Stop if you’ve heard this before: Bryan Cole lifts the Maryland lacrosse team to victory.
Well, that’s exactly what happened on Sunday night when the Terrapins came from behind to beat Penn State in an 11-10 overtime win. Cole scored the game-winning goal with just 43 seconds remaining in the first overtime period against the Nittany Lions.
Cole received a little flip pass from midfielder Henry West and Cole immediately made his way towards the cage. He sent a scorching low shot past goalie Will Schreiner to give the Terps the win.
Cole was one of three Terps that topped the three-point mark as he scored a pair of goals and added an assist. Attackman Colin Heacock and West each had a hat trick to give Maryland a huge boost in the scoring column.
This certainly was an action-packed contest that was full of offensive firepower.
Penn State came out very strong in the first half and managed to outscore Maryland 5-3 in the opening quarter. Four of the Nittany Lion goals came unassisted and Nick Aponte tallied a pair to really get his team going.
From the 4:55 mark of the first quarter to the 9:39 mark of the second quarter, Penn State went on a 6-1 scoring run to give them an 8-4 lead. Mike Sutton scored two of those goals and the Nittany Lions really didn’t appear phased by the No. 5 Terps.
After all, this is a team that knocked off defending national champion Denver on March 26.
After trailing by four goals, Maryland seemed to wake up.
With 5:23 left in the second quarter, Dylan Maltz took the ball from behind the cage and found a cutting Heacock in front for a goal. The tally was the final of three first half goals for the junior.
Not even two minutes later, attackman Matt Rambo scooped up a ground ball and found talented freshman Louis Dubick behind the cage. Dubick made his way in front and rifled one above Schreiner to make it a two-goal game.
Midfielder Connor Kelly added another goal with just 1:15 left in the first half. This came just over a minute after the Terps killed off a six-on-four advantage that Penn State had after penalties to Heacock and Maltz.
In the final 5:23 of the first half, the Terps scored three goals to cut the deficit to 8-7 heading into the break.
Each team held a one-goal lead on one occasion in the second half. A majority of the half was highlighted by impressive defense and phenomenal goaltending.
Maryland held a 10-9 lead in the fourth quarter after another goal from Kelly. However, with 8:52 left in regulation, Ryan Keenan tied the game up for Penn State.
The game would stay deadlocked until late into the overtime period when Cole was able to win it.
Goalie Kyle Bernlohr stopped a career-high 14 shots, including eight in the second half and overtime. Maryland also scooped up 33 ground balls compared to just 23 for Penn State.
The Terps also won six of the eight face-offs in the second half and 15-of-25 throughout the entire game.
Next: Terps get commitment from Cam Spence
Maryland returns to the field on Saturday afternoon when they host Rutgers after the football team’s Red-White Spring Game.