Maryland can’t keep up in loss to Virginia
COLLEGE PARK — When the game had ended and No. 3 Virginia men’s lacrosse had beaten No. 5 Maryland, 14-10, in front of 7,845 fans at SECU Stadium, there was only one logical conclusion: The Cavaliers had too much offensive firepower for the Terps to slow down, much less control.
Virginia midfielder Griffin Schutz finished with four goals and two assists and attackman McCabe Millon (McDonogh) had three goals. But the Cavaliers also have senior attackman Connor Shellenberger, who had two goals and an assist.
The only Terps defender who could keep pace with Shellenberger was senior Ajax Zappitello, but Virginia used a bunch of picks and screens to free up Shellenberger, who dominated Maryland’s other defenders.
Senior attackmen Eric Malever and Daniel Kelly, graduate student midfielder Ryan Siracusa and junior midfielder Eric Spanos led the Terps with two goals apiece, and Spanos added two assists. But lacrosse is a game of spurts, and Maryland (5-2) couldn’t keep up.
“I think it definitely impacts the game, and riding momentum is very important,” Spanos said. “I think one of the things for us going forward is that if the defense makes a stop against an offense like that, we go down and put one in the back of the net and ride the momentum. That would be huge for us.”
Cutting back on the turnovers would help, too. Maryland had 16 and Virginia only had eight. It’s hard to beat a strong offensive team like the Cavaliers (6-1) when they keep getting the ball back, especially with a deliberate, methodical offense like Maryland’s.
The Terps, though, kept the game close because they have a dominant faceoff specialist in Luke Wierman, who won six of seven in the fourth quarter.
Virginia, on goals from Millon and Shellenberger in the final 6:57, had an 11-7 lead at the end of the third quarter and took a 12-7 advantage on midfielder Chase Yager’s goal with 13:27 left in the fourth.
The Terps pulled within 12-10 after Kelly caught the carom of his own shot and deposited it for a goal with 11:04 remaining. But Virginia midfielder Luke Pisani beat short-stick midfielder Jackson Canfield down the right alley for a goal with 8:11 remaining, and senior attackman Payton Comier got past defender Nick Redd for a goal to virtually seal the win for Virginia with 4:18 left.
“Limiting turnovers would definitely help us,” Spanos said. “We got a lot to work on. We’ll just come back Monday, and go back to work. It’s one game at a time and I think our coaches will put us in a position to help us.”
Maryland scored within the first three minutes of the game as Spanos beat midfielder Noah Chizmar from behind the net, but Virginia attackman Ryan Colsey tied the score at 1 off an extra-man situation nearly three minutes later.
Spanos, at 6 feet 5 and 220 pounds, took advantage of the smaller Yager from behind net again by scoring off a ricochet that hit the inside pipe to put Maryland up 2-1 with 8:40 left in the first quarter.
But Virginia scored three straight goals, including two from Schutz, in the final 5:12 of the quarter to take a 4-2 lead.
The Cavaliers scored the first two goals of the second quarter, including a 10-yard shuffle shot from Schutz with 7:55 left as Virginia went ahead 6-2. The Terps looked sluggish at that point, but then went on their own three-goal scoring spree, including one each from Kelly and Sircausa, to pull the Terps within 6-5 with 3:48 left.
Both of those shots were from the left of the net and basically in the same area as both Kelly and Sircausa twisted and turned defenders with identical moves. Virginia, after a poor pass from Terps goalie Logan McNaney (10 saves), scored off a fastbreak on a shot by Griffin Kology with 2:49 remaining as the Cavaliers went into halftime with a 7-5 lead.
Division I men UMBC 13, Bryant 12, OT:
The host Retrievers (2-3) closed out the game on a 4-0 run to beat the Bulldogs (4-3) on Saturday. Jordan Galloway scored two of his game-high five goals during the run, including the tying goal with 3:29 left in regulation. Nick Gutierrez (Archbishop Spalding) scored the game-winner and his second goal of the game, with 12 seconds left in overtime. The win halted a two-game slide.
Towson 16, Drexel 11: The visiting Tigers (5-3, 1-0 Colonial Athletic Association) trailed 11-10 and scored the last six goals of the game to surge ahead of the Dragons (3-4, 0-1) on Saturday. Towson was led by Josh Webber (Calvert Hall) with five goals and Alex Roussel with three goals. Zach Augustine had four goals for Drexel.
Boston U. 12, Loyola Maryland 10:
A slow start hampered the host Greyhounds (2-6, 0-2 Patriot League) despite a 3-0 run to close out the score. The Terriers (5-2, 2-1) opened with a 4-0 run and led 7-3 in the first half. Matthew Minicus had three goals for Loyola.
Long Island 13, Mount St. Mary’s 6:
The host Sharks (5-1) used a 4-0 run in the first half to hold off the Mount (0-8) on Saturday. Long Island was led by Ben McIsaac and Tom von Bargen with four goals each. Brody Atkinson (St. Paul’s) and Will McKay each scored twice for Mount St. Mary’s.
Navy 10, No. 7 Johns Hopkins 9, OT:
Max Hewitt scored the game-winner with 3:16 left in overtime and the visiting Mids (4-3) upset the Blue Jays (5-3) on Friday. Hopkins’ Johnathan Peshko scored the tying goal assisted by Jacob Angelus with 2:46 left in regulation to force overtime. Navy was led by Dane Swanson (McDonogh) with a hat trick and Henry Tolker (Loyola Blakefield) with two goals. Garrett Degnan scored three goals and Hunter Chauvette scored twice for the Blue Jays.
Division I women No. 1 Northwestern 14, No. 12 Johns Hopkins 9:
The Izzy Scane had a natural hat trick to start a 6-0 run and the host Wildcats (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) beat the Blue Jays (7-3, 0-1), Scane led all scorers with seven goals and Madison Taylor had four goals. Ava Angello had a hat trick for Hopkins. The loss halted a fourgame winning streak.
No. 3 Maryland 12, Ohio State 6:
The visiting Terps (7-1, 1-0 Big
Ten) used a 5-0 run to hold off a late rally by the Buckeyes (6-3, 0-2) on Saturday. Kori Edmondson (McDonogh) and Hannah Leubecker each scored three goals for Maryland. Emily Sterling (John Carroll) made six saves for the Terps.
No. 5 Loyola Maryland 14, Army West Point 13:
Chase Boyle scored her fifth goal with 14:30 left in the game for a two-goal lead and the visiting Greyhounds (7-0, 1-0 Patriot) held off the Black Knights (2-6, 0-1) to win on Saturday. Loyola built a 10-5 lead in the first half. Allison Reilly had five goals for Army.
No. 11 Stony Brook 11, Towson 8:
The host Tigers (2-5, 0-1 Colonial) went on a 3-0 run and tied the score before the Seawolves (6-2, 1-0) answered with a 3-0 run to finish the game on Saturday. Towson’s Lindsey Marshall (Catonsville) had a hat trick and scored the tying goal, 8-8, with 12:02 left in the game. Ellie Masera had four goals for Stony Brook.
No. 18 Navy 19, Colgate 7: The visiting Mids (7-1, 1-0 Patriot) opened with a 4-0 run and never trailed the Raiders (0-8, 0-2) on Saturday. Tori DiCarlo scored four goals and Lola Leone, Emily Messinese (Gerstell Academy) and Anna Gotterup each had three goals for Navy. Felicia Giglio had eight saves of the Mids.
Bryant 15, UMBC 10: The host Bulldogs (6-3, 1-0 America East) broke a 9-9 tie with a 6-1 run in the fourth quarter to beat the Retrievers (5-4, 0-1) on Saturday. Scorers for UMBC were Grace Bruce (Century) with four goals and Kolby Weedon (Catonsville) and Katana Nelson each with three goals. Kenna Kaut had a game-high five goals for Bryant.