Maryland men’s lacrosse rallies to beat Yale

Maryland midfielder Joe LoCascio recorded a hat trick on Saturday afternoon in the team’s 8-7 victory over Yale. (Mandatory Credit: Anna Scipione)

Despite trailing 7-4, the Maryland men’s lacrosse team never wavered.

The Terrapins scored four unanswered goals to top Yale 8-7 in the First Round. Midfielder Joe LoCascio recorded a hat trick on Saturday afternoon and fellow midfielder Bryan Cole had a pair of goals and an assist.

It was Cole’s fourth consecutive game with multiple points.

After four unanswered by Yale, Cole answered with a goal right in front of Natale to cut the deficit to 7-5.

Following Cole’s goal, Maryland killed a 60-second man-up advantage in which Yale failed to even get a shot off.

With 7:27 to go, LoCascio received a pass from attackman Matt Rambo and moved to his left to rip one past goalie Eric Natale to make it a 7-6 game.

With 6:41 left, Rambo took a hand-off  pass from attackman Colin Heacock and worked his way in front of the cage for the goal. Maryland erased a three-goal deficit in the fourth quarter.

Just over a minute later, Cole worked his magic as he whipped it over to midfielder Henry West, who rifled a low shot home. Maryland scored four unanswered goals in an eight-minute stretch and West’s tally proved to be the game-winner.

The Terps had three players register at least three points with Rambo being the third.

The first half was a stark contrast to the second. It was a defensive battle with Maryland having a two-goal lead at one point, but that was the most goals that separated the two teams.

More from Maryland Men's Lacrosse

• Maryland Men’s Lacrosse: 2022 Schedule Released
• Maryland Lacrosse: Jesse Bernhardt hired as assistant coach
• Maryland Lacrosse: Lots of movement for the Terps
• Maryland Lacrosse: Ryder Garnsey makes a lot of sense for Maryland
• Maryland Lacrosse: Terps tabbed second in Inside Lacrosse’s 2018 rankings

With 12:22 left in the opening quarter, LoCascio spun off Yale attackman/midfielder Michaael Bonacci and ripped a shot past goalie Eric Natale to give Maryland a 1-0 lead.

Yale turned the ball over three times in the first five minutes of the game.

Goalie Kyle Bernlohr looked very confident in the cage early on as he recorded five saves in the first quarter. Throughout the game, Bernlohr made big saves when he had to.

With 5:21 remaining in the first quarter, LoCascio dodged around several Yale defenders and buried a left-handed shot to give Maryland a 2-0 lead.

Yale did finally solve Bernlohr as midfielder Jason Alessi score with 3:05 left in the first quarter. It was one of two goals on the afternoon for the freshman.

Maryland can be so methodical on offense and displayed it early in the second quarter when they swung the ball around the horn to Heacock. On the man-up advantage, Heacock side-stepped midfielder James Tjarksen and converted the easy goal to put the Terps up 3-1 with 14:30 remaining in the second quarter.

With just 14.7 seconds, midfielder Michael Keasey received a beautiful feed from fellow midfielder Eric Scott and found the back of the cage to tie the game at three.

Maryland controlled the pace of play in the first half with long offensive possessions and stifling defense. Both goalies were remarkable as Eric Natale had seven saves while Bernlohr recorded six stops.

With the win, Maryland moves on to the NCAA Quarterfinals where they will face the winner of Colgate/North Carolina in Annapolis next Sunday afternoon.