The No. 3 Women’s Lacrosse team huddles up before the start of their ACC home opener against No. 6 Virginia in College Park, Md. Chris Trevino

With a little over 13 minutes left in the game, the No. 6 Virginia Cavalier’s sideline was ecstatic with players jumping over one another and coaches screaming into the rain-filled sky. Seconds earlier Cavalier attacker Josie Owens had sent a perfectly placed pass from behind the net to a streaking Daniela Eppler who slipped it past Brittany Dipper’s legs to cut the No. 3 Terps lead to one.

The Terrapins (4-1) (1-1  ACC) were watching their chance for their first ACC victory slip away right in front of their eyes.

“I definitely think that’s when we had to do the little things,” said senior Karri Ellen Johnson on her team’s mentality after seeing their lead shrink to one. ”All those things start to add up.”

As the rain began to pick up Maryland began to slow it down, holding the ball for nearly seven minutes before freshman Kelly McPartland scored making it 9-7. Virginia (3-1) (0-1 ACC) never came closer than three after that.

Early on, the Terps looked poised to run straight past the Wahoos in a blowout after building up a 5-2 lead at the break and scoring two quick goals nine seconds apart to start the second half. Yet, the faster Maryland pushed the tempo, the more the Cavaliers slowed it down.

Virginia brought the game’s pace to a near stop with methodical and redundant passing, as they tried to catch Maryland napping. At the 37:05 mark the Cavs’ patience paid off as Charlie Finnigan played a well executed pass to Jess Loizeaux for an easy goal. One minute later Owens found a wide open Liza Blue to make the score 7-4.

One assistant coach began screaming: “It starts here Virginia,” as the players hugged in excitement. But Virginia struggled to fully seize the moment, going o-4 on free-position shots, committing 14 turnovers and winning on five draw controls in the second half.

In the end it was Maryland that did the “little things” to walk away with their first ACC win of the season and sixth straight over UVA.

“We learned a lot from the Duke game,” said head coach Cathy Reese. “It was a game we were able to go back and re-watch and we had a ton of opportunities and we needed to capitalize on them…I was disappointed at halftime, but I think we did alright in the second half.”

The biggest controversy came in the 7th minute after Virginia thought it had tied the game up 2-2. After a series of substitutions by both sides, the ensuing goal was strongly objected by the Maryland sideline claiming the Cavalier sub had came on “four seconds early.” After five minutes of debating, the referees waived off the goal and penalized Virginia forcing them to play a man down.

Though the Terps never scored with the advantage they did go on to make a 5-1 run that was key to withstanding the eventual Virginia comeback. And while the Cavs had plenty of other chances to tie the game up, that call certainly stunted their momentum.

Maryland gets a day’s rest before heading to New York to take on Hofstra on March 4.

Player(s) of the Game: Three players had hat tricks for Maryland! Johnson, McPartland and junior Katie Schwarzmann. It’s pretty hard to pick just one for player of the game so all three get the nod. Each of them had crucial contributions. McPartland scored the first goal and the one to put them up 9-7. Johnson chipped in two assists and scored the clincher. Schwarzmann led the slow pace offense in the second half that led to the crucial McPartland score.

Beth Glaros-Baltimore Sun

The No. 2 Terrapin’s  first ACC win was put on hold by the #5 Duke Blue Devils who rallied their way to a 10-9 win in Durham, N.C. Saturday afternoon per UMTerps.

Sophomore Beth Glaros scored a game high four goals as Maryland (3-1) (0-1 ACC) suffered just their fifth loss since 2009. Maryland found themselves facing a 5-0 deficit in the opening twenty minutes. Yet, the Lady Terps came roaring back with seven unanswered goals, kicked off by freshman Kelly McPartland, who finished with three goals in the game.

After Glaros’ back to back goals to kickoff the second period put the Terps up 7-5, highly touted Duke freshman Taylor Trimble knotted the game at 7-7 after two straights goals of her own. Maryland couldn’t contain Blue Devils’ (4-2) (1-0 ACC)  attack, leading to three more goals and the lead for good. McPartland was able to bring them within one, but, with only 7 seconds left, the effort was too late.

The Terps will wait until Friday  to get another shot at their first ACC win when they take on the Virginia Cavaliers Friday night in College Park, Md.

Player(s) of the Game: Both Glaros and McPartland deserve this award. The two underclassmen combined for seven of Maryland’s nine goals on the road in a hostile ACC environment.

Image from terrapintrail.com.

As the final buzzer was heard across Ludwig Field, the University of Maryland players dropped. A few fell to the ground. Soon coaches and teammates walked over and offered comfort and a pat on the back. Others crouched to the turf as tears streamed down their faces and onto jerseys. Some hunched over as if they had just been punched square in the stomach.

For the most part they had been.

The No.12 seeded Louisville Cardinals dropped the No. 5 seeded Terps 4-2 Sunday night in College Park, securing a trip to the NCAA quarterfinals in Hoover, Al., while putting an end to Maryland’s roller coaster season.

“They deserved to win tonight,” said a somber Sasho Cirovski. “They were a highly motivated… and I think the right team won…”

The Cardinals (14-6-2) pounded the injury-plagued Maryland defense with a long ball based attack, which was without senior captain and starting center back Alex Lee who was injured against West Virginia. Midfielder Helge Leikvang shifted back in Lee’s presence, but could not match No. 18’s speed and athleticism.

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The Maryland faithful cheered as senior Casey Townsend made his way to the sideline, as reserve forward Jake Pace ran onto the field to take his place. Townsend clapped his hands in the chill on a damp Sunday night; a burden was slowly falling off his shoulders.

A mere two minutes earlier, Townsend had streaked up the middle of the field for a one-on-one with West Virginia keeper Pat Eavenson and calmly floated it over his head for the score.

That goal drove a stake through the heart of the Mountaineers (11-7-1) and capped off a Townsend hat trick to put the Terps up 4-0 in their second round game of the NCAA Tournament.

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sportsillustrated.cnn

The Maryland Terrapins’ hopes for a second straight ACC tournament Title were dashed shockingly, as the Boston College Eagles upset the Terps 2-1 in the first round of the tournament Tuesday evening.

The #2 seeded Terps, who hosted at Ludwig Field, continued their offensive woes, highlighted by an abysmal first half on both sides of the ball. Maryland found themselves down 2-0 for the first time all season after a series of defensive lapses in the first 20 minutes.

Boston College (13-5-0) capitalized on poor defensive clearing in the 13^th minute after a shot by #17 Charlie Rugg came off the post, only to be rebounded by #15 Deigo Medina-Mendez from six yards out that finished deep into the net past a diving Will Swaim.

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The Hollywood movie ending was all set in place. Patrick Mullins got a touch on the ball and sent it past the keeper as the clock hit zero in double overtime. The crowd at Ludwig Field erupted as the Terps picked up the win on a chilly Thursday night on Senior Night.

But this wasn’t a movie.

The referees signaled that the time had expired before the Mullins game winner was scored and the #4 Terps settled for a 1-1 tie with Wake Forest.

Sasho Cirvoski and the coaching staff rushed the field as the goal was waived off, in disagreement with the call.

Yet, the exciting finish covered up briefly Maryland’s (13-2-3, 4-2-2 ACC) scoring woes. For most of the year the Terps were on a tear, pummeling opponents with goals. Tonight’s game summed up the struggles as Maryland outshot the Deacons (8-6-4, 4-3-1 ACC) 35-6, with 14 shots on goal.

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wmucsports.com

Look at it any way you want, but in the end it was a victory for the #3 Terps. Maryland survived Chapel Hill and #2 UNC with a 1-1 tie of the national contenders and ACC stalwarts Friday night.

John Stertzer continued on his hot streak, striking first for Maryland (13-1-2) (4-1-1 ACC) in the 51^st minute, breaking the scoreless first half. A Karou Forbess serve was sent into the box and remained jostled. Stertzer entered the scene and buried his shot to the right past UNC keeper Scott Goodwin. It was Stertzer’s 12^th goal of the season.

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umterps.com

 The night should have been described as perfect.

No. 3 Maryland dominated archrival No.22 Duke to a 4-2 win, while setting a new Ludwig Field attendance record of 7,957. Patrick Mullins finally broke through a score after going over a month without finding the back of the net, while John Stertzer capped off another multi-goal game, all on the night of Sasho Cirvoski’s birthday.

But a mysterious moment in the 67^th minute put a damper on the night.

Sunny Jane, Maryland’s most exciting one-on-one player, scored his first goal of the season in the 15^th minute off a pass from Casey Townsend that found a perfectly placed streaking Jane. Jane beat his man in a foot race and sent a left footed shot past Duke keeper James Belshaw to tie the game at 1-1 and kick start the Terps offense.

Yet, in the 67^th Jane was awarded a straight red card. At this time the call is still unknown. Jane and the Maryland bench argued the call but to no avail. No.10  was sent off the field and is now forced to sit out Maryland’s pivotal game against No. 2 UNC.  

“It’s going to hurt not having Sunny out there, he’s a great player for us. But I know the guys on the bench will come in for him just fine,” said Stertzer, whose penalty kick in the 55^th minute served as the game-winner, the junior’s fifth of the season.

It’s true that Maryland (13-1-1) (4-1 ACC) has depth, but the loss of Jane is a major blow. The spark-plug Jane is one of the most exciting players in college soccer and wrecks havoc against defenses with his quickness and foot skills.

Yet, the player that has been wreaking havoc on defenses all year, Andrew Wenger, who leads the nation with 15 goals was shut down by the Terrapin D, limiting him to two shots on goal.

Duke (7-5-1) (3-2-1) struck first in the 12^th minute, after Sean Davis scored his first career goal from 30 yards out. Will Swaim, who was visibly upset after the goal, could only watch as the ball curved just inside the right post for a 1-0 lead.

“We worked so hard to keep the ball out of the box, and I got screened, I couldn’t see the ball, “said Swaim, explaining his frustration, “And he hit it well, to his credit.”

The backline settled down after the Davis goal and played exceptionally well even when playing a man down. Sure the stats show that Maryland was outshot 18-12, but a lot of them were far wide and far right.

Despite the loss of Jane, this was a great win against the most hated rival for the Terps. Maryland did not look fatigued as they had in the past few games, another great sign. However, with all the excitement, it was easy to forget the other milestone on this night.

“This was a great birthday present,” said Cirvoski, “I couldn’t imagine a better one.”

Now the Terps get a nice rest before a matchup of national title contenders in Chapel Hill with No.2 UNC Friday night.

umterps.com

The #3 Terps couldn’t get anything going. Fatigued and out of sync for most of the first half against Adelphi, it appeared as if the Terps were in for another let down.

But a savior appeared from the Maryland bench, a player with only 31 minutes of playing time to his name. That’s right, Jake Pace came to the rescue.

Pace, a redshirt sophomore, unleashed a scoring binge of two goals within a span of 48 seconds late in the second half, leading the Terps to a 2-0 win over Adelphi Tuesday evening. Pace almost broke the 0-0 tie at the end of the first half, with an absolute ripper of a shot that rattled hard off the crossbar.

The game winner was off a sent ball into the box by Taylor Kemp. Jordan Cyrus sent a stronger header in that was deflected high in the air.  The keeper, unable to corral the ball, allowed Karou Forbess to attempt a tiny scissor kick to score but he only clipped it.  After the miss, Pace came to clean it up.

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diamondbackonline.com

As #2 Maryland squeaked out a 2-1 in overtime over a persistent Rutgers team last Tuesday night, their performance seemed to foreshadow the team’s first loss was on the horizon.

Sure enough, the Terps (11-1-1) (3-1-0 ACC) suffered their first loss of the year, falling to Virginia 2-1 Friday night in Charlottesville. Casey Townsend, the NSCAA Player of the Week, netted Maryland’s only goal, an equalizer, in the 60^th minute. It was his 12^th of the season, which sets a new career high.

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