The Terps ride a dominant defensive display, led by McNaney and Schaller, to victory.
With five minutes remaining in the third quarter, No. 2 Maryland men’s lacrosse goalkeeper Logan McNaney — who was faultless for the other 59 minutes and 50 seconds of the game — mishandled a pass on a clear and lost the ball 30 yards from goal. Notre Dame’s Matt Jeffery, the top-ranked freshman of his class, scooped up the ball, ready to have his breakout moment and knot the score at six.
But Will Schaller had other ideas. Sensing Jeffery making his move 10 yards out, Schaller threw himself goalside. The shot came in, but Schaller’s splayed stick hand was in the way, blocking the empty-net shot and sparking pandemonium in the crowd.
Notre Dame got the ball back, but Schaller forced a turnover on the ensuing possession. The Terps moved quickly in transition. Ten seconds later, Daniel Kelly put the ball in the back of the net, pushing Maryland’s lead to 7-5.
Schaller’s national breakout moment swung Saturday’s national championship rematch in favor of the Terps. Maryland staved off a late comeback attempt and beat the two-time defending national, 11-10, at the Atlanta Lacrosse Invitational.
“They’re the national champs, which means we have a lot of respect for them,” Tillman said. “I thought our guys competed really hard.”
From the first whistle, Maryland was blitzed by the Irish.
The game started with a gritty faceoff. The ball did not leave the ground for over 15 seconds, a perfect marker of the game that was about to ensue. Both teams scrapped for the ball, and the Fighting Irish eventually picked it up.
On that first possession, Notre Dame moved the ball excellently, with the ball eventually ending up in the hands of a moving Jake Taylor, who had evaded his defender. Taylor made no mistake, ripping a behind-the-back shot past McNaney into the top corner of the net.
Before the Terps could blink, the deficit doubled. This time, Chris Kavanagh got free and unleashed a shot past McNaney.
Eric Spanos stole one back for Maryland on its first offensive possession, dodging free from a defender that went for an all-out check and beating Thomas Ricciardelli.
From there, the Terps had to survive an onslaught. Maryland did not win a faceoff and was outshot, 14-4, in the opening quarter. Jordan Faison scored a goal for the Irish to push the lead to 3-1. But two Notre Dame shots rattled off the woodwork, and McNaney made four saves to keep the Terps within reach.
With seven seconds left in the opening frame, Spanos got another goal back for Maryland. He caught a ball and turned on a dime, leaving a defender in his wake as he barreled toward the net and cut the lead to a goal.
Maryland began the second quarter with a faceoff win, its first of the game. With possession, freshman Jack Schultz worked All-American midfielder Ben Ramsey before finishing from an improbable angle to level the game.
The Terps thought they took the lead with 9:20 remaining in the opening half, but Braden Erksa’s goal was disallowed after he fell narrowly inside the goalmouth. Two minutes later, Daniel Kelly worked himself free for a shot, and a Maryland lead stood — for 45 seconds. Taylor got another for the Irish, and Notre Dame retook the lead a minute later, which it held at halftime.
“It felt like we played great in the first half, but we asked the guys, ‘How would you grade yourselves?’ And they were like, ‘Probably a C,’” Tillman said. “Alright, well, we need to play better then.”
Bryce Ford got the Terps off to a dream start in the second half, scoring two goals to wrestle back the lead.
After exchanging goals, Maryland entered the final 15 minutes up, 8-6.
Kavanagh had gone nearly 45 minutes without scoring, largely thanks to the marking of Schaller. But with Notre Dame staring down just its fourth loss in 43 games, he took matters into his own hands. Kavanagh’s first goal of the fourth quarter was simply preposterous. He drove to net and dove through the air, wrapping a shot around McNaney as he flew past the cage.
Maryland’s transition offense responded, with Erksa and Spanos proving clinical on the counterattack. Maryland led by three goals with 11 minutes remaining, the largest advantage for either team.
But Kavanagh raised his level, scoring two goals to wrap up a fourth-quarter hat trick and keep the Irish one back with six minutes remaining.
Maryland’s defense held strong on an ensuing man-up opportunity, and Daniel Kelly poached another transition effort to put Maryland up, 11-9.
But Notre Dame was not done. Faison scored with 93 seconds remaining toput the Terps in a precarious position. Off the ensuing faceoff win, Kavanagh unleashed a shot that went wide.
The ball came back Kavanagh’s way on the inbound pass. The senior worked himself netside on McNaney’s left and let off a little pop shot from the doorstop. McNaney got a foot on it for his seventh save of the fourth quarter and 16th of the game, though.
With the ball bouncing back toward the sideline, Schaller moved with everything he had left to earn possession for the Terps and seal the victory.
“Obviously, they’re super good, really tough … I’m proud of our guys,” Tillman said. “[And] the whole environment felt like a Final Four environment, which is pretty special.”
This was the first taste of such an environment for Maryland this year, but the way the Terps have begun their season, it may not be their last.
Three things to know
1. Turnovers abound for both sides. The teams combined for 30 turnovers, and several errant passes or lapses in concentration stalled momentum.
2. Notre Dame dominant on faceoffs. The Terps won 17-of-24 faceoffs in the national championship last year, aided by a dominant display from Luke Wierman. Wierman’s replacements have been strong this season, but the Irish flipped the script from the center circle, winning 18-of-24 in this matchup.
3. Spanos and Kelly each tallied hat tricks. With All-American second-team defender Sean Lyght taking Erksa almost entirely out of the game, Spanos and Kelly — who each tallied three goals — led the way for Maryland’s offense.