On the Run - Week 1

Welcome to On the Run. Here's what you need to know about what happened this weekend in college lacrosse, plus some little things that I loved. Quick and easy to read while you're on the run!

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👀 The Headliner: Maryland Survives Loyola

The storyline that stole the show this weekend.

It wasn’t pretty, but the Terrapins came out of Baltimore with an overtime win against Loyola.

Matthew Keegan was the hero, scoring the overtime winner about a minute into the overtime period.

Using a zone defense, and stout goalie play from junior Max Watkinson, the Greyhounds led 5-2 heading into the 4th quarter before four straight goals from the Terrapins gave them the lead.

Redshirt freshman Kenan Everhart tied the game up with two seconds left, attacking to his right hand out of the timeout.

In overtime, it only took one possession as George Stamos picked up a huge groundball off the wing before Keegan took matters into his own hands.

I wouldn’t put too much weight into this game if I’m the Terps. Was it ugly? Yes, but the Greyhounds always give Maryland fits when playing at Ridley (one of the best atmospheres in lacrosse).

While an 8-7 OT game isn’t exactly a thriller, you could feel the shifting energy after the big run by Maryland at the start of the 4th quarter and it turned into a must watch.

Loyola may lack the talent they’ve had in years past, but they’re never an easy out. Maryland was favored big coming into this game, but you can throw a lot of that out the window when playing in a home state rivalry.

This is a much needed game for both teams. This will help Maryland in the long run, as they need to work on some things (ie: zone offense) to tune up before conference play while the Greyhounds proved to themselves that this 2025 team is capable of hanging with a top 5 team.

 🤝 The Supporting Cast

The things that weren't maybe the star of the weekend, but still important.

1. North Carolina Blows Out Michigan 15-6

The Heels were an easy pick as a team that would perform better than last season.

Owen Duffy was one of my picks to be a Tewaaraton finalist, and he started the season hot with 6 points (4G, 2A).

Matching up against a PLL caliber defenseman in Michigan’s Pace Billings, Duffy had no problem getting to his right hand and scoring topside, his best move.

I have a feeling if you ask any defender in college who the toughest cover in all of college lacrosse is, they’ll be some that say Duffy with his combination of speed, strength and shooting ability when curling to his right hand.

Dom Pietramala also had four goals. He’s a great compliment to Duffy as a high-volume lefty shooter that will only get better as his career progresses in Chapel Hill.

James Matan, Ty English, Dewey Egan and transfers Spencer Wirtheim and Nick Dupuis will be big parts of this offense, but if UNC can get meaningful contributions from freshman midfielders Caden Harsbarger and Mason Szewczyk like they did on Saturday, this offense could be sneakily very good in a competitive ACC.

We knew the Tar Heels would likely be able to score goals; the biggest concern still was the defense. That got amplified when they lost top coverman Peter Thommen to a season-ending injury in last week’s scrimmage against Delaware.

But UNC’s defense not only held up, they no problems with the Wolverines on Saturday.

Princeton grad transfer Michael Gianforcaro had 12 saves his Tar Heel debut while I like what I saw out of the SSDM’s. Sophmore Brady Wambach is an ascending faceoff man in the ACC.

I’m a little concerned with Michigan, particularily if they can get consistent scoring production from their midfield. But I feel like we say this every year and then the Wolverines make a run and end up winning the Big Ten tournament, so for that reason they’ll probably be okay.

2. Johns Hopkins Starts 3-0

Johns Hopkins is just a good all around team.

The offense has two good midfield lines and a great attack unit. I do think they would benefit by making sophomore Jimmy Ayers on the starting attack line, as they’ve had a little inconsistency there early.

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Defensively, Luke Staudt has been solid between the pipes early while Scott Smith is a surefire PLL pick, but it’s the secondary guys like UMBC transfer Colby Weishaar and SSDM’s Pat Hackler and Reece DiCicco that have been crucial to this Blue Jay defense early on.

Logan Callahan will get you about 50% of the draws every game while freshman Joe Hobot will only keep improving.

I praised Georgetown’s freshman last week, particularly the offensive players, but they showed their lack of experience in this one. It was a rough game for the offense, shooting 17%. They couldn’t draw slides from the midfield, and that’s going to be a problem for the Hoya offense until that gets solved.

3. Delaware Beats Utah in a Thriller

A three minute non-releaseable penalty called on Delaware’s faceoff man to end the game. Didn’t matter for the Blue Hens.

Freshman Bennett Parmer split a double team to score the winner with less than a minute left in a game that had everything.

What I took away from this game is that Utah and Delaware are more than capable of upsetting a team in the first round of the NCAA tournament if they win their conferences (which can easily happen). I talked about the Utes last week, but I love what they have going offensively with their star Ryan Stines, freshman Ryan McNamara and Vermont transfer Jonas Hunter at attack while I’ve been particularly impressed with sophomore midfielder Cade Faulkner.

He made this low-angle twister look easy, pinging the far pipe.

As for the victorious Blue Hens, I thought it could be tough sledding for the offense early on after graduating JP Ward and Mike Robinson, but Yale transfer Cory Capri, Parmer and Brendan Powers look to be a dangerous attack line early on. Factor in the return of Jason Kolar from injury, John McCurry ascending in his sophomore season and a transfer from Merrimack in Jack Kolbe, and the Blue Hens got something cooking offensively.

I’ve said before that Utah goalie Colin Lenskold is one of the most unheralded goalies in the nation, but so is Delaware’s Kevin Ellington, who made 15 saves in the victory.

🎯 Quick Hits

The weekend's standout plays, hustle moments, and everything in between.

1. Another Hunter Chauvette Goal

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2. Another Ty Banks Slide

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3. Another Syracuse Highlight Reel Goal

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📈 On the Rise

Spotlighting players and teams who are setting themselves up for big things ahead.

1. Virginia’s Truitt Sunderland

Sunderland nearly doubled his points from last season in his first game in 2025 with 9 points (6G, 3A).

A very highly recruited attackman out of Baltimore, this is the first year Sunderland is one of the stars of the offense after sitting behind many talented players. Sunderland capitalized on his many opportunities against Colgate, scoring goals on the interior, making things happen in the 10-man ride and being a feeder from behind the net.

While Sunderland is a terrific inside finisher, he’s also a capable dodger and feeder. We’ll see him in a variety of roles this season. He had six goals today, but he could easily have a game with six assists.

2. VMI Keydets

Playing at Washington and Lee, it’s been cool to see the rise of VMI in the past few years. Scrimmaging them every year, they’ve gotten better and better and were this close to knocking off High Point on Saturday.

Losing in overtime sucks, but it confirms preseason hype that VMI has their best team in years. Luke Rusterucci is one of six returning players in the nation that 30 goals/30 assists in 2024. Wil Duffy is a big time lefty shooter. Austin English is a crafty midfielder that had 22 goals last season. Dayton Bagwell has 9 goals in two games in 2025. Goalie Damian Levin had 20 saves in this contest.

The Keydets are not to be taken lightly in 2025.

3. Stony Brook

What a great win for Stony Brook knocking off Rutgers.

While Rutgers isn’t the same team they were in years past, it’s still an awesome result for the Seawolves. Jamison MacLachlan made 13 saves. Ray O’Brien is a Hampden-Sydney transfer that notched two goals while Vermont transfer Carson Boyle had three, including this backhand from deep.

Freshman Tanner Williams had three points (2G, 1A) while Justin Bonacci is a righty off-ball scorer that bears some resemblance to former Lehigh/Michigan attacker Justin Tiernan with both the way he plays and his number.

It remains to be seen how Stony Brook will fare in the CAA, but this is an early result that should not be overlooked.

4. Duke’s Attack Unit

A completely new unit from 2024, but I’m not seeing any drop off in production yet. I might be speaking too early, as Duke is no where close to hitting the tough part of their schedule, but it’s hard not to be optimistic about where this offense could go.

Maryland transfer Eric Malever is a really good X attacker that can feed, dodge and finish with either hand. Richmond transfer Luke Grayum is a proven goal scorer and feeder on the left side while freshman Liam Kershis is a burst of energy and has some serious quickness to his game.

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5. Army’s Brayden Fountain, Aiden Weisenborn

Combining for 6 goals in their debuts, Fountain and Weisenborn are two lefty freshman that add more firepower to an already great Black Knight offense that features Jackson Eicher and Evan Plunkett.

⚡️BYOE: Bring Your Own Energy

Plays and highlights that got me fired up.

1. Maryland’s 4th Quarter Run

There might not be anything better in lacrosse than a late comeback. The energy is palpable from on the field, to the bench, and through the TV screen.

Led by Eric Spanos’ hat trick, the Terps brought their own energy in the final frame, rallying back from a sluggish start to steal a win.

2. Behind the Back Feeds

What’s better than a BTB goal? A BTB feed!

3. Goals Against the 10-Man Ride

What’s better than a BTB feed? Launching a shot from midfield and hitting the back of the net.

4. Matt Traynor Low to High

Good at lacrosse.

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition of On the Run and be sure to subscribe!