PHILADELPHIA — Luke Wierman scored just once for seventh-seeded Maryland in Saturday’s NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament semifinal. Still, the graduate midfielder was invaluable during a 12-6 triumph over sixth-seeded Virginia at Lincoln Financial Field.
A deeper dive into the box score underscored as much: Wierman won 15 of 22 faceoffs, including 10 of 12 in the first half. That disparity not only provided extra possessions, a handful of which led to goals, but also kept the ball away from Virginia’s prolific graduate attack duo of Connor Shellenberger and Payton Cormier.
The Terrapins (11-5) are headed to Monday’s national championship game against top-seeded Notre Dame, a 13-6 winner against fifth-seeded Denver in Saturday’s other semifinal. As they try to deny the defending champion Fighting Irish, the Terps will seek their second national title in three years. Maryland will be making its 17th appearance in the NCAA final and its eighth under Coach John Tillman.
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“We didn’t maybe get off to the greatest start at first, but … [Wierman] seemed to be locked in and ready to go,” Tillman said of the Terps’ career leader in faceoff wins and groundballs. “So offensively I think that definitely gives us some confidence. Luke is awesome.”
With senior attackman Daniel Kelly contributing three goals and Wierman collecting 10 groundballs, both game highs, Maryland continued its offensive resurgence. In three NCAA tournament games, the Terps have scored 42 times while limiting two of their opponents to eight goals or fewer. Before a crowd of 32,269, Maryland avenged a 14-10 loss March 16 in College Park. Wierman went 16 for 28 on faceoffs in that one.
Goalie Logan McNaney had eight saves Saturday, five of which came in the second half as Maryland opened an 11-4 lead going into the fourth quarter. The decisive third period featured the Terps scoring four of the five goals. Graduate midfielder Ryan Siracusa and junior attackman Eric Spanos (two goals, three assists) buried the last two within three minutes of each other.
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The close defense tandem of senior Ajax Zappitello, the No. 3 selection in the Premier Lacrosse League draft and the most decorated player at his position in program history, and junior Colin Burlace limited Shellenberger and Cormier to two goals on 10 shots while forcing them into six turnovers. Shellenberger is Virginia’s career leader in points, and Cormier is the NCAA’s all-time leader in goals.
“Ajax is incredible,” Burlace said of Zappitello stifling Shellenberger after getting beaten for a one-on-one goal in the first quarter. “We have the utmost confidence in him to win his matchup and do his job, which allows us to kind of do our own thing and not worry about that as much. And being able to take a player like Connor Shellenberger and kind of put him on an island with Ajax, I mean, Shellenberger is going to get his every now and then, but we trust Ajax.”
Freshman attackman McCabe Millon scored two goals for the Cavaliers (12-6), whose undoing included a 38-29 deficit in groundballs and just 15 shots on goal. Sophomore goalie Kyle Morris stopped five shots after getting the starting nod over Matthew Nunes. The junior, who was uneven this season, had started every game of his career except for two appearances coming off the bench during senior day in Charlottesville.
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Last week, during an 11-10 upset of No. 3 seed Johns Hopkins in the quarterfinals, Virginia Coach Lars Tiffany pulled Nunes in the first quarter after he permitted four goals on five shots. This time, Nunes replaced Morris at the start of the fourth quarter with the outcome all but decided. Maryland had a 7-3 lead at halftime after stringing together an early 6-1 run.
“Unfortunately, we were on the wrong side of possession today, and [credit] Luke Wierman — credit that first half, where it was really lopsided,” Tiffany said after the Cavaliers scored their fewest goals since he took over in 2016. “We were generating a lot of shots, but we just weren’t putting them on cage, and we were playing too much defense as it went on.
“It was one of those days where we needed the ball more. Luke Wierman wouldn’t allow that to happen.”
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