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Virginia Falls To No. 1 Seed Maryland In ACC Men's Lacrosse Semis
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April 20, 2001
ORLANDO, Fla. – The No. 1 seeded Maryland men’s lacrosse team advanced to the ACC championship with its first win over Virginia since 1998 with a thrilling 12-8 victory at Disney’s Wide World of Sports in the tournament semifinals. The nation’s leading goal scorer Andrew “Buggs” Combs (Baltimore, Md.) tallied four goals to lead the Terps, scoring once in each quarter and running his total to 38 for the season. Virginia was led by Conor Gill (Lutherville, Md.), who scored three goals and added an assist for four points.
Maryland ripped off seven goals in a row bridging the second and third quarters after falling behind 4-3 with four minutes left in the first half to take a 10-4 lead with 4:12 left in the third quarter. During the Terps’ 7-0 run, Dan LaMonica (Parkton, Md.) scored two of his three goals and Mike Mollot (Holbrook, N.Y.) scored twice, including the eventual game-winner to make it 9-4 with 5:35 left in the third quarter. The hightlight of the run came as Maryland’s Nate Watkins (Elmira, N.Y.) made a three-quarter field rush down the center of the field and beat Virginia’s goalie Tillman Johnson (Annapolis, Md.) as time expired to give Maryland a boost at intermission and a 5-4 lead.
Maryland’s goalie Pat McGinnis (Ellicott City, Md.) made 13 saves, including six in the fourth quarter.
The first half was a fierce battle with heavy hitting and high intensity. The half ended with a bang as Maryland’s Nate Watkins (Elmira, N.Y.) made a three-quarter field rush down the center of the field and beat Virginia’s goalie Tillman Johnson (Annapolis, Md.) as time expired to give Maryland a boost at intermission. The first half featured three ties at 2-2, 3-3 and 4-4.
Mike Mollot (Holbrook, N.Y.) opened the scoring with a wraparound from the left side of the cage to beat Tillman Johnson midway through the first quarter.
The winner of this game faces the winner of the second semifinal on Sunday in the ACC championship at 2:30. The game will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet, Fox Sports South and Sunshine Network.