Weekend One-Liners: Can Maryland Keep Upper Hand on Virginia?

Virginia's struggles against Duke are well-known and tiresome to hear about for the Cavaliers' faithful. But there's another more recent streak that Virginia wants to flip as well — one against its former ACC rival Maryland.

Since beating the Terps in the 2021 NCAA championship game, Virginia has dropped three straight to Maryland. In 2022, it wasn't even close. The Terps won 23-12 in the regular season and then ended the Cavaliers season with an 18-9 hammering in the NCAA quarterfinals en route to its own national championship.

Last year, Maryland freshman goalie Brian Ruppel made three unbelievable saves in one possession during overtime before Daniel Kelly scored the game-winner in a 14-13 Terps victory.

RUPPEL THREE STOPS. UNBELIEVABLE.

He’s a @TerpsMLax FRESHMAN. pic.twitter.com/dyFlWI9xqU

— USA Lacrosse Magazine (@USALacrosseMag) March 18, 2023

If Virginia wants to prove its ready to hoist some hardware again — as it did in 2019 and 2021 — this is a chance to make a statement.

They'll have to do it in College Park, where they haven't played since 2014.  A crowd of more than 5,000 showed up to Klockner in Charlottesville for last year's epic showdown and a good crowd should be on hand this weekend with temperatures climbing in the Mid-Atlantic region. 

Here are 10 games to watch this weekend and why, with one sentence on each. All times Eastern.

Navy (3-3) at No. 6 Johns Hopkins (5-2) – Friday 7 p.m. (ESPN+)

Johns Hopkins' Garrett Degnon is looking for a goal in 38 straight games, which would break a school record he currently shares with greats Ryan Brown and Terry Riordan.

Lehigh (3-3, 1-0 Patriot) at No. 2 Army West Point (6-0, 2-0 Patriot) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

Army, ranked No. 1 in the USILA and Inside Lacrosse media polls, is looking for its best start since 1958 when it finished 9-0 and won the national championship.

NJIT (7-0) at Vermont (2-5) – Saturday 12 p.m. (ESPN+)

Can surprising NJIT take the next step as it opens America East play against conference heavyweight Vermont?

Le Moyne (2-3) at Hobart (2-3) – Saturday 12 p.m. (HWS Athletics)

Recent Division II power Le Moyne meets historic Division III power Hobart for the first time in history for these now Division I programs in New York.

No. 3 Duke (7-1) at No. 16 Richmond (5-2) – Saturday 1 p.m (ESPN+)

How will the nation's save percentage leader, Richmond's Zach Vigue (67.3), hold up against the nation's No. 1 offense in Duke (18.6 goals/game)?

No. 14 Harvard (6-0) at No. 8 Yale (3-1) – Saturday 1 p.m. (ESPN+)

Grab your popcorn, or your abacus, as Harvard, off to its best start since 1990, ranks No. 2 in scoring offense (16.8 goals/game) and Yale, coming off a win over No. 1 Denver, averages 15.8 goals per outing.

No. 17 Michigan (5-2) at No. 1 Notre Dame (4-1) – Saturday 2 p.m. (ACCNX)

Can Michigan star Michael Boehm rebound from a bad-shooting effort like he did during a turning point in the Wolverines' 2023 magical season?

No. 10 Syracuse (6-2) vs. No. 18 Delaware (3-2) - Saturday 2 p.m. (FloSports)

Syracuse is looking for another netural site win, this time in Chantilly, Va., against a Delaware team looking for one more chance to boost its non-conference resume.

No. 7 Virginia (5-1) at No. 9 Maryland (5-1) – Saturday 3 p.m. (Big Ten Network)

Maryland takes great pride in its defensive tradition and the Terps don't want to be the team that lets Connor Shellenberger (four points away from tying Matt Moore) become Virginia's all-time leading scorer.

Cornell (3-2) at Princeton (4-2) – Sunday 2 p.m. (ESPNU)

Cornell has won the last three games in the series, but has to shore up a defense (13.6 goals per game allowed) playing against a battle-tested Princeton squad that is facing its fifth straight ranked opponent.