Cavs win in not-so-sudden death

At 6-foot-6 and 260 pounds, Maryland attackman Will Yeatman is one of the largest players you’ll ever see on a lacrosse field.

At a generously-listed 5-foot-9, 186 pounds, Virginia goalie Adam Ghitelman is one of the smallest players you’ll ever see.

On Saturday afternoon at Klockner Stadium, the opponents engaged in a duel that will likely be talked about for years to come.

In the longest game in NCAA Division I history, No. 1-ranked Virginia — thanks to a goal by Towson, Md., native Brian Carroll in the seventh overtime (yes, seventh) — defeated No. 9 Maryland, 10-9, in front of a crowd of 5,019.

The game wasn’t always pretty. Each team made a number of careless mistakes. Maryland even filed a protest with the ACC because of an official’s inadvertent whistle in the first overtime.

But in the end, the effort and grit on both sides made most in attendance forget all about aesthetic value.

“This is a game that we clearly win because of our play in the goal,” said Virginia coach Dom Starsia, whose squad improved to 11-0, 1-0 in the ACC.

Ghitelman finished with 22 saves. In each of the overtimes, he turned away several point-blank shots by the Terrapins, including four by the mammoth Yeatman.

“He made some great stops,” said Yeatman, who had two goals and three assists. “When you’ve got a goalkeeper like that, it’s hard to get a ball past him. He deserved to win, the way he played.

“Today they just made more plays and came out on top…Adam definitely had my number toward the end of the game.”

But if it wasn’t for Carroll, the teams might still be going at it.

After Ghitelman turned away a shot by Ryan Young, Carroll got the ball at the other end. The junior drove hard to his left and fired a left-handed shot over the left shoulder of Maryland goalie Brian Phipps.

“They had a guy there who didn’t end up sliding,” Carroll said, “so I took the shot…to be able to score the game-winning shot, you couldn’t ask for anything more.”

The game-winner was the third of Carroll’s career. Last year, he had one against Johns Hopkins. Earlier this season, he beat Syracuse with a late tally.

“I’m confident shooting at the end [of the game],” Carroll said, “but I just think it works out that way.”

Early in the fourth quarter, Virginia looked dead in the water. UVa trailed 9-6 with 13 minutes, 32 seconds left after a goal by Maryland’s Bryn Holmes.

But then the Wahoos snapped out of their funk, scoring three straight goals within a 62-second span to tie the game, the last of which came from Carroll on an assist from Danny Glading.

Virginia seemed like it was in the driver’s seat when Maryland was hit with penalties resulting in a two-man advantage. However, UVa couldn’t take advantage and the game went to overtime.

Just seconds into the first session, Maryland’s Grant Catalino scored what appeared to be the game-winner, but the goal was waved off because of what was termed an “inadvertent whistle.”

Starsia said that he and Terrapins coach Dave Cottle had spoken with the officials just before the play took place.

“[We] said, ‘We want a timeout if it goes in the box,’” Starsia said, “so when the ball went in the box, the official called timeout, even though coach Cottle didn’t actually call for the timeout. [The official] was anticipating the play.”

Starsia and Cottle appeared to engage in a shouting match on the sidelines as Cottle argued his case to the officials.

“He was hoping the official was going to make some other call, other than that call,” Starsia said. “I don’t blame him for being upset. [The official] anticipated the play and it was just too bad.”

In the ensuing overtimes, Maryland (6-3, 2-1 ACC) was able to generate far more scoring chances than Virginia. Yeatman had quality opportunities at both the end of the fifth and sixth sessions.

“There was no talk about being tired,” Ghitelman said. “It was just about giving it our all out there.”

Added Carroll: “We were going on adrenaline.”

Early in the second overtime, Virginia received a huge boost from backup goalie Mark Wade. The junior, who had entered the game after Ghitelman was hit with a penalty at the end of the first session — the infraction was actually a smart one since it likely prevented a goal — stopped a point-blank shot by Dan Groot.

In the first half, Virginia was outshot by eight and committed 15 turnovers, including a whopping 10 in the second quarter.

Yet it was a Maryland turnover right before the intermission that gave UVa some brief momentum.

Defender Matt Kelly intercepted an attempted clear by Phipps. Kelly passed to Garrett Billings, who hit a darting Steele Stanwick in front of the Terrapins’ net. Stanwick (game-high four goals) rifled a shot past Phipps with just 2 seconds remaining to give the Wahoos a 3-2 lead heading into the break.

Steve Giannone scored just 17 seconds into the third quarter to put Virginia up 4-2 before Maryland answered with four straight goals.

“We could have lost this game today,” Starsia said, “and if we had, I would have told you that the effort in the first half is not what we really wanted.

“There was no magic in the air on offense throughout the day. It was going to be a workmanlike performance.”

One made by possible by the smallest guy on the field.