Terp.

“He’s a good player,” Bryant said. “In that first half, I thought we were shutting him down, but he started moving more off-ball and he was finding lanes and just getting open for that time-and-room shot.

Much of Robert Morris’ undoing stemmed from the end of its possession advantage. Maryland held considerable advantages in faceoffs (14-4) and groundballs (22-9) after the break.

“I think the biggest swing was just looking at that stat, specifically” McMinn said. “We ended up losing the GB battle pretty significantly. Faceoffs played into that as well.”

Ultimately, it was enough for Maryland to squeak through a round that’s rarely easy for it. It squeaked past Lehigh on the road in 2012, was blasted by Cornell in 2013, needed fourth-quarter rallies to slip past Cornell (2014) and Yale (2015) as prelude to final four runs and needed pushes in the second half to finish off Quinnipiac (2016) and Bryant (2017) the last two years.

It’s a habit Tillman would like to see end, but it might stem from playing the first round in the middle of final exams. That won’t be a problem moving forward for the Terps.

Nor will Robert Morris, which created more than enough headaches for Maryland to last a full postseason.

“No excuses,” Tillman said. “You have to play the way you play. It’s a little bit of a different vibe that you have to fight through in that first round. This is definitely a really good team, and everyone that told me they were terrific, they were 100 percent on.”