His suspension over, Briggs leads Virginia to title
BALTIMORE – Colin Briggs went from villain to hero and delivered Virginia its fifth NCAA lacrosse title.
Reinstated after he was suspended for Saturday’s NCAA semifinal game, Briggs didn’t waste his reprieve. In the title game Monday, the junior midfielder scored five goals to lift Virginia to a 9-7 victory over Maryland before 35,661 at M&T Bank Stadium.
Recommended Stories
The performance appropriately capped a bizarre season of tumult in which Virginia (13-5) dismissed two All-American midfielders and lost four of five games in one stretch, then became the lowest-seeded team to claim an NCAA lacrosse title.
| Notes |
| » Virginia players joining Colin Briggs on the all-tournament team were Bray Malphrus, Nick O’Reilly, Steele Stanwick and senior goalie Adam Ghitelman (nine saves) |
| » Niko Amato, Grant Catalino, Curtis Holmes and Brett Schmidt were honored from Maryland along with Jeremy Noble of Denver. |
| » Since winning the title in 1975, Maryland has lost six times in the title game, including four times in its home state. |
“It’s been the most peculiar season I’ve ever been involved in,” Virginia coach Dom Starsia said. “This season is particularly gratifying considering all we had to endure.”
Briggs, a second-team All-American, was an unlikely winner of the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player award after he ran afoul of Virginia’s stringent rules, put in place when the program fell under harsh scrutiny following a murder charge against former Cavaliers player George Huguely. Violations earlier this year had already cost Virginia twin standouts Shamel and Rhamel Bratton.
“I let some of my teammates down by getting suspended,” Briggs said. “I felt like I had to come back and give everything I had.”
Two of the things Briggs had were fresh legs, critical on an afternoon when the temperature (98 degrees) matched the record for the date in Baltimore.
“Colin Briggs was the only guy that did not play on Saturday, and he looked a little bit faster than everybody else,” Maryland coach John Tillman said. “We knew fatigue would kick in on both sides, but one guy seemed to be a little faster than the others.”
Maryland (13-5), bidding to end its 36-year championship drought and become the first unseeded team to win the title, got two goals from senior Grant Catalino, and sophomore Curtis Holmes won 12 of 19 faceoffs. But the Terrapins gave up several unchallenged goals and had trouble solving Virginia’s zone defense, led by senior Bray Malphrus (Georgetown Prep), junior Chris Clements and freshman Scott McWilliams.
“We got a lot of looks early,” Catalino said. “It’s hard to come back on a zone.”
Virginia won on a day when top scorer Steele Stanwick (one assist) was negated by Maryland senior Brett Schmidt and second-leading scorer Chris Bocklet was shut down by senior Ryder Bohlander, ending the junior’s NCAA-high 35-game scoring streak.
After hitting 43.5 percent of their shots in the first three games of the tournament, the Cavaliers struggled early against Maryland freshman Niko Amato, who notched five of his eight saves in the opening period, staking the Terps to a 1-0 lead.
But 2:13 into the second quarter, Briggs broke the drought on a feed from sophomore attack Nick O’Reilly (one goal, four assists). After Maryland took a 3-2 lead on a man-up goal from sophomore attack Owen Blye, Virginia answered with a four-goal run in a 7:06 span that bridged the halves. Briggs got three of the goals as the Cavaliers took a 6-3 lead.
Inspired by the pro-Maryland crowd, the Terps rallied to tie as Catalino hit a sidewinder, followed by transition goals by seniors Brian Farrell and Ryan Young.
But in the fourth period, Virginia answered as sophomore Matt White (three goals) put the Cavaliers up for good, getting inside and scoring back-to-back goals. Briggs got the clincher with 1:50 left to put Virginia up 9-6.
“It’s quite unbelievable,” Starsia said. “The fact that we’re here right now today and having this conversation, it sort of suspends belief for me.”
