CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - Sophomore Jay Carlson scored three goals and junior goalie made 14 saves to lead the No. 2 University of Maryland men’s lacrosse team to a 9-7 victory over No. 15 Virginia on Saturday in front of 5,225 at Klockner Stadium.
The victory, which was the Terps’ first at Klockner Stadium since 2003, boosts the Terrapins’ record to 7-1 on the season and closes out their conference record at 2-1. The Cavaliers now stand at 5-6 overall and 0-1 in ACC play.
Maryland got off to a fast start when junior Mike Chanencuk ripped a low shot from 10 yards straight away to give the Terps a 1-0 lead just 35 seconds into the game.
The lead grew to 2-0 as some Terrapin defensive standouts hooked up for a transition goal. Sophomore Casey Ikeda caused a Virginia turnover near the top of the restraining box and senior Landon Carr picked up the loose ball and pushed the transition up the field. The Wahoo defense picked up Carr as he entered the box, but he threaded a pass to senior Jesse Bernhardt, who ripped a shot past UVa goalie Rhodey Heller at the 13:06 mark.
Carlson gave Maryland a 3-0 cushion with 8:15 left in the first when he scored a goal from virtually no angle on the left side of the crease.
Virginia got on the board with an extra-man goal at 6:19 in the first on a Ryan Tucker score.
The second quarter was scoreless until the 7:57 mark when the Wahoo defense gave senior Kevin Cooper a little too much room in the right alley and Cooper buried a big overhanded shot to give the Terps a 4-1 advantage.
The Maryland transition game struck again with 3:54 to play in the second as Amato made the save on a shot by Matt White and then fired a great outlet pass to Bernhardt. No one on the Virginia defense picked Bernhardt up as he entered the box and he laced a shot past Heller from eight yards out.
The Cavaliers ended their 18:14 scoreless stretch at the 2:05 mark of the second when Mark Cockerton scored unassisted to make it a 5-2 game going into halftime.
Virginia opened the scoring in the second half with a goal by Tucker at the 13:37 mark.
The Cavaliers looked to have the momentum and a golden opportunity when Jesse Bernhardt was called for a non-releasable illegal body check with 12:11 to play in the third. The Wahoos only got one chance though thanks to another great save by Amato.
Maryland would then open up a 7-3 lead on back-to-back goals by Haus. The first came with 9:11 left on the clock as he tight-roped the crease and slipped a low shot past Heller. He scored again at the 2:25 mark when he ripped a shot from the left wing into the top right corner off of a feed from senior Jake Bernhadt.
Virginia seemed to have stemmed the tide near the end of the third when James Pannell scored with 31.8 left on the clock.
But Maryland wasn’t ready to concede the quarter. After sophomore Charlie Raffa won the ensuing faceoff, Chanenchuk found Carlson on the crease and Carlson scored on an off-balance behind-the-back shot to make it an 8-4 game heading into the fourth.
Carlson finished off his hat trick with a one-timer from the crease off of a feed from Cooper at the 8:47 mark of the fourth to give Maryland a 9-4 lead.
Cockerton scored his second of the game for Virginia to trim the Terrapin lead to 9-5 with 7:00 to play.
The lead was trimmed to 9-7 with back-to-back goals by Virginia’s Greg Coholan and O’Reilly with 1:27 to play, but Amato came up big again, making two of his 14 saves down the stretch to help preserve the victory.
Raffa finished the game winning 10-of-20 faceoffs with a game-high nine groundballs. Junior Michael Ehrhardt led the defenders with three groundballs, while sophomore Goran Murray had two groundballs and a caused turnover.
Maryland returns to on Friday, April 5 when it plays at Navy. Faceoff between the Terps and the Midshipmen is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium.
Game Notes:
• With today’s 9-7 win, Maryland is now 46-43 all-time vs. Virginia.
• With three points on three goals, sophomore Jay Carlson now has three hat tricks, nine multi-point and eight multi-goals for his career.
• With two points on a goal and an assist, senior Kevin Cooper now 17 multi-point games for his career.
• With three points on two goals and an assist, senior John Haus now 24 multi-point and 12 multi-goal games for his career.
• With two points on a goal and an assist, junior Mike Chanenchuk now has 22 multi-point games for his career.
• With his 14 saves, junior Niko Amato now has 16 double-digit save games for his career.
• Amato’s assist in the second quarter was the third of his career and his first since assisting on a goal by Landon Carr vs. Virginia on March 31, 2012.
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