No. 4 Virginia Lacrosse Rides Stout Defense to 14-10 Win at No. 5 Maryland

Pressure is a privilege, a mantra embraced within Virginia lacrosse.

After falling to Johns Hopkins two weeks ago, the pressure was on the Cavaliers to deliver a result against the Terrapins, who had defeated Virginia in their last three matchups.

On a beautiful Saturday in College Park, No. 4 Virginia (6-1) came to play, firing on all cylinders to defeat No. 5 Maryland (5-2) 14-10. In the fourth quarter, Maryland scored three straight goals to cut the lead to two with 11:04 remaining. In response, the Cavaliers clamped down defensively, shutting down a potent Maryland offense for the remainder of the game.

Despite Virginia winning the first faceoff, Maryland drew first blood with two goals from Eric Spanos in between a goal from Ryan Colsey on a man-up for the Cavaliers.

Virginia then erupted with a 4-0 run to gain a 5-2 lead early in the second quarter, with two goals coming from Griffin Schutz. The storyline in the opening stages was Anthony Ghobriel, who started 3/6 from the stripe, keeping Maryland’s Luke Wierman at bay.

In response, Maryland netted three straight goals before McCabe Millon scored off a Maryland clearance to give the Cavaliers a 7-5 lead at the half. The Terps were sloppy in the first half with nine turnovers, while Virginia kept it clean with only two.

Griffin Schutz led the way with three goals and an assist in the first half, using his dominant frame to bull-dodge past defenders.

In the second half, Schutz sparked an up-and-down scoring period, with both teams scoring two apiece, to make it 9-7.

After that, the Cavaliers rifled off three straight goals, bleeding into the fourth quarter, to stretch their advantage to five, their largest of the contest. During the run, Chase Yager scored a goal off a rebound for his first of the season. Yager finished with four ground balls and two caused turnovers, serving as a vital contributor to the Virginia defensive effort.

In the fourth, the Terrapins turned the tide with a three-goal run of their own, to make it 12-10 with 11:04 to go. The run was powered by Luke Wierman winning three of the first four faceoffs of the quarter.

It looked as if Maryland had climbed back into the game and was going to knock down the Cavaliers for a fourth straight time, but in response, freshman McCabe Millon, in his home state, fired an on-the-run shot past Logan McNaney to cut the bleeding. 

On the opposite side of the field, the Cavalier defense did not allow a goal for the final eleven minutes, stifling a prolific Terrapin offense. Then, with four minutes left, Payton Cormier backed down his defender and scored, giving Virginia a four-goal lead.

Virginia stood tall for the final minutes to knock off Maryland 14-10.

Griffin Schutz led the way with four goals and two assists, followed by Connor Shellenberger, who had two goals and one assist. In his matchup against Maryland’s Ajax Zappitello, Shellenberger was still impactful, using two-man games to get involved, which included a key goal he scored in the third quarter. McCabe Millon had two goals.

Defensively, Matthew Nunes had nine saves, three ground balls, and two caused turnovers, making an impact not just in the cage. Ben Wayer had five ground balls and two caused turnovers. Anthony Ghobriel was 11/22 at the faceoff x, keeping Luke Wierman at bay, a key reason for the Virginia victory.

Virginia will look to carry this momentum into their matchup against Albany on Tuesday, March 19th at 4 pm at Klockner Stadium.