Virginia men's lacrosse coach Dom Starsia was worried about how his team would come out against Maryland on Saturday after an emotional quadruple overtime victory over No. 5 Johns Hopkins the previous weekend.
His fears proved to be unfounded as No. 7 Virginia (4-3, 1-0 ACC) stifled No. 1 Maryland (7-1, 2-1), 7-2, behind the spectacular play of Cavalier freshman goalkeeper Tillman Johnson.
Johnson recorded 16 saves and held the unbeaten Terrapins scoreless for the first 35 minutes, 51 seconds of the game until Terp freshman attackman Dan Lamonica scored in the third quarter.
"Unbelievable - that's the only word I know to describe" Johnson's play, Virginia co-captain Conor Gill said. "I thought he played out of his mind last weekend [against Hopkins], but he comes out today and plays that much better. The sky is the limit for him."
"I thought I played well, probably one of the best games I've had in a while," Johnson said. "After the Hopkins win, I felt really confident coming out here today. I felt like I was seeing the ball really well and just playing my game."
Starsia credits Johnson's play for providing the spark that helped the defense come together.
"Once in a while, you just need your kid to step up," Starsia said. "I'm not saying we couldn't have won without [Johnson's] performance today, but with that kind of goalie play, it's easy to play inspired defense."
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