Normally, Terrapin men’s lacrosse coach Dave Cottle would have yelled at his team to focus during a lackluster practice session the day before playing the No. 1 team in the country.
But after a great week of practice, Cottle chose a more hands-off approach before Saturday’s game against Virginia.
“[Friday] I couldn’t get them to concentrate on anything,” Cottle said. “They were bouncing off the walls. They wanted to play.”
The No. 4 Terps rewarded his patience with an inspired first-half performance en route to a suprisingly comfortable 13-7 victory over the top-ranked Cavaliers before a crowd of 4,239 at Byrd Stadium.
“I think the only people who thought we were going to win was [our] team – the guys in our locker room,” said redshirt junior goalie Jason Carter. “We knew it when we came out here, and we played hard. Virginia played tough, too, but today was just our day.”
Carter, who made a career-high 15 saves, played into the second half for the first time this season. He had split time in net with sophomore Brian Phipps, but Cottle said he had to stick with Carter because of how well he and the team played in the first half.
The Terps built a 9-3 halftime advantage on the strength of six second-quarter goals against the Cavaliers, who had not trailed by more than two goals in winning their first nine games of the season.
Freshman attackman Travis Reed led the push, scoring all three of his goals in the second quarter.
“We got some goals in that second quarter, and it really gave us some confidence,” Cottle said. “When you’re young, you need some good things to happen. Some good things happened to us early.”
That included winning 10-of-14 first half face-offs, allowing the Terps to find success in the transition. Three times in the first half, the Terps won the ensuing face-off after a goal and scored again within seven seconds. In doing so, the Terps also managed to keep the ball away from the potent Cavalier offense, which struggled to find a rhythm throughout the game as the Terps forced Virginia players to settle for long shots.
Virginia scored the first two goals of the second half to get within 9-5 with 10:04 left in the third quarter, but the Terps responded on the next possession with Jeff Reynolds’s third goal of the game and Virginia never got any closer.Carter allowed only four more goals while making eight more saves in the second half before being replaced by Phipps after surrendering a goal with 1:06 left in the game and the win already secured.
“Our goalie played his tail off today,” Cottle said. “I thought he was outstanding, and, as much as I respect Brian Phipps, I just thought it was Jason Carter’s day to finish out.”
When the clock finally expired, the Terps all sprinted onto the field to celebrate the victory in a final display of emotion. Reed noted that it was that very exuberance and emotion that was the key to the improbable upset.
“Before the game, everyone on our team was just so pumped up, and I think that really carried us through the entire game,” Reed said.
It was the second straight win against a top-five opponent for the Terps, but unlike last weekend’s win at then-No. 5 North Carolina, the Terps did it in front of a home crowd and a national television audience on ESPN2.
Senior midfielder Will Dalton, who won 8-of-14 face-offs and added a goal, had a big smile on his face as he talked about his team’s first win over Virginia since his freshman season.
“It doesn’t get any better than this,” Dalton said. “Playing in this stadium with alumni in the stands and beating No. 1 UVA; it’s a real accomplishment for this senior class and our team. It’s great.”
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