Saturday’s showdown between No. 1 Maryland and No. 2 Virginia — both undefeated this year, both responsible for a classic national title game last Memorial Day — figured to be one of the most memorable regular season clashes in recent memory.
It was, at least for Maryland.
The Terrapins never trailed in a 23-12 rout before 10,480 at Audi Field, dominating faceoffs and steamrolling the Cavaliers in transition to exact a modest measure of payback for losses in the last two NCAA tournaments.
“There is no question who the No. 1 team in the country is right now,” Virginia Coach Lars Tiffany said.
Who is No. 1 in May is what matters the most, and these teams could again collide in the postseason like last year, when Virginia spoiled Maryland’s shot at a perfect season with a 17-16 victory in the national title game.
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Yet a complete performance counts for something. Keegan Khan scored four times; Jonathan Donville, Owen Murphy and Logan Wisnauskas each recorded hat tricks; and Anthony DeMaio delivered two goals and four assists.
“Our stress all week was that it was another game,” DeMaio said. “Just go out there and play our game and do what we do. We know how good of a team they are. It was definitely just sticking to the script.”
Maryland hasn’t lost a regular season game since Feb. 18, 2020, and has won 24 of its past 25 games overall. Coupled with last weekend’s 24-6 defeat of Albany, this is also the second time this season the Terps have scored 20 goals in a game in consecutive contests. Maryland hadn’t previously done it even once in a season since 1995.
Matt Moore and Connor Shellenberger both scored three times for the Cavaliers (6-1), who allowed their most goals since a 24-19 loss to N.C. State in 1978.
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The energized environment for the neutral-site matchup hinted at the potential of a wild game almost from the start. And a high-scoring affair was no surprise, considering Maryland entered the day leading the country in scoring with 17.5 goals a game, with Virginia just behind at 17.33 a contest.
Khan scored eight seconds into the game off a feed from Maryland’s Luke Wierman (24 of 36), who immediately established faceoff supremacy. That was a contrast from last spring, when Virginia’s Petey LaSalla won 21 of 37 attempts in the title game and had a goal and an assist.
“It all started in the middle of the field — Luke Wierman, what he did, the wing guys,” Maryland Coach John Tillman said. “… Those guys were tremendous. I just think getting those extra possessions allowed us to get in a rhythm.”
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That prevented Virginia from doing what it does best: tacking goals on top of each other thanks to the combination of possession and tempo. Instead, Maryland gradually stretched out its lead, from 5-3 at the end of a quarter to 12-6 at halftime to 15-7 late in the third quarter.
Finally, there was a hint of Virginia’s potential, with the Cavaliers keeping Maryland off the board for 11 minutes and rattling off four consecutive goals to halve the lead. But Maryland defensive midfielder Roman Puglise scored off a faceoff to provide an answer, and defenseman Matt Rahill buried a 60-yard shot into an open net as Virginia deployed a 10-man ride to make it 17-11 and effectively end it.
“Those are daggers,” Tiffany said.
It was the first regular season meeting between the old conference rivals since Maryland left for the Big Ten after the 2014 season. Virginia had won the two meetings since, last year’s title game and in the 2019 NCAA quarterfinals.
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It was also the first Division I men’s lacrosse game played at Audi Field. The contest, part of the Capitol Lacrosse Classic, featured the largest attendance for any Division I game this season.
“It felt like a playoff game,” Moore said. “I just had the same chills that I got in the national championship game.”
Perhaps they’ll meet again at that stage. Maryland graduated Tewaaraton Award winner Jared Bernhardt off last year’s 15-1 team, yet it has reshaped its offense around Wisnauskas and a pair of transfers in Donville (Cornell) and Khan (Villanova).
And it’s not as if Virginia has struggled, either, finding itself in one game decided by fewer than four goals during its 6-0 start.
The Cavaliers promised they would learn from the lopsided loss. As for Maryland, it was a day to celebrate finally vanquishing Virginia to close out the nonconference portion of the schedule.
“A lot of the guys, [this] meant a lot to,” DeMaio said. “We showed that today.”
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