With under three minutes to go in fourth period in the No. 19 Michigan men’s lacrosse team’s match against No. 7 Maryland Saturday, graduate attacker Justin Tiernan appeared to steal the show, scoring two late goals to secure the 12-11 victory.
But he didn’t work alone. Both of these goals were set up by an unsung hero of the Wolverines’ season so far, who delivered another quietly sublime performance: junior attacker Ryan Cohen.
“We call them igniters,” Michigan coach Kevin Conry said. “… He’s able to draw some slides and create some off-ball movement from them. So he sparks the offense.”
It took Cohen some time to light the spark, but when it did ignite, it burned bright.
Early in the game, the Wolverines’ offense was frustratingly inefficient. Michigan unsuccessfully tried to generate play through the center of the field, away from Cohen, as the Terrapins’ defense forced them out wide and suffocated play on the wings. But as the game progressed, the Wolverines managed to find more room for Cohen and the other wide players to operate, creating more attacks coming from the flanks. And from the outside in, the flame grew brighter and hotter.
“It was more of a team thing for me, where people are coming off the ball finding spots where I can get in, as well as riding the ball back,” Conry said.
As his teammates made darting runs down the flanks, Cohen thrived, filling space around the left flank and providing the passes that turned into scoring opportunities. And on one of these plays, Michigan won the game.
There were just under 90 seconds left on the clock, and the teams were deadlocked at 11-11 thanks to Tiernan’s equalizer. Overtime loomed — a troubling prospect for Michigan, given Maryland’s three overtime victories on the year.
But Cohen and Tiernan had other ideas. Cohen, positioned in his typical role on the left flank, received a pass, then turned so that his back faced the goal. From there, he quickly unloaded the ball to spark a quick cycle that prolonged the play, which Tiernan eventually capitalized on to score the game winner.
Though the stat sheet did not reflect Cohen’s contribution to the goal, it was his decisive pass that sparked the rally. He finished the game with a goal and four assists, and most importantly, a hard-fought upset victory.
“The play before I turned the ball over, but (Michigan assistant coach Scott Bieda) trusts all of us,” Cohen said. “He said, I want the ball on your stick for this play. It was kind of a designed play to do something like that. And I put in my stick (like he trained) me to do every day in practice … and took it in the net.”
The Wolverines’ match against Maryland was dictated by offense, and as such, the spotlight fell on Tiernan and his five goals. But Tiernan’s performance was in part the product of Cohen’s facilitating ability and quick passing. He played his part as an igniter perfectly, and the spark he lit grew into the fire that fueled Michigan’s victory.