Owen Murphy’s game-winner secures Maryland men’s lacrosse’s season-opening victory, 12-11

No. 6 Maryland men’s lacrosse (1-0) kept its season-opening winning streak alive, taking down No. 20 Richmond (0-1), 12-11, in double overtime. Owen Murphy hit a deep shot a minute into double overtime to finally break the tie and win the game. 

Maryland held a two-point lead in the closing minutes of the third when things quickly soured. Richmond’s Dalton Young scored two unanswered goals, tying the game in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter.

Maryland pushed the ball down the field to close out regulation but a bobble at the net ruined the hopes of a last-second win. 

Both defenses forced pivotal turnovers in overtime. Maryland defender Ajax Zappitello forced one with just over a minute left, firing up the Maryland bench in the process. The Terps had another chance right at the net with 50 seconds left in overtime and again could not force the ball into the net.

Midway through the third quarter, faceoff specialist Luke Wierman cemented himself in Maryland history as the all-time faceoff leader. Wierman won 17 of 29 faceoffs on the afternoon.

Richmond drew first blood on a goal from midfielder Henry Alpaugh assisted by Luke Grayum. Maryland answered quickly on a goal from senior midfielder Jack Koras. Koras found a gap in the Richmond defense for a wide-open shot.

The Spiders quickly set the tone, going on a 3-0 scoring run with goals from Lance Madonna, Charlie Packard, and Young. Senior Daniel Kelly scored the final goal of the quarter to halt the Richmond run. The Spiders still held a 5-3 lead entering the second.

Maryland’s hot start to the second quarter quickly tied the game. The Terps went on a 3-0 scoring run of their own in the first three minutes with goals from Braden Erksa, Eric Spanos and Ajax Zappitello. Erksa’s goal came in the first 11 seconds of the quarter.

From here, scoring halted for both sides. After eight scoreless minutes, Erksa broke the ice with his second goal of the game. Grayum quickly found the net to stop Maryland’s scoring run and cut the score to 7-6.

Richmond goalkeeper Connor Knight gave the home crowd some energy after saving back-to-back shots in the final minute of the half.

On the other side, goalkeeper Logan McNaney put together a dominant second quarter after allowing five first-quarter goals. McNaney saved three of Richmond’s four second-quarter shots. In his return, the graduate student recorded 13 saves and didn’t allow a goal after the seven-minute mark in the fourth quarter.

Erksa opened the quarter with a goal again, his third of the day. The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year led the Terps in scoring with three goals on six shots.

Freshman Gavin Creo’s goal to tie the game came after multiple saves from McNaney. The tie game was short-lived after goals from Ryan Siracusa and Eric Malever put Maryland back up by two. With three seconds left in the quarter, Young scored Richmond’s third goal of the quarter to make the score 10-9.

With the win, Maryland’s season-opening win streak jumps to 31 games. Next week, Maryland hosts Loyola for its first home match of the season.