The Cooldown: March Felt Like May in Monster Weekend

If that was the appetizer, I can’t wait for the main course.

A rematch of last year’s NCAA championship game between Maryland Notre Dame – played before over 10,000 fans at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium – more than delivered with Logan McNaney’s late save on Chris Kavanagh on the doorstep helping lead the Terps to an 11-10 victory over the two-time reigning national champs.

Maryland will be the new No. 1 team in the country this week, but unlike recent years where three, and maybe four, teams seemed ahead of the pack, this year feels a little more wide open. Remember, it was only three weeks ago that the Terps needed overtime to beat a Loyola team that has yet to win a game this season against its challenging slate.

But the Terps clearly deserve, and have earned, their No. 1 ranking. An opening win over Richmond that continues to look more impressive as the season goes on. A win over a talented Syracuse team, a victory at Princeton – which just went down to Tobacco Road and won a pair of games against Top 10 foes – and now a victory ending Notre Dame’s 17-game winning streak that included a 15-5 drubbing of the Terps in last year’s title game.

Notre Dame is very much a work in progress in many ways. The Irish didn’t open until Feb. 12, a week and a half later than most teams, and two of its key offensive players – midfielders Jordan Faison and Matt Jeffery – didn’t play until last weekend after extended seasons with the school’s football team.

But there are weapons galore for Notre Dame and the Terp defense was more than up to the task. McNaney, the star of Maryland’s 2022 national championship, made 16 saves (seven in the fourth quarter), none bigger than his game-saver with 23 seconds left.

Logan McNaney made MULTIPLE doorstep stops against Chris Kavanagh in the 4th quarter 🧱🧱

The All-American goalie finished with 16 saves in the @TerpsMLax 11-10 win over Notre Dame 🔥 pic.twitter.com/UtxdVnK1QJ

— TLN 🥍 (@LacrosseNetwork) March 1, 2025

Appropriately, McNaney’s save became Maryland’s ball as junior defenseman Will Schaller won the race to the sideline. Schaller made perhaps the play of the game late in the third quarter with the Terps leading by one. After McNaney lost the ball outside of the Notre Dame offensive zone on a clear attempt, Schaller sacrificed his body with a diving leap to stop Jeffery’s empty net shot.

Will. Schaller. https://t.co/sSxNyVo0cO pic.twitter.com/UHZke8y0Lh

— Maryland Men's Lacrosse (@TerpsMLax) March 1, 2025