‘Why not us?’: Michigan upsets Maryland, captures first Big Ten title

BALTIMORE — Step aside King Charles III, the Wolverines have taken the crown. 

The No. 15 Michigan men’s lacrosse team (9-6 overall, 2-3 Big Ten) dethroned the defending conference and national champions on Saturday, beating No. 7 Maryland (10-5 overall, 3-2 Big Ten) 14-5 to secure its first Big Ten Championship in program history.

“It’s pretty unbelievable,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said postgame. “I have a lot of respect for our seniors and graduate students … they believed, they stayed, they battled, and now we’re Big Ten champs. We have a saying back at home: ‘Those who stay will be champions.’ These guys are the epitome of that.” 

This historic win against Maryland demonstrates as much. From the moment the game began, the Wolverines looked hungry for the win. Just a few minutes into the first quarter, junior attacker Michael Boehm confidently cradled the ball down the right side of the field and fired it to the left corner of the cage, putting Michigan on the board first.

While the Terrapins would tie the game shortly thereafter, the Wolverines never looked panicked. With the game knotted at one, and a Maryland attacker coming down the wing, junior defender Jack Whitney delivered a clean stick check that poked the ball free and forced a Terrapins turnover. 

Michigan’s composure on defense was reflected by these forced turnovers in addition to the stellar play of freshman goalie Hunter Taylor. With 14 saves on the afternoon, Taylor delivered several key stops early in the contest that allowed Michigan to build a lead in the game. 

“This year’s purpose for our whole group was to build relationships, and create more avenues for these guys to be leaders,” Conry said. “… we handed the keys over around mid-year, and guys like (graduate attacker Bryce Clay), and (senior defender Andrew Darby) and our captains have carried the load. So it’s a real big credit to them and how they have embraced it.”

Saturday’s box score certainly echoed these sentiments. After scoring two goals in the first quarter, Clay completed the hat trick moments into the second quarter as he capitalized off of an extra man opportunity. 

Steamrolling his way to the net, Clay fell to the ground and snuck the ball past the Maryland goalkeeper to give the Wolverines a 6-3 advantage. Clay would go on to score another goal later on, giving him four goals in the game and 100 total points in his career. 

“I don’t think there was anyone outside of our group that thought we were going to win that game today,” Clay said. “But that’s fine. That’s how we get it done … there is a lot of belief in our guys and it’s a team effort out there, so that’s how we were successful today.” 

This belief, manifested in Clay’s tenacity and hunger to score, was seemingly infectious as other players followed suit. 

In fact, after the Terrapins scored in the second quarter to trim the lead to 6-4, Boehm scored two goals in four seconds and forced a Maryland timeout. Maize and blue-winged helmets bounced up and down in celebration as the game’s momentum shifted further in Michigan’s favor.

And Boehm didn’t stop there — he went on to score five total goals and later received the award for the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. 

Even as Maryland scored to start the second half of the game, the Wolverines kept to their game plan and remained eager to extend their lead.

This time it was senior attacker Josh Zawada leading the way, scoring off a quick cut to the inside. Zawada scored another goal with the extra man advantage to finish the third quarter, giving Michigan an 11-5 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. 

Although the Wolverines have had a hard time closing out games in the past, this matchup was different – much like this season as a whole. Michigan remained steadfast on defense throughout the fourth quarter, keeping the Terrapins off the scoresheet and adding two insurance tallies to achieve the dominant win. 

With the victory, the Wolverines have secured an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament — another first for the program. 

“The guys in our locker room, the guys in our support staff, we all bought in and we said ‘why not us?’ ” Clay said. “It’s win or go home. Why not come out here, put on a show and beat the Terps?”

It’s that belief that propelled Michigan to the historic Big Ten Championship win, earning the Wolverines a spot in the NCAA Tournament and a chance to make history once again.

If Michigan is able to sustain this belief and perform like it did Saturday, Big Ten royalty might just be the start.