COLLEGE PARK, Md. — In their first game that required at least three overtime periods since the 2009 seven-overtime thriller against Maryland, the Cavaliers were on the wrong end of this year’s meeting with the 10th-ranked Terrapins. As UMD midfielder Zach Whittier flashed behind the cage, he reeled in a pass from attackman Leo Johnson, wrapped around the far side of the crease and buried his second goal of the afternoon to solidify a 13-12 win for the Terrapins 2:35 into the third overtime at SECU Stadium Saturday afternoon (March 14).
The Cavaliers trailed for most of the contest after falling behind in the first quarter, but rallied to retake the lead with 3:47 left in the fourth. Nearly three minutes later, Johnson spun to split two UVA defenders and notched his third goal of the afternoon, a blow that ultimately sent the 99th meeting between two of college lacrosse’s most storied programs to overtime. Saturday's contest marked the fourth one-score game – including third in overtime – in the last nine meetings between the rivals.
Balanced scoring from eight Cavaliers was on full display Saturday afternoon. UVA was led by Truitt Sunderland (2g, 1a) and Brendan Millon (2g, 2a), both of whom notched three points each. In his first game back since UVA’s contest at Richmond (Feb. 14) earlier this season, Joey Terenzi (1g, 1a, 2g) also provided a spark for the Hoos, particularly on the faceoff wings. Defensively, John Schroter stood out among the pack as he finished with a season-high four caused turnovers. UVA goaltender Jake Marek (2-3) finished with nine saves.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Chase Band opened the scoring on the game’s opening possession, but the Terps claimed four of the next five goals to grasp a 4-2 lead by the close of the first. Terenzi’s impact was felt early, when he corralled a ground ball on the game’s fourth faceoff and in transition fed Brendan Millon, who ripped his first of two goals to tie the game [2-2]. The Cavaliers could not capitalize on a two-man-down situation after a UVA shot rang off the post and UMD netminder Brian Ruppel (14 saves) turned away back-to-back Cavalier shots.
Strikes from UVA long-stick midfielder Robby Hopper and Terenzi – his first in over a year – tied the score 5-5 with just under six minutes remaining in the first half. However, UMD midfielder Elijah Stobaugh netted the next two for the Terps, who led 7-5 at the intermission. UVA’s only two failed clears of the afternoon came in the last five minutes of the second quarter, the first of which led to Stobaugh’s first score. Six of Marek’s nine total saves occurred in the first 30 minutes of play.
The Terps grasped their largest lead of the game, 11-8, after posting four goals in the third, the last of which was Johnson’s second of the day. After UVA midfielder Ryan Duenkel (1g) was viciously struck in the head by a Maryland defender, the Cavaliers were flagged for a dead-ball unsportsmanlike conduct foul. Instead of Virginia being man-up for two minutes in full, both teams were 5-on-5 for the first minute and UMD was able to burn a significant duration of the clock after starting with the ball when play resumed.
UVA’s offense came alive in the fourth, when the Cavaliers began dodging Terrapin short-stick defenders from behind the cage. Four consecutive unassisted goals from Band, Colsey, Sunderland and Duenkel gave the Hoos their first lead [13-12] of the game since the first quarter. However, Johnson’s third goal with under a minute left in regulation halted the UVA scoring spree and overtime commenced moments later.
The Cavaliers committed three of their 12 total turnovers in the first overtime period. After UMD All-American defenseman Will Schaller exited the game with an apparent lower-body injury in the second overtime, UVA attackman McCabe Millon (1g, 2a) tried to provide a spark for the Hoos in the second overtime, but to no avail. In the third overtime, Ruppel turned away shots by Band and Duenkel. After clearing the ball, Whittier eluded his defender on an off-ball cut behind the cage before hammering home perhaps Maryland's most consequential goal of the season to date.
FROM HEAD COACH LARS TIFFANY ...
“It can be deemed a failure when Virginia Lacrosse loses a game. And it is – in a simple way of thinking about it. We didn't get the job done today. We have to beat Maryland today. The but: I told our team, we just turned our season around. We've not been playing great lacrosse, and we turned our season around today with that fourth-quarter comeback. We looked at our offense and defense at halftime, and after three quarters, like we’re playing decent offense, we're playing decent defense, and we're down by three or four goals.
“And to see us step up and make the plays we did on the defensive end, on the offensive end ... Coach [Kevin] Cassese, did a fantastic job putting us into some good formation there, isolating the short-stick [defensive midfielders] behind the goal in the fourth quarter, and we got a bunch of goals coming around from X. Watching our defense become really stalwart as the game progressed – it was a season-defining moment. And I told the team, ‘Fellas, it's so much easier to point towards a win when we turn the season around, but we're going to remember this through the pain and hurt of this losing locker room right now. This is when we turned the season around.’ We took a huge step today.”
NOTES
- The game was UVA’s first that required at least three overtime periods since the Cavaliers defeated Maryland 10-9 in seven overtimes on March 28, 2008, at Klöckner Stadium.
- Four of the last nine games of the series have been determined by one goal, including three in overtime.
- UVA outscored Maryland 4-1 in the fourth quarter.
- UVA’s man-down unit held the Terrapins scoreless on all four of their extra-man chances.
- Senior attackman Ryan Colsey extended his goal streak to 21 games dating back to last year’s season opener, a span in which he’s totaled 43 goals.
- Defenseman John Schroter finished with a season-high four caused turnovers.
- In his first game back since Richmond (Feb. 14) of this year, midfielder Joey Terenzi finished with one goal and one assist, the most points he’s had in a game since he also had two at Richmond on Feb. 17, 2024.
- UVA long-stick midfielder Robby Hopper scored his first career goal in the second quarter.
- The Cavaliers only committed 12 turnovers, their fewest in a game since recording 11 at Notre Dame on April 12, 2025.
- Faceoff specialist Andrew Greenspan was 4 for 8 at the faceoff X, which included a win in the first overtime period against Maryland’s Henry Dodge. Dodge leads the nation in faceoff win percentage this year.
- With the win, Maryland improved to 53-46 in the all-time series, which began in 1926. Saturday’s game was officially the 99th of the series between the Cavaliers and Terrapins.
UP NEXT
The Cavaliers host Utah (5-2) on Saturday (March 21) at Scott Stadium in a doubleheader alongside the UVA women's lacrosse team. Opening faceoff for the men's game against the Utes is set for 11 a.m. on ACC Network Extra and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM). The Virginia–Utah contest marks the first lacrosse game at Scott Stadium since the Cavaliers hosted Maryland during the 2011 regular season.
Two days later (March 23), Virginia will host Dartmouth (4-2) at Klöckner Stadium at 7 p.m. on ACC Network.
Following their 16-7 victory at Marquette this past Wednesday (March 11), the Utes are idle from competition for nine days before battling the Hoos at Scott Stadium.