No. 10 Maryland men’s lacrosse gets to .500 after beating Virginia, 13-12, in 3OT

Franklin Zessis
2 minutes ago
2 min read

No. 10 Maryland men’s lacrosse has thrived in overtime under coach John Tillman.

The Terps have won 17 of 26 contests under Tillman past regulation, and Saturday’s contest was no different. Midfielder Zach Whittier sprinted around the cage before rifling a shot into the left side of the net.

The goal sent the SECU stadium crowd into a frenzy as Maryland edged out Virginia 13-12 in triple overtime in College Park.

“I kinda got choked up in the last huddle,” Tillman said. “Just the fight and the grit, the resolve and the guys just shaking off mistakes.”

Heading into the fourth quarter, Maryland (3-3) seemed to have control of the game. The Terps lead by three goals, and had quickly stopped any runs by Virginia (3-4) in the final quarter.

But Maryland’s offense stalled. Its offense scored just one goal in the final 16:30 of regulation, allowing Virginia to go on a 4-0 run and claim a 12-11 lead. But with 1:06 remaining in the quarter, the Terps had an opportunity in transition.

The Terps elected not to use a timeout and let their offense play out the possession. The decision paid off as graduate student attacker Leo Johnson split two defenders and rifled the game-tying shot into the lower-left corner of the net.

“One of the things we talked about with these guys is, if we got good numbers, we're going to let you play,” Tillman said. “You'd like to not use the timeout only because … let's say you get doubled, and you're pressured, then you still have that time out.”

Johnson’s goal helped force overtime, but more injury woes plagued the Terps. While guarding Virginia’s junior attacker McCabe Millon, defender Will Schaller went down with a lower-body injury.

“Seeing Will go down is tough,” defender George Stamos said. “We went on as Will would want us to, just keep playing and next man up.”

The next man up was defender Peter Laake. The sophomore assumed Schaller’s assignment against Millon and thrived, mirroring every dodge used by Millon.

The Teps’ defense was also aided by the performance of goalie Brian Rupple. Maryland needed stout goalkeeping in last season’s contest to beat Virginia, and Saturday’s contest was no different. Ruppled posted a .500 or better save percentage for the third consecutive game and stopped a career-best 14 shots.

“Second week in a row, I feel like Brian's played great,” Tillman said. “Not all saves are created equal, and not all stops are created equal. We got some great stops late when we really needed them.”

Ruppel made two saves in the third overtime frame, aiding Maryland in setting up the game-winner for Whittier, who pointed to Ruppel as he ran towards him after scoring the overtime winner.

While the win for Maryland is important, heading into Big Ten play, the bigger concern for the Terps is team health. Maryland was without graduate student attacker Will Schaller for a third consecutive game, and Schaller suffered an injury during overtime.

The health of both players will be essential for Maryland as it prepares for No. 9 Penn State.

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