Niko Amato

Terrapins men’s lacrosse attackman Kevin Cooper scooped up a ground ball Saturday in his own offensive zone, turned toward the Virginia goal and saw a wide-open net. The host Cavaliers, trailing 9-5 late, had pulled goalkeeper Rhody Heller in an attempt to mount a comeback, and they left Cooper with a tempting scoring chance.

But as the Terps’ leading scorer rifled a shot toward the unguarded goal, a Virginia defender stepped in the ball’s path to knock it down. Cavaliers midfielder Greg Coholan snatched the ensuing ground ball, raced downfield and scored a quick goal. Then, eight seconds later, attackman Nick O’Reilly scored, decreasing a once-comfortable margin down to two goals.

Eventually, goalkeeper Niko Amato sealed the Terps’ 9-7 victory with a stop in the final minute. But it never would have gotten so close if the No. 1 Terps had maintained possession of the ball late in the game.

In addition to Cooper’s blocked shot, midfielder Jake Bernhardt and attackman Owen Blye coughed the ball up in the game’s final three minutes. The miscues gave the Cavaliers a chance they never should have had.

“We’ve worked on the end-of-the-game situations a good amount, but we made some mistakes,” attackman Jay Carlson said. “[Virginia] did pretty well on offense and fast breaks, too. So we need to keep working on that.”

John Tillman also stressed the importance of improved decision-making in crunch time. The third-year coach said he understands why Cooper took the shot that started Virginia’s rally, but the senior likely should have resisted the urge to try for a daggering score to keep the Cavaliers from gaining possession.

“When you’re up four goals late, you have to realize you don’t need to score,” Tillman said. “Kevin, he’s a guy we’ll put the ball in his stick again at another critical time, and we know he’ll come through.”

ACC PLAY

Despite the Terps’ gaffes down the stretch Saturday, they still earned a critical win. The victory closed out the team’s ACC regular-season slate with a first-place 2-1 record, marking the first time since 2009 the Terps ended league play with a winning percentage above .500.

Virginia still has games against the Tar Heels and Blue Devils on its schedule, so seeding for the ACC tournament — which is set to begin April 26 in Chapel Hill, N.C. — is not yet set. The Terps, though, are likely to be the top seed.

Surprisingly, the Terps haven’t had a winning season in the ACC during Tillman’s first two years in College Park despite reaching the past two NCAA championship games. The group’s struggles in league play simply illustrated the toughness of the conference’s competition.

“We didn’t learn it [during conference play], but it reinforced what we already knew: Everybody in the ACC is really good,” Tillman said. “I have a lot of respect for the teams in our league.”

NAVY’S NEXT

Going into Friday night’s game at Navy, the Terps seem to have the upper hand. The Midshipmen are 3-7 on the season and haven’t beaten a ranked team all year.

Still, Tillman is sure his squad will be challenged at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. He spent 15 years in Annapolis as an assistant coach, so he knows how Navy teams play.

“There is no quit in their players,” Tillman said. “If you ever think a Midshipman will roll over, then you probably don’t know what those kids are taught there.”

The Terps haven’t played down to the competition in four games against unranked opponents this year, and the coaching staff won’t allow the group to take Navy lightly.

The Midshipmen have won five of their last nine games against the Terps, and Tillman wants to even the score with his old program. He just needs his players to want it as badly as he does.

“I know this is a game that the players on [Navy] look forward to. It’s a game they are excited about,” Tillman said. “So we have to be excited about it, too.”

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