Maryland caps undefeated season with 9-7 win over Cornell in the NCAA lacrosse title game

Maryland and Cornell faced off in the inaugural NCAA Division I men’s lacrosse title game in 1971. There, the Big Red defeated the Terrapins, 12-6. The two schools contested the championship again in 1976, Cornell winning once again, 16-13, in overtime.

Monday marked the third matchup between the schools in college lacrosse’s title game. This time, No. 1 Maryland (18-0) finally got its revenge over No. 7 Cornell (14-5) with a 9-7 victory, backed by midfielder Anthony DeMaio’s four goals and goalie Logan McNaney’s 17 saves.

» READ MORE: Maryland, Cornell advance to Monday's NCAA lacrosse title game

With the win, Maryland completed a perfect season, becoming the first undefeated champion since Virginia in 2006, in front of a crowd of 22,184 at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, Conn.

“I think that it was just settling down, getting into the rhythm of the game,” DeMaio said.

DeMaio got off to a hot start, scoring a first-quarter hat trick. He also had notched three goals in the first 15 minutes eight days ago in the quarterfinals against Virginia. At the half, Maryland led 7-2 and had dominated every aspect of the game. McNaney — who would be named tournament MVP — made 10 saves on 12 shots (.833 save percentage) before the break.

All nine Maryland goals were assisted, a testament to the quick ball movement the Terps are known for. Maryland was the nation’s best passing team all season, leading the country with 11.69 assists per game, a full two assists more than second-place Jacksonville (9.47).

In the third quarter, the Terps began to lose some steam, a surprising sight given their biggest strength is depth. The team failed to find the net for the final 27 minutes of the game.

Meanwhile, Cornell went on a 5-0 run from the end of the third quarter through to the final whistle. Maryland committed six turnovers and registered just one shot on goal in the fourth quarter. What was a runaway 9-3 lead after 45 minutes became somewhat of a nail-biter as time ran out.

“No matter what the score was, we had to lay it all out there,” Cornell defender Gavin Adler said of the fourth-quarter run. “We just ran out of time.”

As the final whistle sounded, sticks went flying in celebration. With an 18-0 record, Maryland set the record for most wins in a season without a loss.

Attacker Logan Wisnauskas also set a program record for most points in a season. With two goals and two assists, the Tewaaraton Award favorite ended the year with 103 points. Jared Bernhardt, who recently signed with the Atlanta Falcons, had previously held the school record with 99 points in 2021. The Tewaaraton Award for the nation’s most outstanding player will be handed out on June 2.

Last Memorial Day, Maryland entered the title game undefeated but was upset by Virginia, 18-9. Returning to the same stadium a year later, the Terps didn’t make the same mistake twice.

“The way things went down last year, man, it was a gut punch. … It’s hard when you lose because the journey is so long,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “I don’t know if it’d be redemption per se, but I do think when the guys came back [this year], they were laser focused.”

This time leaving Connecticut with trophy in hand, the 2022 Maryland Terrapins will go down in history as one of the best college lacrosse teams of all time.