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Best of 2009
Male
Player | Female
Player | Male
Performance | Female
Performance | Male
Coach | Female
Coach| Game
| Comeback
| Breakthrough
| Look | Mainstream
Moment | Fan
'09 Rewind: UVA-Maryland (7OT), Game of the Year
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Brian Carroll's left-handed runner in the seventh overtime sealed an epic Virginia win over Maryland on March 28. © Virginia |
The best lacrosse game of the year did not occur in an NCAA
tournament setting — unless you’re a hockey fan, that
is.
Regular-season lacrosse games on ESPN2 are a rarity. Frankly, they
don’t mean much. Maryland-Virginia on March 28? Yawn. With
the redundancy of the ACC tournament and the strong likelihood both
will eventually qualify for the NCAA tournament regardless (only
five times in the last 20 years has that not happened), it lacks
drama.
Not since 1995 had The Deuce aired regular season lacrosse games
before picking up games in 2008 and this year. Little did we know
we were in for a doozy.
So were those waiting to watch North Dakota play New Hampshire in
an NCAA ice hockey tournament regional. They should have been OK,
what with the action in Charlottesville starting at noon and
UND-UNH not on until 2 p.m.
Joe Beninati called play-by-play. Quint Kessenich provided color
commentary and translation for the not-so lax savvy. He compared
Maryland beast Grant Catalino’s shooting to a golfer teeing
off, the way he used his back and leg muscles, for instance, and
talked about how Steele Stanwick was the only Virginia player with
a traditional leather pocket — all the better for this
off-and-on rainy day.
They found a cadence, and hit their crescendo at the right time,
as Virginia scored three goals in 62 seconds to forge a 9-9 tie and
force the game into overtime.
And oh, the drama.
Catalino scored what appeared to be the game-winning goal just
nine seconds into overtime on a low scorcher that beat Virginia
goalie Adam Ghitelman, only officials waived the goal. Dave Cottle
went berserk. You could hear the Terps’ head coach through
the microphone on the field imploring, “We never called
timeout!” An inadvertent whistle negated Catalino’s
goal.
The game would continue to epic lengths.
When was the last time you saw a game-saving penalty? That’s
what Ghitelman got for coming out of the cage to cross-check Ryan
Young, who was fed stark naked on the crease with one second
remaining in the first OT.
In came Mark Wade, UVA’s seldom-used backup, for double
overtime. Terps sniper Dan Groot made sure Wade wouldn’t go
untested, forcing Wade to sprawl for a save 38 seconds into
Ghitelman’s one-minute penalty.
Ghitelman would return, amassing six of his game-high 22 saves in
overtime. The action did not cease. It was unrelenting.
Maryland’s Brian Phipps was almost as good.
It took seven overtimes to settle the matter.
Finally, Brian Carroll’s left-handed runner 51 seconds into
the seventh overtime sealed a 10-9 victory for then No. 1-ranked
Virginia.
And so it was that a national TV audience — including some
unwilling hockey fans (or potential lax converts, depending on how
you see it) — witnessed the longest game in NCAA lacrosse
history.
HONORABLE MENTION
Northwestern 13, Penn 12 (2OT)
The Quakers rallied from down 11-7 to force overtime in this NCAA semifinal, but it'll be remembered for Katrina Dowd's flip goal that sent it into sudden death.
F&M 11, Salisbury 10 (OT)
Seven ties and six lead changes marked the NCAA Division III women's final, won by the Dips thanks to Blake Hargest's goal 2:20 into overtime.
