No. 3 Virginia defeats No. 5 Maryland 14-10 in top-five local rivalry

Maryland men’s lacrosse kept its contest with Virginia close in the second half. The Cavaliers never led by more than five, and only led by that much for less than a minute.

Daniel Maltz, Eric Malever and Daniel Kelly responded with three goals in a 1:32 span to cut the Terps’ deficit to two. But all it took was one score from Virginia freshman McCabe Millon to squander all of Maryland’s momentum. 

The Terps didn’t score in the game’s final 11 minutes. Virginia did enough to maintain its lead and firmly established itself as the better team on the field Saturday. The No. 3 Cavaliers (6-1) cruised to an 14-10 win over No. 5 Maryland (5-2) at SECU Stadium.

Maryland won the schools’ previous three contests, most recently last season’s 14-13 overtime thriller. The game is best remembered for then-freshman goaltender Brian Ruppel’s heroics in overtime. Ruppel sprawled out to save three shots in an eight-second span.

“You could tell [the Cavaliers] were pretty locked in,” coach John Tillman said. “When we lose to a team one year, the next year, I know our guys will be pretty dialed in.”

Graduate goalie Logan McNaney, who missed that game with a torn ACL, did not do Maryland any favors on Saturday. He had the Big Ten’s worst save percentage at .527 entering the afternoon, and that number got lower as he allowed 14 scores on 24 shots on goal. 

Virginia’s depth shined as its top three attackers — graduate Payton Cormier, graduate Connor Shellenberger and Millon — failed to get much going. That effort was headlined by junior midfielder Griffin Schutz, who finished the game with four goals and two assists, both tied for his career-high.

But the Terps’ two top scorers, Daniel Maltz and Braden Erksa, struggled just as much. Its rotational pieces did their job — Malever, Eric Spanos and Ryan Siracusa all had multiple goals — but the offense struggled to penetrate Virginia’s defensive interior. 

Spanos found his groove early. Twice in the game’s first seven minutes, he wrapped around the crease and found space to shoot past goaltender Matthew Nunes. 

But Spanos provided Maryland’s only first-quarter offense. He was 2-for-2 in the frame — both unassisted goals — while the group around him shot a dismal 0-for-7. The Terps turned the ball over three times in the period. 

“Their gameplan was to make us uncomfortable,” Spanos said. “At times I think we needed to settle in and not let them force us out of our gameplan.”

Maryland’s defense did an excellent job shutting down the Cavaliers’ offensive starpower. The attacker trio of graduate Payton Cormier, graduate Connor Shellenberger and Millon — who accounted for 58.3% of Virginia’s scoring entering the afternoon — combined for just one goal in the first half.

The Terps’ defense struggled to get in the way of the Cavaliers’ early fast-paced attack. Virginia recorded 12 shots, scored four times and did not turn the ball over despite heavy ball movement. Junior midfielder Griffin Schutz was responsible for two of those goals, and assisted a third.

His second goal began a 5-0 Virginia run that extended over seven minutes into the second frame. Shellenberger’s first goal of the afternoon came with just over 14 minutes left in the quarter, and Schutz topped off the run just over six minutes later.

Three-straight Maryland goals over four minutes alleviated the damages. One more Cavalier score made it a 7-5 contest at halftime.

Schutz’s career game continued less than a minute into the second half, when his fourth goal increased Maryland’s deficit to three. 

The Cavaliers maintained their lead down the stretch and cruised to their first win in College Park since 2012.

Maryland gets a week of rest before its Big Ten opener on March 23 at Michigan. 

“I’m hopeful with some of the games we’ve played, that will get us ready for a really tough league,” Tillman said.