CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – Daniel Kelly’s step-down shot fired past Matthew Nunes in the cage for the UVA Cavaliers, and the No. 4 Maryland Terrapins stormed Klockner Stadium as they defeated the previously unbeaten No. 1 Virginia 14-13 in an overtime thriller on March 18. The Terps looked as good as they had at any point this season early on against the top-ranked team in the country.
Virginia used a 5-1 second-quarter advantage to enter halftime up 6-4 after being down 3-0 early.
Maryland outscored UVA 6-3 in the third period with the help of a pair of goals from Jack Koras and Braden Erksa. Thomas McConvey found the back of the net – unassisted – with three seconds left in the third period to cut the Maryland lead to 10-9 heading into the fourth.
After Petey LaSalla, who was 50% on the day going 15-30 at the X, won the ensuing faceoff, McConvey ripped a shot that was placed perfectly in the upper corner to tie the game, 13-13, for the first time since the 5:20 mark in the third.
The showdown hosted 5,745 spectators, the most at a home UVA men’s lacrosse game since April 6, 2013, when the Cavaliers hosted North Carolina and had 6,787 spectators. The fans were treated to a terrific game but only the Maryland faithful went home happy.
In the overtime, Terps freshman goalie Brian Ruppel made three acrobatic game-saving stops in the cage to keep the Terps alive and regain possession. As Maryland flipped the field, junior attackman Daniel Kelly found an opening in Virginia’s defense and took advantage.
Virginia Coach Lars Tiffany was disappointed with the loss but optimistic in his team’s future.
“We’ve been fortunate to be very comfortable a lot of times by the time we get to the fourth quarter,” Tiffany said. “A lot of great things happened today. What a great lacrosse game. Obviously, it stings. It hurts. You get kicked in the gut when you lose it in overtime, but let’s not lose sight.”
Since that loss to Maryland, UVA has beaten Notre Dame and North Carolina, while also losing to Duke, who they visit for a rematch this Saturday, April 15 at noon. Maryland has beaten both Penn State and Ohio State, and lost to Michigan. They visit Rutgers on Sunday at 7 p.m.
