ANNAPOLIS, Md. -- Defending national champion Maryland pulled away in the second half and advanced to its fifth consecutive championship weekend with a 13-8 win over Cornell on Sunday afternoon at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in the NCAA quarterfinals. The top-seeded Terrapins improved to 14-3, while the Big Red's season came to an end after a 13-5 campaign.
Maryland scored the game's first three goals and outscored the Big Red 5-0 in the decisive third quarter to open up a close game and a pair of long scoring droughts did in one of the nation's most efficient offenses. The Terps' defense held the Big Red scoreless over the first 19:18 of the game, then went another 22:20 without surrendering a score - including the first 19:40 of the second half. The lead grew to as much as eight at 12-4 before the unseeded Big Red chipped away and got back within 12-8 with six minutes remaining on the strength of four consecutive goals.
Senior
Jordan Dowiak had four goals and an assist and
Connor Fletcher had a goal and three assists to lead the Cornell offense.
Clarke Petterson had a pair of goals and sophomore
Jeff Teat assisted on two more, ending his sophomore season with 99 points.
Christian Knight made seven saves, closing his career as the fourth Big Red goalkeeper to be credited with 600 saves. Big Red defender
Jake Pulver (two caused turnovers) did an outstanding job on Tewaaraton Trophy finalist Connor Kelly, limiting him to one goal and only three shots.
Bubba Fairman had three goals and two assists, Jared Bernhardt had three goals and an assist and Logan Wisnauskas had two goals and two assists. Dan Morris made eight saves between the pipes for Maryland in the victory.
Maryland scored the lone goal of a quiet first period, as the two longtime rivals felt each other out. The Terrapins scored its seconds goal 83 seconds into the second and built as much as a four-goal edge, but Cornell chipped away at the top seed. The Big Red ended the half with consecutive goals and drew a 30-second penalty as halftime expired to go into halftime knowing they'd have the ball and an extra-man opportunity.
Dowiak played an inspired game, with his stinger for a goal and a flip pass for an assist late in the first half making it 6-4 at the break. Cornell broke a long scoring drought in the second with a highlight goal. With Maryland on the clear,
Jake McCulloch ran over the Terps' defender to separate him from the ball. Seconds later, Petterson caught a pass in transition from Teat, faked twice and put the ball in the cage to get Cornell on the board.
The third quarter was all Maryland, and despite an impressive Big Red fourth quarter run led by three straight goals by Dowiak, the in-state Terps were able to close out the win.
Maryland used a big advantage in the face-off game (15-9) and efficient shooting (13 goals on 30 shots) to earn the right to play either Duke or Johns Hopkins in the national semifinals. Cornell held an edge in shots (38-30) and ground balls (38-30).
QUOTABLE CORNER
Coach Milliman opening statement …
I want to congratulate Maryland and give them all the credit they deserve for winning this game. They did an outstanding job and earned the victory. On our end, more than anything, I'm sorry to be done this season with this group. It's a special group. I couldn't be prouder of the effort and the leadership of the 11 seniors that really gave everything they had for this program. We were hoping to get another week together, we made some good plays and some bad plays, but at the end of the day we left our hearts on the field and i couldn't ask for anything else.
Coach Milliman on Cornell's lack of offense in the third quarter ...
Not having the ball is a big part of not scoring goals. That was one of the top contributors. Jeff [Teat] being shut is not new. It's been happening for two years. There's things we do to deal with it but honestly at times we think our better option is to play without him. A lot of the goals we scored today, although it doesn't show on the stat sheet, are part of Jeff being shut. We are much better offensively with him touching the ball, but as you can see ... when we make that the game plan, to get Jeff the ball, we probably struggle more than anything else.
Coach Milliman on holding Tewaaraton Trophy Finalist Connor Kelly to just one goal and only three shots ....
It's Jake [Pulver]. That's it. It's pretty good defense. We put 34 on Connor Kelly and he did a good job.
Coach Milliman on the season ...
These guys [
Jordan Dowiak,
Jake Pulver, and
Christian Knight] have seen some ups and downs. They really embrace what it means to be a Cornell lacrosse player and the tradition and the history of this program. I think they really took it personal that they wanted to make this an impact season, not just one for them ... They really wanted to make sure it was done the right way at Cornell. In every possible way they led the charge and they took pride in doing things the right way. They deserve every ounce of the credit for what they put in and these are just three of the 11. I think every senior deserves the credit, and it would be great if they were up here to get that recognition because they all did an incredible job.
Senior Defenseman Jake Pulver …
I can't help thinking of a quote Coach Stevens said when he was a senior when we lost to Albany, He said 'I wouldn't trade a win today for those memories in the locker room with those guys.' And I truly believe that. I love each and every one of them and we made some great memories over the years and it's great that we got back to where Cornell should be. I'm just happy I could do it with them.
Coach John Tillman '91 on Cornell …
I want to tip my cap to Cornell. What Pete Milliman and his staff have done in their time there is truly incredible. To put themselves on the brink of going to the Final Four is just tremendous. I have a lot of respect for them. Their future is really bright. They have some really good young players.
NOTES TO KNOW
•
Jordan Dowiak becamse just the third midfielder in Cornell history, and first since
Connor Buczek '15 to amass 40 goals in a single-season.
•
Jeff Teat finshed the season with 62 assists, the third most assists in a single-season in Cornell history, behind only Tim Goldstein (73 in 1987) and Eamon McEneaney (65 in 1975).
• Teat finshes the season with 99 points, the fourth most in program history.
• With his two assists, Teat becomes jsut the fifth player in Big Red history to amass 100 career assists.
•
Christian Knight finishes his career with 600 saves, just the fourth goalie in Big Red history to hit 600 saves.
