PHILADELPHIA – Sophomore Matt Rambo led the Terps with three points on two goals and an assist, but the No. 6 seed University of Maryland men's lacrosse team couldn't rally past No. 4 seed Denver in a 10-5 defeat in the NCAA championship game on Monday afternoon at Lincoln Financial Field.
Maryland finishes the season with a program record 15-4 mark. Denver wins its first NCAA title with a 17-2 record.
Denver struck first on back-to-back goals by Wes Berg to take a 2-0 lead in the first five minutes of the contest.
Maryland answered back in short order as sophomore midfielder Colin Heacock got the Terps on the board with a wrap-around shot from the behind the goal with 9:19 remaining in the first quarter.
Berg and Connor Cannizzaro scored for the Pioneers in the final five minutes of the first to give Denver a 4-1 lead at the end of the opening frame.
Rambo, a native of Glenside, Pa., kicked off the second quarter scoring with his patented left-handed power dodge and finish to pull Maryland within 4-2 at the 13:13 mark.
Denver's Erik Adamson scored his lone goal of the game to score the Pioneers' only goal of the second quarter.
Maryland responded with 3:43 left in the half when Rambo found junior midfielder Bryan Cole sneaking around the side of net to cut the deficit to 5-3 going into halftime.
Denver tallied the first three scores of the second half to open an 8-3 lead with 7:07 remaining in the third quarter.
On an incredible individual effort, Rambo struck again to net his 40th goal of the season and bring the Terps within four at the 5:55 mark, which rounded out the scoring for the third quarter.
A defensive struggled ensued in the fourth quarter with neither team able to score until 1:21 left in the game when Denver's Sean Cannizzaro capitalized on an extra-man opportunity to make it a 9-4 Pioneer lead.
Berg tacked on an empty-netter with 56 seconds left to finish the scoring for the Pioneers.
Maryland got its final tally of the game with 32 seconds remaining when senior attackman Jay Carlson finished a feed from senior midfielder Joe LoCascio to make it a 10-5 final.
First team All-America goalie Kyle Bernlohr kept the Terps in the game throughout the second half, making six of his 10 saves in the final 30 minutes of play.
Rambo, Bernlohr and freshman long pole Matt Neufeldt, who finished with four groundballs and three caused turnovers, were named to the All-Tournament team.
The game was the final game in the careers of eight Maryland seniors: Mike Bender, Carlson, Bobby Gribbin, Ikeda, LoCascio, Eric Parnon, Charlie Raffa and Zack Wholley.
Game Notes:
• With today's 10-5 loss, Maryland is now 4-1 all-time vs. Denver and 3-1 in NCAA tournament play vs. the Pioneers.
• Sophomore Matt Rambo finished the season with 40 goals, marking the first time a Terrapin player has had at least 40 goals in a season since 2006 when Joe Walters had 46 as a sophomore.
