Terrapins Top Hoyas in Overtime

PRINCETON, N.J. May 22 -- The Maryland men's lacrosse team needed to score its ninth goal against Georgetown twice in their NCAA tournament quarterfinal Sunday. The second came after senior Andrew Schwartzman scored on a close shot with 56 seconds left in sudden-death overtime for the winning goal in a 9-8 victory before 6,315 at Princeton Stadium.

The game changed, however, soon after Maryland appeared to have taken a 9-7 lead following a goal by junior Bill McGlone with 1 minute 33 seconds left in regulation. On the play, McGlone kept the ball on his stick despite being checked by two longstick defenders, including senior all-American Brodie Merrill.

Georgetown senior Andy Corno said he looked at McGlone's stick as he took the field for the faceoff and didn't see anything wrong with it. But assistant Matt Rienzo told Coach Dave Urick that he thought the stick was illegal.

Urick called for a stick check just as Corno and Maryland's David Tamberrino were about to crouch for the faceoff. The referees brought the stick to midfield, checked it, then threw a flag. The ball did not come out when it was turned upside down.

A three-minute non-releasable penalty was called. The goal was disallowed.

The Hoyas tied the game at 8 following a goal on a 16-yard shot by junior Pete Cannon with 1:04 left in regulation. McGlone, in the penalty box, sank to his knees and buried his face in the ground after the score.

Corno won the next faceoff, but another shot by Cannon with 23 seconds left was blocked by sophomore defender Ryan Clarke.

Georgetown was still a man up in overtime, but junior Sean Denihan turned the ball over with 2:59 left. Maryland scored on its next possession.

"That [stick check] comes under the heading, desperate times call for desperate measures," Urick said.

Said McGlone: "I got it checked before the game and it was legal. I didn't mess with the strings or anything during the game. Everyone has worked so hard this season. I would have taken that solely on my back if we had lost. I would have lived with it the rest of my life."

Maryland (11-5) will play No. 2 Duke (16-2) in a semifinal Saturday at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia.

The ACC has three teams in the final four -- Virginia is the other. It is the first time a conference has had three teams make the semifinals.