The Terrapin men’s lacrosse team knew entering Saturday’s NCAA tournament game against Denver that the Pioneers’ aggressive style of play would allow the Terps to draw some penalties.
Denver had committed 97 penalties entering the contest, forcing its defense to defend an average of 6.1 extra-man opportunities each game.
“We knew we’d have plenty of opportunities on man-up this game, but it’s important for us to capitalize,” freshman attackman Grant Catalino said. “It’s just an extra way to get a little boost on the offensive end when the ball’s not falling our way.”
And when those opportunities came, the Terps took advantage.
After falling behind 5-2 midway through the second quarter, the Terps were able to tie the score at the half with three man-up goals in the final 7:08 of the half.
Denver committed five of its six penalties in the second quarter, allowing the Terps to tie the game and ultimately notch their first win of the season after trailing entering the second quarter.
“For a while there, there might have been a few [penalties] that were uncalled, but we hung in there, and we simplified it,” coach Dave Cottle said. “We put ourselves in spots [to get fouled], and the kids took advantage of the opportunities.”
Denver’s Ilija Gajic’s goal with 7:38 remaining in the first half gave the Pioneers a three-goal lead, but 15 seconds later Denver was hit with a slashing penalty, and 15 seconds after that, junior midfielder Jeremy Sieverts brought the Terps closer with their first man-up goal of the game.
An illegal body check with 3:51 left in the half set up senior midfielder Max Ritz for his second of two goals in the game.
Just more than two minutes later, Denver’s leading scorer, Jamie Lincoln, was flagged for whacking goalie Jason Carter in the head as he tried to clear the ball from the Terps’ zone by himself.
On the ensuing extra-man opportunity, Catalino dumped the ball inside to freshman attackman Brett Weiss for the game-tying goal.
“They got us going a little bit,” Cottle said of the three man-up goals’ impact on his team’s offense, which struggled for much of the first half to beat Denver goalie Austin Konkel, who made 11 first-half saves.
The Terps have now scored on 20 of 45 man-up opportunities this season, or more than 44 percent, but at times this season, they have struggled to draw penalties consistently.
It wasn’t a problem Saturday, as they carried the momentum from the run into the second half to advance in the tournament.
Denver coach Jamie Munro acknowledged that the Pioneers’ over-anxiousness to make plays directly cost them the lead in the second quarter. Munro said he liked his team’s intensity, but his players needed to be smarter because they made it too easy for officials to throw their flags.
“You live and die by the sword,” Munro said. “We play hard. We just have to be a little more disciplined, I guess.”
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