Final Four Environment in Atlanta for Classic Maryland Win

ATLANTA — Organizers of the Atlanta Lacrosse Invitational could not have asked for more.

The weather was perfect for an early March afternoon in the Southeast, with temperatures in the high 60s, clear skies and a little breeze.

The fans were there, as promised. The bottom bowl of the home side at Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium was filled and another thousand or so migrated to the upper deck. The final count even surpassed the 10,000 expected by promoters.

And the teams responded with a classic game that wasn’t decided until the final minute, with No. 2 Maryland holding on for an 11-10 victory over No. 1 Notre Dame, avenging last year’s loss to the Fighting Irish in the NCAA Championship game.

“It was unbelievable,” Maryland coach John Tillman said afterwards, still gazing in the stands at the Maryland fans who didn’t want to leave. “We had sense that this could be a really good crowd, knowing that it’s Notre Dame, a great team, the national champion. So, I kind of felt like, if the weather was good, this could be pretty awesome. The whole environment felt like a Final Four environment, which is pretty special.”

Maryland appeared to be well on its way with a 10-7 lead with 11:36 to play, but Notre Dame got two goals from Chris Kavanagh to trim the margin to one. Maryland’s Daniel Kelly responded a short-handed goal with 5:22 remaining, only to have Notre Dame’s Jordan Faison score at 1:33 a few seconds after returning from a timeout.

When Notre Dame’s Will Lynch won the ensuing faceoff, the Irish called another timeout with 1:23 left to set up their end-game strategy. The Irish got two shots off in the final minute, with Kavanagh firing high on one and with keeper Logan McNaney stopping Kavanagh with 23 seconds left.

“I’m so proud of our guys,” Tillman said. “Just a lot of grit again, guys flying around the field, scrapping, and when we broke down, I thought Logan really bailed us out.”

Maryland’s Eric Spanos and Daniel Kelly each scored three times and Bryce Ford and Jack Schultz scored twice. Georgia product Braden Erksa had one goal and one assist.

Kavanagh scored four goals, Jake Taylor scored three and Faison scored twice for the Irish.

Maryland junior defenseman Will Schaller said, “The environment was incredible. We’re super fortunate to be able to come down here. The Terp nation was awesome, as usual, so I didn’t expect anything less. They have a great fan base, too, so this was a top-tier clash.”

Hundreds of diehard fans fled the cooler temperatures of the Northeast and Midwest and showed up in Atlanta ready to eat, drink and enjoy each other’s company at the pregame tailgate events. The Notre Dame and Maryland fans transformed both ends of Georgia Tech’s nearby parking lot into a hive of activity rarely seen outside of football game. There was food, music and a lot of green and red.

A couple of Atlanta-area parents were the unofficial hosts – Ryan Finley, whose son Fisher plays at Notre Dame, and Dawn Erska, whose son Braden plays at Maryland. They both arrived early and set up tables and tents to accommodate their friends and extended families.

“We’re undefeated in tailgating,” Erksa said. “College Park is something else to see and we’re doing our very, very best to reciprocate.”

The tailgating added to the big-time atmosphere and what they hope will draw more exposure to the sport in a booming area of the country.

“Bringing two big powerhouses here allows these kids to see what the next level looks like, right up close and in person,” Finley said. “North Carolina played a game at one of the high schools in Roswell when Fisher was in high school and we went to that just to see that next level. It shows the kids that that dream can be a reality.” Nurturing the idea that kids from the South can play big-time lacrosse was important to the event’s hosts, who are eager to get more young players involved in the game.

“Our goal is to create opportunities for kids to do something different,” tournament organizer and longtime local lacrosse activist Jason Beyo said. “You can be 5-foot-6 or 6-foot-5 and you can play. You don’t have to be 6-8 or weigh 300 pounds to play lacrosse.”

The sport has a definite foothold in the South. There are 135 public and private high schools competing in lacrosse in Georgia, making it the fastest-growing sport for boys in the state. It is estimated that there are 20,000 who are participating in youth leagues throughout Georgia. Many of those youngsters were hanging over the bottom rail and exchanging high-fives with the players as they left the field.

The tripleheader – there was a high school game to start the day and another match between Drexel and Mercer afterwards -- was part of the “Lacrosse Out Cancer” promotion to raise money to benefit the Pediatric Children’s Research Foundation, as well as veterans organizations Shootout for Solders Foundation and Save a Warrior.