The third-seeded Virginia men’s lacrosse team secured its sixth straight win Saturday afternoon by defeating unseeded Maryland 13-12 at Hofstra’s James M. Shuart Stadium in Hempstead, N.Y.
The Cavaliers (15-3, 3-1 ACC) toppled the Terrapins (12-5, 3-2 Big 10) in the quarterfinal round of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Championship. With the win, Virginia finds itself advancing to the Final Four for the 23rd time and the first time since 2011.
Behind an incredible late-game comeback, Virginia claimed its 45th victory against Maryland all-time and its 14th in the former ACC rivals’ last 19 meetings.
Maryland kicked off the match with two goals before Virginia sophomore attackman Matt Moore got the Cavaliers on the board after almost nine minutes of play.
Sophomore midfielder Logan Wisnauskas scored another for the Terrapins, but the Cavaliers used a pair of goals to tie the game at 3-3 with 14:07 left in the first half.
Maryland used a 3-1 run to regain the advantage and went into halftime with a 6-5 lead after Virginia sophomore attackman Ian Laviano scored a last-second goal.
The two teams traded goals early in the second half before a 5-0 Maryland run gave the Terrapins a commanding 12-7 lead.
With under 10 minutes left in the game, the Cavaliers needed to mount a comeback, and with senior midfielder Ryan Conrad leading the way, they did just that.
Conrad scored consecutive goals to cut the Terrapins’ lead to three. Laviano and Conrad combined for two more goals for Virginia in the span of 44 seconds to cut the deficit to 12-11.
Virginia junior attackman Michael Kraus completed the comeback with a stinging shot into the corner of the net, tying the game for the fourth time.
Neither team scored in the last 1:14 as Virginia headed to its fourth overtime of the season.
Freshman midfielder Petey LaSalla won his seventh faceoff in a row for Virginia to kick off the extra period. Just 45 seconds into overtime, Kraus found Moore in space who drilled a shot into the back of the net and secured the win for the Cavaliers.
On the brink of suffering its first loss in over a month and being eliminated from the NCAA Tournament, Virginia scored the game’s last six goals to just barely edge Maryland.
Conrad led the Virginia attack with four goals and an assist, while Laviano contributed a hat-trick of his own. Moore also added a pair of goals and an assist, and Kraus contributed a team-high four assists as well as the all-important game-tying score.
Virginia will next face Duke in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on Championship Weekend. The semifinal matchup will be played Saturday, May 25, in Philadelphia, Pa. at Lincoln Financial Field.
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