The Terrapins men’s lacrosse team expected its Saturday afternoon clash against Yale to be close throughout.
The programs’ two meetings last year were each tied at halftime and decided by a combined five goals, with each team winning once.
“It seems like when Maryland and Yale play, it’s just a dogfight,” coach John Tillman said before the game.
And Saturday’s game fit that script early. But with the No. 4 Terps holding a 3-2 lead early in the second frame, their offense went cold, offering no production until the final minutes of the game — too late to avoid an 8-5 loss to the No. 7 Bulldogs at Reese Stadium.
“You kind of know the nature of the game that it was going to go back and forth and back and forth,” Tillman said. “I don’t think you can point your finger on one thing in particular.”
The early minutes showcased how the Terps thought the top-10 matchup would flow.
Midfielder Connor Kelly put the Terps up about three minutes after the opening faceoff. Yale midfielder Michael Keasey responded 80 seconds later.
Then attackman Dylan Maltz scored on a feed from attackman Matt Rambo. Fast forward about two minutes, and Bulldogs midfielder Eric Scott answered on the other end.
The pace continued into the second quarter, when midfielder Colin Heacock netted a pass from midfielder Bryan Cole 29 seconds into the frame.
Then scoring for both teams paused.
Yale regained its rhythm after a score six seconds before halftime to tie the contest for the third time, but the Terps endured a scoring drought of more than 41 minutes.
“With us, one guy just would happen to [have] a turnover or a missed shot, or maybe a guy would be open, and we’d miss him,” Tillman said. “We’d have a look, and we just wouldn’t quite capitalize.”
At one point over a span of less than two minutes, the Terps watched Cole sail a shot wide. Then Rambo had a shot blocked. His next attempt ricocheted off the post. Finally, freshman Yale goalkeeper Phil Huffard (six saves) saved another shot from Cole to end the Terps’ possession.
Yale also had misfires — late in the third quarter, for example, Bulldogs attackman Jeff Cimbalista missed two attempts in a 21-second span — but coach Andy Shay’s team was eventually able to find a connection.
About 30 seconds after his two misses, Cimbalista slipped one past goalkeeper Kyle Bernlohr to push his squad’s lead to 5-3.
Yale went on to add three more goals over the next 13 minutes as the Terps continued to miss out on their chances. They outshot the Bulldogs by 34-24.
But their inability to halt Yale’s scoring run proved costly.
“Last year, the time before, we’ve been behind late in the games,” Heacock said. “We’ll try to work from this and just move on and just move forward and put it behind us.”
