Virginia's 14-10 Win Over Maryland an Exhibition in Maturity

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Earlier this week, Virginia attackman Connor Shellenberger called his offensive teammates together to remind them of their most recent meeting with Maryland.

From afar, the Cavaliers’ two losses to the Terrapins in 2022 were part of a string of routs for Maryland’s juggernaut. Last year, though, Virginia was the better team and still lost in overtime.

“He kind of said last year we did hype this thing up maybe a little too much,” midfielder Griffin Schutz said. “Maybe for the better, maybe for the worse. This year, we just tried to play within ourselves. We knew what we were capable of. The outcome is so awesome. It’s a credit to Shelly for kind of bringing us down a notch.”

The Cavaliers’ 14-10 victory before 7,845 sun-splashed fans was an exhibition in maturity. Virginia didn’t spray shots. It committed only eight turnovers, including three in the first three quarters. It cashed in its two extra-man chances.

And with Schutz collecting four goals and two assists, the Cavaliers (6-1) snapped a three-game slide against Maryland, earning its first victory over its old conference rival since the 2021 national title game.

“I thought they were better than us today,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “The stats kind of back that up. You could tell they were pretty locked in.”

Eric Spanos had two goals and two assists for Maryland (5-2), which committed 16 turnovers and paid the price in transition at times during the afternoon.

There were two prime individual matchups that tilted toward each team’s defensive stalwart. Ajax Zappitello marked Shellenberger for much of the day, and while Shellenberger finished with two goals and an assist, he did much of his damage when Zappitello was switched off him.

Meanwhile, Virginia’s Cole Kastner helped limit the Terps’ Braden Erksa to a single extra-man goal on three shots.

That was merely a part of an attentive defense that included schemes Schutz said were installed in the fall specifically for this game. It was also a timely showing, since the Cavaliers gave up 16 goals to Johns Hopkins and 15 to Towson on the previous two Saturdays.

“Our team defense made a one-game statement,” Virginia coach Lars Tiffany said. “It’s not a season statement. We made a one-game statement. We’ve been struggling. There’s no question about that. I could learn a couple things from [Virginia basketball coach] Tony Bennett. It just wasn’t at the level we needed to compete.”

That wasn’t a problem against the Terps, who struggled to deal with the Cavaliers’ physicality. Maryland had nine turnovers in the first half as Virginia opened a 6-2 lead the Terps could never completely erase.

“I think one of their plans was to make us uncomfortable, and at times I think we just needed to settle in and not let them force us out of our game plan,” Spanos said. “Those turnovers could be a product of that.”

Meanwhile, Schutz had a season-high six points after entering with 10 in six games. The 6-foot-3 junior is an imposing presence, but he is understandably not always inclined to disrupt the offensive flow of a team built around an attack of Shellenberger, Payton Cormier and McCabe Millon.

He collected three goals in a 5-0 spurt in the first half, and later stuck the first goal of the second half to make it 8-5.

“We weren’t winning a lot of our matchups against their short-stick defensive midfielders, who did a really nice job guarding [Ryan] Colsey and [Jack] Boyden and [Truitt] Sunderland. So, it was saying, ‘Schutz, I know you’ve got a long pole, but someone has to win a matchup here,’” Tiffany said. “We challenged him, and boy did he step up to the occasion. He’s had a couple of these days. Our hope is that this isn’t just a blip. Could this be the breakout?”

While that would be welcome news for the Cavaliers, Schutz’s contributions were only part of the problems faced by Maryland. A year ago, the Terps scrapped their way to a victory in Charlottesville, riding both absurd goalie play and steady emotional bearings to pull a surprise.

And even as Maryland produced an admirable effort, it couldn’t quite contend with this edition of Virginia.

“At times we did a really good job, and at times when we seemed to be just a little off or a step behind or we’d make a little bit of a mistake, they capitalized,” Tillman said.

And it didn’t hurt that Virginia was especially incentivized to beat a longtime opponent. Virginia won memorable NCAA tournament games in the 2019 quarterfinals and the 2021 national title game, and Maryland emphatically responded once the regular season series formally resumed in 2022 at Washington’s Audi Field.

“It’s a rivalry,” Tiffany said. “There’s no question about it. It’s too bad that for a few years it wasn’t happening, but since 2019 the rekindling and redefining what this rivalry is all about, it’s just about as good as it gets in college lacrosse.”