Braden Erksa had a quiet four quarters against Ohio State, only registering one shot.
Then, the freshman attacker scored arguably his biggest goal of the season in overtime, as the Terps won the opening possession of overtime and did not miss.
Erksa came around the cage and scored, registering the game-winner on the dagger.
“Braden’s done a really good job for us,” coach John Tillman said. “He had to battle a really good defender for most of the game and obviously got a little leverage there and made a big play.”
No. 5 Maryland men’s lacrosse (7-3, 2-1 B1G) overcame a four-goal halftime deficit in Columbus on Friday, defeating No. 17 Ohio State (5-6, 1-2 B1G) in overtime, 12-11.
Junior attacker Daniel Kelly had been the hot Terp all night and he delivered again. His fourth goal of the night tied the game at 11 with 2:09 left, but the game turned a bit controversial from there.
Tillman pointed out to the refs that Buckeyes sophomore face-off specialist Matthew Fritz was wearing the wrong glove color, which prompted tensions to rise. Tillman did not formally make the request but the refs told Fritz he had to change gloves.
“There was never an official check requested,” Tillman said. “Somewhere during the quarter…the officials got together and made a decision. My understanding was if we wanted to get them on it we would have waited for possession and then said we have the ball by the way they aren’t wearing the same equipment…we would have tried to get a penalty.”
Buckeyes coach Nick Myers then asked the refs to check senior face-off specialist Luke Wierman’s stick.
Neither team scored the rest of regulation after the long pause, giving Erksa the opportunity to end it.
The Terps got into an early hole, as the Buckeyes struck twice over the game’s first three minutes scoring goals on their first two shot attempts.
After Maryland’s first shot was saved junior attacker Daniel Kelly scored back-to-back goals to tie the game as both sides settled in.
But then, the Ohio State offense went to work.
Three Buckeyes combined for five goals over a 9:32 stretch, starting with an Ed Shean score in the final seconds of the first quarter. Junior midfielder Trent DiCicco and graduate student midfielder Kyle Borda combined for the other three, putting the Buckeyes in front 7-2 at the 5:36 mark of the second quarter.
While the Ohio State offense found its groove in that stretch, the Maryland offense did not; committing two turnovers while missing all six of its shots.
Maryland sophomore attacker Zach Whittier finally ended the Terps scoring drought finding the back of the net at the 4:40 mark of the second frame.
Junior attacker Owen Murphy — who was limited with an ankle injury as he only appeared during extra man opportunities — responded with his 14th of the season a couple of minutes before halftime. Murphy took a couple of steps before firing and scoring seconds before the man-up opportunity expired.
Maryland continued to find its offense as the half came to an end as senior attacker/midfielder Ryan Siracusa scored just his third goal of the season at the 1:31 mark.
But Shean scored again right before halftime, his fourth goal of the half to increase Ohio State’s lead to 9-5 at the break.
Maryland’s opening goal of the second half came from an unlikely source, as junior defender Ajax Zappitello scored in transition after picking up a ground ball following a Buckeyes missed shot.
Sophomore attacker Eric Spanos scored a few minutes later to make it a two-goal game for the first time since the second quarter.
The deficit did not last long as Ohio State scored another goal.
Wierman heated up in the middle stages of the game, winning 14 of 16 second and third quarter face-offs after only winning two in the first frame, giving the Terps extra possessions when needed facing a multi-goal deficit. Whittier scored again later in the third quarter to get the Terps within two, 10-8.
“He did a really good job of getting us the ball back which is key for us to get rhythm,” Tillman said.
But Shean continued to torch the Terps, adding his fifth goal of the night with another doorstep goal at the 1:24 mark of the third frame.
Maryland forced a shot clock violation to start the fourth quarter and took advantage as Siracusa found Kelly right in front of the crease. Kelly’s goal shrunk the deficit to 11-9 with 12:58 left.
The second midfield line of Whittier, Siracusa and Spanos had a huge game helping the Terps comeback. The trio combined for seven points in the win.
“Those guys kept delivering, and [I was] really impressed with the first [midfield] group because they were just really supportive of those guys,” Tillman said.
After Maryland strung some strong defensive possessions, Spanos cut Maryland’s deficit to one with 5:50 left. Then Kelly struck shortly after to send the game to overtime.
Erksa fired the lone shot in the extra period, clinching the Terps’ second overtime victory of the season.
