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University of Maryland Athletics

Men's Lacrosse Celebration at Virginia Daniel Kelly
14
Winner Maryland UMD 5-2
13
Virginia VA 6-1
Winner
Maryland UMD
5-2
14
Final
13
Virginia VA
6-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 OT F
Maryland UMD 3 1 6 3 1 14
Virginia VA 1 5 3 4 0 13

Game Recap: Men's Lacrosse |

Kelly Scores In OT To Lift No. 3 Terps To 14-13 Win At No. 1 Virginia

CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – In a battle fitting of the last two teams to win the National Championship, Daniel Kelly scored for No. 3 Maryland in overtime to give the Terps a dramatic 14-13 win over No. 1 Virginia, handing the Cavaliers their first loss of the season. Maryland moved to 5-2 overall, while Virginia is now 6-1. 

In overtime, Brian Ruppel made three incredible saves to gain possession back for the Terps, setting the stage for Kelly's heroics. 

The Terps had nine different goal-scorers, with Jack Koras posting a career-high four goals, giving him hat tricks in four of his last five games. Kelly and Braden Erksa each scored two goals. Erksa set up Kelly's winner with 1:41 elapsed in overtime for his third point of the game. Jack Brennan, Daniel Maltz, Owen Murphy, Eric Spanos, Eric Kolar, and Luke Wierman also scored for Maryland, displaying the well-rounded nature of the Terps' offense. Brennan, Murphy and Wierman also had assists for two-point games. Kolar's goal was the first of his career. 

Virginia scored two goals in the final two minutes of regulation to even the game and sent it to overtime after Koras had scored his fourth of the game to put the Terps ahead 13-11 with 2:40 left. 

Trailing 6-4 after halftime, Maryland exploded in the third quarter to go on top 10-9 with six goals. From there, the Terps were able to keep the lead thanks to more timely goals, and key saves from Ruppel in cage.  Ruppel made 14 saves in the cage. Luke Wierman won 15-of-30 faceoffs and scooped up eight groundballs. Ajax Zappitello had five groundballs and caused two turnovers while Brett Makar had four GBs and a caused turnover. Pole John Geppert also forced two turnovers and scooped up three groundballs. 

Thomas McConvey had four goals and an assist for five points. Goalie Matt Nunes made 16 saves for the Cavaliers. 

Tillman's Take

"It was shades of Notre Dame. In the huddles we talked about it and the kids were like, 'Hey we've been here before, let's just make the next play and settle down.' I thought Kolar's groundball was great. I thought Kolar had a huge game for us today. A lot of our young guys did, Ruppel, Nick Redd, Erksa, Spanos. Those guys are doing a great job and when you have guys like Brett and Ajax and Geppert who are great leaders it helps everyone." 

Breaking Down The Action
  • The Terps came out of the gates hot offensively, as Daniel Kelly, Daniel Maltz, and Jack Brennan all scored within the first six minutes to make it a 3-0 game. Virginia got one back before the end of the quarter to cut it to 3-1. 
  • Virginia pulled ahead 6-3 in the second quarter before an Eric Spanos goal cut the deficit to two, at 6-4, heading into halftime. 
  • Maryland exploded for six goals in the third quarter to make it 10-9 with 15 minutes remaining. Braden Erksa scored twice in the period, and Luke Wierman scored his first of the season. 
  • After Koras and Eric Kolar scored to put the Terps up 12-9, Virginia answered with two goals to get back within one at 12-11, but Koras' fourth of the day put the Terps up 13-11 with 2:40 left. But Virginia tied the game as Connor Shellenberger, and Thomas McConvey scored to even the game with 1:18 left and send it to overtime. 
  • Ruppel made those three clutch saves in the extra session leading Kelly's game-winning goal off a feed from Erksa. 
Hat Trick Terps
  • Maryland now has had a hat trick in 64 straight games dating back to February 2, 2019.
  • Jack Koras notched a hat trick for the second consecutive game. It was the fourth of his career – all this season -- as he finished with four goals.  
Multi-Terps Update
  • Koras' four-goal performance was his 10th career multi-point game and fourth this season. He notched his fourth hat trick in the last five games, his first four this season. 
  • Erksa notched two goals for the third time in his young career that he's scored twice in a game. It's his fourth time in seven games recording multiple points. 
  • With two assists, Long had his 40th career multiple-point game of his career and 23rd career multi-assist game. 
  • Brennan had a goal and an assist, marking his third consecutive game with multiple points recorded. He has reached that feat 14 times in his career. 
  • Murphy had multiple points for the fifth time this season and 16th time as a Terp. 
  • Wierman, who scored his first goal this season, had his first multi-point game with a goal and assist. It was the fifth time he had two of more points in a game. 
Record Book Update
  • Luke Wierman moved to fourth in career groundballs with 267. He passed Jack Francis, who had 263 from 1980-83. Next up is Charlie Raffa, who had 274 from 2012-15.
  • Wierman is also now fifth in career faceoff wins with 499. He passed Raffa, with 498 from 2012-15. 
  • Kyle Long moved to 28th in career points with two in the game to give him 134. Next on the list at No. 27 is Brendan Hanley (140 points from 1985-88). 
  • Long is also now 16th in career assists with 84, passing John Lamon and his 83 assists (1976-79). Up next is Jared Bernhardt and his 88 assists from 2017-21. 
Numbers To Know
  • 4: Jack Koras scored a career-high four goals in the game. 
  • 9: Nine different players scored in the game for the Terps. 
  • 10: The Terps are now 144-16 in games they score 10 or more goals since John Tillman took over in 2011.
  • 14: With 14 saves, Ruppel has now made 14 saves in three games since he took over as the starter five games ago. 
  • 25: Long extended his point-scoring streak to 25 games dating back to the 2021 season. 
  • 30: Wierman won double-figure faceoffs for the 30th time in his career with 15 wins. 
Terps Lead Series
  • Maryland now leads the series 50-46 and has won the last three between the two programs.
Up Next
  • The Terps return home to open Big Ten play. They will host Penn State on Saturday, March 25, at 5 pm on Big Ten Network and the Maryland Sports Radio Network.
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