(Photo Courtesy of Maryland Athletics)
For the first time since 2022 and the eighth time in the John Tillman era, the Maryland Terrapins will be playing for a national championship on Memorial Day.
Maryland dominated Virginia 12-6 in Saturday afternoon’s semifinal contest. The win sends Virginia home and gives the Terrapins payback from earlier this season as the Cavaliers bested them 14-10 in mid March.
Daniel Kelly had a hat trick while Eric Spanos (2G/3A) had five points. The duo combined for eight points to lead the Maryland offense. That unit got going in the first quarter and stayed the course as the Terrapins continued their hot streak in May. The Terrapins have combined for 42 goals in the NCAA Tournament thus far and are averaging 14 per game in the NCAA Tournament.
Maryland came into the NCAA Tournament averaging 11 goals per game and riding a two-game losing streak with consecutive losses to Johns Hopkins (7-5) and Penn State (19-9).
On Saturday, Connor Shellenberger struck just 55 seconds into the contest to give Virginia an early 1-0 lead. That was the only advantage the Cavaliers would have all day as Maryland got rolling just minutes later and never slowed down.
Late in the first quarter, Maryland struck three times within 80 seconds in what would be a game-changing sequence. Daniel Kelly struck first off a feed from AJ Larkin to cap a transition sequence. Kelly struck again off a feed from Braden Erska. Luke Wierman ended the sequence with a score off the faceoff win to make it a 4-1 game.
All Maryland did was continue to pour on as the Terrapins took a 7-3 lead at the half and grew it to an 11-4 advantage entering the final frame. A Jack Brennan score off a Spanos feed with 5:45 left proved to be the final score of the game and sealed the 12-6 win.
While Maryland’s offense continued to find its groove and much in part to Luke Wierman’s effort (15-for-22) at the dot, the story of the game was the Terrapins defense.
Maryland held Virginia to its lowest goal total of the season. Ajax Zappitello held Virginia’s Connor Shellenberger to 1-of-5 shooting on the day. Zappitello caused three turnovers and collected three ground balls. Anchoring that defensive effort was Logan McNaney who made eight saves.
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