Unstoppable Maryland Ends Virginia's Championship Reign in NCAA Quarterfinals

The undefeated Terrapins put an end to the Cavaliers' three-peat bid with a 18-9 beatdown on Sunday in Columbus

Matt Newton | May 23, 2022

Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics

Virginia's nine-game winning streak in the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament has finally come to an end.

The two-time defending national champions became the latest team to fall victim to the unstoppable Terrapin train that will almost undoubtedly go on to complete the undefeated season, win the national championship, and make a legitimate case as one of the greatest lacrosse teams of all time. Virginia's nearly three-year reign as the national champs came to an end with a lopsided 18-9 loss to No. 1 Maryland in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Men's Lacrosse Tournament on Sunday afternoon at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

When these two teams met in the regular season in Washington D.C. back on March 19th, an overwhelming advantage in the possession battle and an elite level of efficiency on the offensive end produced a 23-12 victory for the Terrapins as the UVA offense was simply unable to keep up. This time, it was the Maryland defense that set the tone, smothering the talented Virginia attack.

Tewaaraton finalist and reigning NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Connor Shellenberger was held without a single point by an incredible individual defensive effort by Maryland's Ajax Zappitello. Similarly, Brett Makar held Matt Moore in check, as UVA's all-time leader in points scored had just one assist and one goal on nine shots. Moore finishes his UVA career with 277 points (most in UVA history) on 143 goals (second-most) and 134 assists (fifth-most).

Without any production from their two best players, the Cavaliers sputtered on offense, scoring just one goal in the first quarter and four goals in the entire first half. Griffin Schutz scored the lone goal in the opening period and it was also the first goal of the game. The Terrapins responded with a 4-0 run to end the quarter, with three of those goals coming from Anthony DeMaio.

Jeff Conner tallied two goals in the second quarter, but Maryland responded with a pair of goals after Conner's first goal and three more goals after his second to make it 9-3. The senior midfielder was a bright spot for the Cavaliers, as he registered three goals and one assist. With a minute and a half left in the first half, Virginia's vaunted attack unit finally made an appearance as Matt Moore found a cutting Payton Cormier for a goal.

The Cavaliers trailed by a surmountable five-goal margin at halftime, but the Terrapins quickly took control of the game to start the third quarter as they tallied four straight goals, the first two coming from Logan Wisnauskas. Both Wisnauskas and DeMaio had three goals and two assists for Maryland, who had ten different players record goals in the game. Owen Murphy led the Terps with four goals. UVA never drew closer than eight goals after that as Maryland cruised to yet another blowout win.

Just as they did in the regular season meeting, the Terrapins had a strong advantage in the possession battle as Luke Wierman won 20 of the 29 faceoff draws he took, dominating the matchup with Petey LaSalla. As a result, Maryland outshot Virginia 50-35.

UVA put 24 shots on cage, but Logan McNaney was stellar in between the pipes for the Terps, making 14 saves versus eight goals allowed for a .636 save percentage. Virginia freshman goalkeeper Matthew Nunes was peppered with shots by the Terrapins for the second time this season, making 11 saves and giving up 18 goals.

Maryland's victory over Virginia snaps a five-game losing streak for the Terrapins against the Cavaliers in the NCAA Tournament, a streak that dates all the way back to 2003.

Virginia ends the season with a record of 12-4 as the Cavaliers suffered their first NCAA Tournament loss since a first-round defeat to Loyola on May 12th, 2018.

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