No. 7 Maryland men’s lacrosse’s veteran scoring reliance reaches historic levels

Despite the Terps landing consecutive highly-touted recruiting classes, those pieces have yet to live up to the billing.

Ford, a former five-star recruit and the top-ranked class of 2024 attackman, redshirted his first season in College Park. While he has seen the field in every game this year, Ford has only contributed six goals. He scored a brace in the Terps’ season-opener rout.

“For [Ford] to get out there and play and have some success, we’re all thrilled for him,” Tillman said. “I think his teammates love him because of the type of guy he is. You know what you’re getting from Spence every day.”

But that is nothing new for Tillman; freshmen rarely see the field and often opt to save eligibility with a redshirt. Of Maryland’s 12 recruits last season, just three received regular playing time. None were in the attacking unit.

Jonah Carrier slotted into the Terps’ faceoff committee and corralled the team’s second-most faceoff wins (75). Laake and Schultz were part of Maryland’s defense and midfield, respectively. Still, none of that trio ever earned a start.

This season, the Terps’ freshman class has been almost nonexistent.

Higgins, the No. 12-ranked freshman prospect, has carved out a role in Maryland’s everyday rotation. He has logged seven starts, but not in his typical attacking position. Higgins has shifted into the midfield instead to earn more playing time.

While his scoring production has taken a backseat — Higgins has just three goals this season — he has thrived setting up the Terps’ star attackers. Higgins’ seven assists are the fourth-most on the team and second-most by a freshman in the past decade.

“[Higgins] just plays well beyond his years,” Tillman said. “You put him with some older guys, it just seems like he’s able to assimilate very quickly. … Not everybody has that aptitude, but we saw it very early.”

Outside of Higgins, no other freshman from the nation’s fifth-best recruiting class has seen action in multiple games. Tillman has kept his rotation relatively the same even with the inconsistencies across Maryland’s different units, entrusting his veterans to right the ship.

The lack of breakout stars has left the Terps’ upperclassmen to shoulder the scoring load. It’s shown relative to the other elite programs.

Maryland’s inability to find a spark from younger players — its nearly 89 percent of goal production coming from upperclassmen is highest among ranked teams — has been a reason behind its offensive struggles. The Terps rank 42nd nationally in goals per game.

While Maryland is on a three-game winning streak, it’ll need someone outside Spanos and Johnson to have a late-season scoring surge. Outside of the Terps’ experienced players, Ford and Higgins are the likeliest breakout stars.