About three weeks ago, the Terrapin men’s lacrosse team had been in this same situation, facing Virginia, the top team in the ACC, at Byrd Stadium.
Although the start of the ACC Championship game seemed near opposite the regular season meeting, the outcome didn’t change. For the second time this season, the Cavaliers topped the Terps, this time 10-6 and denying their hosts their first ACC Championship since 2005.
In their first meeting April 3, the Terps fell into a deep first-quarter hole they couldn’t overcome despite a furious comeback in a one-goal loss. So going into yesterday’s conference title game against the No. 2 Cavaliers, the No. 4 Terps wanted to ensure this match would end differently. Unsurprisingly, they made getting out to a fast start a top priority.
And in the first eight minutes yesterday, they did just that, jumping out to a three-goal lead.
But the script quickly reversed to Virginia dominance. The Cavaliers outscored the Terps by seven goals through the rest of the game while goalie Adam Ghitelman, who earned Most Valuable Player honors, notched four times the number of saves he had in his earlier game against the Terps.
“The last time, all the other stats were in their favor, but we had 16 saves, and they had four,” coach Dave Cottle said. “This time, it was reverse, and that’s how far away we are right now.”
Ghitelman turned his performance around completely from his struggles in the last game, making 16 saves to just six for Terps’ goalie Brian Phipps. During a game in which the Terps thoroughly outshot the Cavaliers, Ghitelman’s play provided the Cavaliers the edge they needed.
“I think we were sticking to our game plan. I think it just comes down to we weren’t shooting the ball very well,” attackman Grant Catalino said. “You’ve got to give credit to their defense and their goaltending. We were making some good shots, we were beating their guys, we were drawing slides, but we just couldn’t finish the ball today.”
Early on, the Terps came out firing, seemingly poised to continue the dominance they displayed in Friday’s 13-5 semifinal victory against No. 3 North Carolina. But despite giving up three early scores, Ghitelman remained unrattled.
“A team like Maryland is going to get good shots, and they’re going to score,” Ghitelman said. “You’ve got to know that. I just made sure to keep my focus after that quick three-goal spurt in the beginning.”
Virginia reeled off a 4-0 run after that, largely buoyed by Ghitelman’s play in net. In one 30-second stretch, the Terps fired four times at Ghitelman. Two veered wide, while Ghitelman stopped the two others, including a final save that set up a Virginia fast break to take their first lead of the game, 4-3.
“When we’re not scoring goals, that’s not good for our team,” Catalino said. “So when he gets on those runs, we’ve just got to stick one and hopefully move the momentum to our side instead of his side.”
But the Terps could not. The absence of attackman Will Yeatman, who sat out with a mild concussion, disrupted their offensive plans.
The 6-foot-6, 250-pound attackman led the Terps with a career-high four goals against Virginia in the regular season, matching up against star Virginia defender Ken Clausen and helping set up goals from behind the cage. Without Yeatman, Clausen focused his energy on smaller attackmen Travis Reed and Ryan Young, who had just one point between them.
The Terps also had to change their shooting strategy against the white-hot Ghitelman. Against the Tar Heels on Friday and against Virginia in the regular season, the Terps often aimed low on goal. But Ghitelman quickly forced them to scrap that approach.
“At the end, I think we had to change it up to high, and by that time, it was too late,” Cottle said. “I thought he took away low a little bit because we had such success the first game. We had to shoot the ball to some different spots, and we missed the cage.”
Down 8-5 to start the fourth quarter, the Terps still had a chance at a comeback. Against the Cavaliers in the regular season, the Terps caught fire late, converting more than half of their shots on Ghitelman in the fourth quarter to come within one controversial call of tying the game.
Yesterday, though, they fizzled out. While the Terps outshot their opponents 12-3 in the fourth quarter, they were outscored 2-1, sealing a fate they’d already endured this season.
kyanchulis@umdbk.com
