Vikings’ D-I breakthrough
Cleveland State capped its first year of lacrosse with a performance that could provide a lift well into the offseason.
The Vikings (5-9) earned their first victory over a Division I team on Saturday, thumping Detroit 13-6 behind three goals apiece from freshmen Stephen Masi and Nick Wendel and freshman goalie Caleb Espinoza’s 13 saves.
“The kids stayed committed and stayed true to their purpose and why they wanted to be here throughout,” coach Dylan Sheridan said. “To me, that was going to be a challenge given of schedule. I knew it would be difficult to come up with wins. They never lost their focus or commitment level, and they were able to get the payoff at the end.”
Cleveland State played as an independent, winning its four games against non-Division I competition. Ultimately, fielding a roster of almost entirely freshmen meant this year was about creating a sustainable foundation for the program.
The Vikings’ biggest long-term priority, finding a conference and gaining access to the NCAA tournament, is obvious enough. But they have some intrigue as a team in a growing lacrosse market. Cleveland State sold out its first four home games, engaging with the Ohio City Lacrosse Initiative and the Urban Community School to generate local enthusiasm for the program.
Sheridan said the Vikings will again face Michigan, Ohio State and Penn State and participate in the Pioneer Classic at Denver next season. A visit from Duke is another highlight in 2018 as Cleveland State continues its growth.
“The potential here is limitless in terms of dedicating time and effort,” Sheridan said. “There was so much we had to work on. Now, our kids know what the expectations are.”
Terps back on schedule
Maryland didn’t need much time to remove any drama from its rivalry rout of Johns Hopkins on Saturday, scoring the first eight goals in a 12-5 triumph.
It was as energized as the Terrapins (10-3) have looked since an April 8 defeat of Penn State, and for good reason. That game was the beginning of a stretch of three games in nine days, with visits to Albany and Rutgers following. Maryland won both of those, the latter in triple overtime, but then fell by a goal at Ohio State on a shortened week without attackman Colin Heacock.
“We’ve been just kind of managing,” coach John Tillman said. “I felt like we’ve been a little lethargic, and this week we went hard for two hours every day. The kids loved it, it was upbeat and competitive but it really got us playing at a faster pace.”
Maryland has another abbreviated week as it heads into the Big Ten tournament, but so do the other three teams in the event. The Terps tightened up plenty against Hopkins, looking a step faster than the Blue Jays throughout the first half.
One area remains a concern: Faceoffs, where the Terps are just 35 of 101 (34.7 percent) over their last four games.
“If we don’t keep working at that, this will just be kind of a short-term success,” Tillman said.