Earlier this season, the University of Virginia came to Byrd Stadium as the unanimous #1 team in the country. They came out on fire and took an early 6-0 lead, stunning the Terps who were coming off a loss at North Carolina the week before. Building a massive lead at halftime, UVA almost collapsed completely as Maryland almost tied the game up at 10-10 late in the 4th quarter before Ryan Young's goal was waved off due to a controversial crease violation. Instead, Shamel Bratton raced down the field while the fans the players in red were celebrating to ice the game and give UVA an 11-9 victory. Maryland had not lost since that night and got wins over Johns Hopkins. They won their semi-final game in dominating fashion, 13-5 over the Tar Heels.
On Sunday, in the clash for the ACC crown, UVA (13-1, 2-1 ACC) did not need to hold off a furious comeback by Maryland (9-3, 1-2 ACC). Adam Ghitelman was superb in goal and held the Terrapins to just 6 goals after giving up the first 3 before making a single save. Will Yeatman didn't play because of a mild concussion and Grant Catalino and Travis Reed scored 1 goal apiece. Ryan Young couldn't find the back of the net either.
Maryland out-shot the Wahoos 36-27, won just as many face-offs (each team had 10 in the game), and kept the ground ball battle close , with UVA holding a 32-28 advantage in that department.
The game resembled the scoring of a basketball game with both teams going on runs throughout the day. Maryland started the scoring off with a 3-0 streak, getting goals from Owen Blye, Drew Snider, and Michael Shakespeare. Virginia responded with a 4-0 run of their own led by their talented midfield with Brian Carroll and Rhamel Bratton scoring a goal apiece in the run. Reed tied things up with his only goal.
Steele Stanwick put the Cavaliers up 5-4 before the half and then Catalino responded with his only goal. After that UVA put the game out of reach with a 5-0 run. The Terps were held scoreless for 28 minutes. Catalino's two points, he had an assist in the game as well, tied him with Dave Dempsey for 22nd on the all-time scoring list.
Stanwick and Rhamel Bratton led UVA with 3 points each (2G, 1 A). Virginia's close defense also helped hold Maryland's EMO unit, best in the country, to 0-2 on the day. But Ghitelman took home the MVP trophy. He had 16 saves against the Terps in the final and 28 overall, while only giving up 18 goals.
Maryland got 4 players on the All-ACC-Tournament team. Grant Catalino, John Haus, Brett Schmidt, and Brian Farrell grabbed the honors.
Maryland will close out it's regular season home schedule this Saturday against Fairfield. It will be the final home game for the seniors.
Quick shout-out to the Maryland Women's Team. They beat #1 UNC in their final and should take over the #1 spot in the country themselves.
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