Maryland Beats Ohio St. 9-6 In NCAA Lacrosse Championship
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Dylan Maltz had two goals and an assist and top-seeded Maryland beat Ohio State 9-6 on Monday in the NCAA men's lacrosse championship, ending a 42-year title drought for the Terrapins.
Playing in the championship game for the third straight year, Maryland (16-3) avoided another heartbreaking finish when Ohio State ran out of time after rallying with three straight goals in the fourth period to pull within 8-6.
Tim Rotanz put an end to the Buckeyes' comeback hopes with 58.1 seconds remaining, scoring his third goal of the game. The Terps held on to win the third title in school history and first since 1975.
Maryland's Nick Brozowski launched the ball into the air with about five seconds remaining. His teammates charged off the sideline to celebrate, one year after falling to North Carolina in overtime of last year's championship game.
Maryland's women's team won the national title on Sunday.
Adam DiMillo scored twice, Matt Rambo had a goal and an assist and Connor Kelly scored for Maryland.
Tre Leclaire had a goal and an assist for Ohio State (16-5), playing in the title game for the first time. Six players scored for the Buckeyes as they came up short in their third meeting against Maryland.
The Buckeyes won the regular-season match 11-10, Maryland prevailed by the same score in overtime for the Big Ten tournament championship, and the Terps won when it mattered most.
The familiarity between the two was evident in a low-scoring game, which Maryland broke open with four consecutive goals late in the first half for a 5-2 halftime lead.
The tight defense continued through the third quarter, with Ohio State and Maryland exchanging goals, then Maltz struck 1:22 into the fourth quarter, bouncing a shot past goalie Tom Carey for a 7-3 lead.
As the clock ran down, excitement built on the Maryland sideline. The Terps sensed the end of the championship wait was coming. Rambo's goal with 10:36 left made it 8-3 with time running out for the Buckeyes.
Ohio State had gone 15:29 without a goal until Jake Withers scored with 10:24 remaining. Leclaire scored again for the Buckeyes, and Johnny Pearson's goal with 2:25 remaining pulled them within two goals before Rotanz sealed it for Maryland.
After Colin Chell's goal put Ohio State up 2-1 in the first quarter, Maryland tied it on a goal by DiMillo, starting the Terps on a 4-0 run. Kelly scored on a wraparound to give Maryland its first lead with 59 seconds left in the period, and Maltz and DiMillo added second-quarter goals to put the Terps up 5-2 at halftime.
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