On a cold Saturday night at Villanova Stadium, the men's lacrosse team lost a close one to the defending national champion runner up and #1 team in the country, the Maryland Terrapins. With the 10-7 loss, Villanova falls to 1-5, while the Terps improve their undefeated record to 6-0. Kevin O'Neil and Max Hart notched 2 goals each for the home squad. For the visitors from College Park, MD, Jay Carlson had 5 scores while Kevin Cooper dished out 4 assists.
The Cats came out of the gates strong, jumping out to a 3-1 lead by the second quarter. The Nova lead was erased by halftime as the Terps scored 3 unanswered to take a 4-3 lead into halftime. After the Cats tied the game up at 5, Maryland used another 3 goal run for an 8-5 lead. Nova into the deficit and trailed 8-7 with nine minutes left in the 4th quarter, but the Maryland defense put the clamps down the rest of the way to secure the victory.
Head coach Mike Corrado finally made a goalie change for this contest, putting in sophomore Reed Carlson over freshman Greg Stamatov before the game. Carlson responded with a 10 save effort on 20 shots against the best team in the nation. Villanova's downfall in this one was their lack of team offense. Of the 7 goals scored by Nova, only 1 was assisted. For a team that prides itself on constant motion and sort of organized chaos, it's disappointing to see the Cats with only 1 helper.
The daunting stretch continues for the Wildcats next Saturday when they take on #7 Syracuse at Villanova Stadium at 7 PM to open up Big East play.