With less than two minutes remaining in overtime in the Terrapins men’s lacrosse team’s game at Ohio State on Saturday, Jay Carlson blew an opportunity to help the Terps cap a massive comeback.
After midfielder Joe LoCascio fired a wild shot, Carlson snatched the ball in midair and tried scoring with a behind-the-back effort. Instead of taking his time and finding a clean look, the attackman made an attempt that merely trickled to the sideline.
“I was like, ‘Run it out, run it out,’” Carlson said. “Or else I might’ve gotten some s— after the game.”
Less than a minute later, though, Carlson was buried under a dogpile of black jerseys as the hero who ensured the Terps clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season title. With 49 seconds remaining in overtime, Carlson wrapped around the cage and whipped a right-handed shot into the top-right corner of the goal, capping the team’s five-goal run in a 10-9 comeback win before an announced 21,064 at Ohio Stadium.
“Knowing that we can could go in here and get a win against a really good team, but also a team that was undefeated [in conference play], is really important for us,” coach John Tillman said. “They handled us for most of the game. Give credit where credit is due. For 56 minutes, they were in charge.”
The No. 3 Terps (12-1, 4-0 Big Ten) have won three contests in a row by one goal after a string of blowouts during the early stages of their 11-game winning streak. The team can clinch sole possession of the Big Ten regular-season title with a win over rival John Hopkins on Saturday.
But with less than five minutes remaining in regulation, it seemed the Buckeyes (10-4, 3-1) were on the verge of capturing part of the conference crown. Tillman’s squad trailed by four and was in danger of dropping its first bout since the second game of the season.
That’s when the rally started. First, attackman Matt Rambo scored from the left wing with 4:22 left. Then midfielder Henry West added another goal about a minute later. After an Ohio State player threw the ball away on a stalling violation, LoCascio capitalized on the Terps’ man-up advantage to cut the deficit to one.
Midfielder Andrew Walsh won the ensuing faceoff cleanly, and the Terps took a timeout. West found Colin Heacock along the left alley, and the attackman slipped a low-to-high shot into goal to force overtime.
“The comeback was just unbelievable,” said goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr, who made eight saves in front of friends and family in his home state.
The Buckeyes won the first faceoff of overtime, but defensive midfielder Isaiah Davis-Allen stripped midfielder David Planning in front of the net, setting the stage for Carlson’s heroics on the next possession.
The Terps resembled a different team through the first three–and-a-half quarters, though. After allowing the game’s first four goals in the first period, the Terps’ top-ranked defense had little room for error. They tried man-to-man coverage and a zone, but neither scheme worked.
“They shot fast; they shot accurate,” Bernlohr said. “It was definitely a wake-up call. We were able to slow it down after that.”
The unit had no answer for star midfielder Jesse King, who scored four goals to push his season total to 34, which ranks second in the Big Ten.
King scored his final goal with 10:16 left, pushing the Buckeyes’ lead to 9-5.
They didn’t beat Bernlohr again. Ohio State held the ball for long stretches at the end of the game, which resulted in three 30-second clock warnings and a delay-of-game penalty. The Terps, meanwhile, aggressively attacked the net to mount the turnaround.
Before Carlson’s game-winner, he tried dodging toward the cage, but midfielder Kacy Kapinos pushed him away. So Carlson wheeled around the other side and pulled his stick behind his head.
Kapinos lost his footing and tumbled to the turf as Carlson’s shot whizzed into the net. One Ohio State defender crouched down; another put his hands over his head. And a few feet away, the Terps charged Carlson and celebrated the comeback win.
“The guys really wanted this game,” Carlson said.
