NCAA Tournament semifinals preview: No. 7-seed Maryland men’s lacrosse vs. No. 5-seed Virginia

The Terps will play in their 29th Final Four in program history.

Maryland men’s lacrosse will play in its 10th NCAA Tournament Final Four matchup since head coach John Tillman took over the program. This year, the Terps are making the trip to Philadelphia, where they will meet No. 6-seed Virginia for the second time this season.

After a lackluster end to the regular season, Maryland has hit its stride at the perfect time.

“What sets you up for success as a head coach is the people around you,” Tillman said, highlighting team leaders Luke Wierman and Ajax Zappitello, as well as his staff. “Coaches get too much blame or credit whether you win or lose.”

The game is set for Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and will air on ESPN 2.

What happened last time

Maryland’s season had gone about as well as it could have entering its first match up against Virginia. The Terps were 4-1, with their only loss coming on the road to the defending national champions, Notre Dame. Virginia represented a similar caliber of challenge as the Fighting Irish, entering the contest with just one loss as well.

Maryland looked to press its advantages early, as Eric Spanos, playing in the midfield, took the ball to the X twice and put Maryland ahead, 2-1.

But it didn’t take long for the Cavaliers to find a response. They quickly potted five unanswered goals, and their premier midfielder, Griffin Schutz, secured an early hat trick.

The Terps then responded with three goals in a row, cutting Virginia’s lead to one late in the second half. However, that was as close as they would get.

Freshman McCabe Millon gave Virginia a 7-5 advantage at the break with a goal late in the half. The two teams then spent the third quarter trading goals, but it soon became clear that Maryland’s offense couldn’t keep up with Virginia’s.

Connor Shellenberger, who spent the game being hounded by Zappittello, got free for one of his two goals late in the third quarter, sending Maryland into the final quarter down, 11-7.

The Terps made a valiant effort at a fourth-quarter comeback, with Daniel Kelly cutting the Cavaliers’ lead to 12-10, but they came up short in the end, as Virginia added two more insurance goals late to beat Maryland on its home turf, 14-10.

What’s happened since

Virginia’s defeat of the Terps was its third win in a seven-game win streak that also included victories over Harvard and North Carolina.

Conference play was not kind to the Cavaliers, though. They lost handily to Duke, 18-12, before being edged out, 18-17, in a 35-goal thriller to Syracuse.

They ended their ACC season with back-to-back losses to Notre Dame. In their first match against the Fighting Irish, the Cavaliers kept it close, as the score was knotted at nine with 10 minutes left. But Notre Dame shut the door, scoring two more times to solidify the victory. A week later, Virginia fared even worse and were dominated, 18-9, in the ACC Tournament.

The Cavaliers were up for a home game in the NCAA Tournament and hosted St. Joseph’s in the first round. They made easy work of the Hawks, as attacker Payton Cormier scored eight times, solidifying himself as the NCAA’s all-time goal scorer en route to a 17-11 win.

In the next round, the Cavaliers faced a tougher test in Maryland’s arch-rival, Johns Hopkins. After trailing for most of the game, Virginia tied it up late to send the contest to overtime. It took two overtime periods before Shellenberger took over, beating his man and scoring to send Virginia to Memorial Day weekend.

As for Maryland, its frustration following its loss to Virginia was compounded by losing a heartbreaker on the road to Michigan. After that, the Terps bounced back, winning three straight conference games against Penn State, Ohio State and Rutgers. However, they ended their regular season on a whimper, losing to Johns Hopkins, 7-5.

Maryland also lost its opening game in the Big Ten Tournament to Penn State. It was the Terps worst defeat of the year and sent them to the NCAA Tournament in bad form.

The Terps did not let their last few games define their season, though, as they dominated Princeton at home to open the tournament.

Last week, the Terps met No. 2-seed Duke in what many expected would be their final game of the season. But behind a dominant Wierman performance, Maryland stormed back in the fourth quarter, defeating Duke, 14-11.

Three things to watch

1. Virginia’s goalie problem. One issue that has plagued the Cavaliers has been the struggles of their goalkeeper, Matt Nunes. Nunes has been pulled from multiple games this season for poor play, including in last week’s game against Johns Hopkins. Virginia head coach Lars Tiffany did not say whether Nunes or backup Kyle Morris will be in the cage against Maryland.

“For us, we just have to prepare for two guys, knowing that they are both very talented,” Tillman said.

2. Faceoff battle. Maryland would not have made it to this far without Wierman, who won 20-of-29 faceoffs against Duke and scored twice, both at crucial junctures of the game. The Terps will look to him to provide a similar boost against another high-powered offense. In Maryland’s last game against Virginia, Wierman won 16-of-28 faceoffs.

3. Shellenberger vs. Zappitello. Last week, Tillman and defensive coordinator Jesse Bernhardt threw the lacrosse world a curveball by foregoing the Zappitello versus Brennan O’Neil matchup, placing Zappitello on Josh Zawada, Duke’s main offensive facilitator. It is unlikely Maryland’s staff will deploy something similar against Virginia, considering Zappitello matched up well against Shellenberger the first time the two teams met. Although Shellenberger scored twice in the first game, he was looking for screens all day to free himself from Zappitello.

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