By: Cody Wilcox
Entering into Sunday’s contest against the No. 17 Notre Dame Irish, the No. 2 Maryland Terrapins were trying to accomplish what the No. 1 Loyola Greyhounds were not able to do against the No. 7 Towson Tigers: go on the road and beat an undefeated lower-ranked team. If they could accomplish this, Maryland would likely move into the No.1 overall spot that Loyola would vacate with their 12-10 loss.
The Terps, however, were not able to accomplish this and lost 14-13 to Notre Dame in the first possession of overtime, suffering their first loss of the season.
Although the Terps scored four goals in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 13, the Irish capitalized on a Nick Brozowski penalty at the end of regulation that awarded them the ball to start overtime and eventually worked the ball around for a score.
Maryland contained Notre Dame’s extra man offense, but it was attackman Brian Willetts who wrapped around the goal and netted a diving shot that won the game for the Irish. He finished with three goals and two assists, while midfielder Brendan Gleason led the way for Notre Dame with four goals and one assist.
Maryland (5-1), came out of halftime facing a 7-5 deficit until senior Will Snider ended his 1-for-19 shooting drought to score two goals in just over a minute and tie the game at seven apiece. Notre Dame (2-1) immediately responded with four straight goals, including three in a matter of 41 seconds, to take their largest lead of the game.
Throughout the game, the two ranked teams engaged in six lead changes and six ties. While Notre Dame put together two four-goal runs, Maryland composed a three-goal run in the first quarter and a four-goal run to notch the game at 11 apiece in the fourth.
Maryland entered the game eighth in opponents goals per game, while Notre Dame was fourth, with 8.40 and 7.50 respectively. But Maryland capitalized early scoring a season-high four goals in the first quarter.
Freshman Kyle Long built off of his two assist day against the Navy Midshipmen and led the Terps with two goals, including his first collegiate goal, going into halftime.
Entering into Sunday’s contest, Notre Dame midfielder Bryan Costabile led the Irish with seven goals, including a career-high five goals against their season opener against Detroit Mercy. However, the Terps kept the Sykesville, Maryland, native in check for most of the game, scoring his only goal of the game in the final five minutes of the second quarter.
Weathering Notre Dame’s four-goal third quarter, Maryland showed great effort in their comeback with multiple hustle plays from players like Snider and sophomore Logan Wisnauskas, who would finish with three goals and two assists on the day.
Snider and junior Jared Bernhardt led the second half comeback for the Terps as Snider notched his career-high three goals and his first career-hat trick, while Bernhardt had two second half goals.
But ultimately, it was the end-of-regulation penalty that hurt the Terps and gave Notre Dame the ball to start in the sudden death overtime.
The Terps will continue their two-game road trip on March 9 when they travel to Albany, New York, to face the Albany Great Danes.
