COLLEGE PARK, Md. No. 7/8 Maryland rallied for four unanswered fourth quarter goals to defeat the No. 8/9 Yale University men's lacrosse team in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 8-7. Maryland, down 7-4 early in the final period, scored four times over a 8:10 span to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals. Colin Flaherty (Eastport, N.Y.) and Jason Alessi (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.) paced the Bulldogs (11-5) with two goals each. Ben Reeves (Macedon, N.Y.), the program record holder for freshman scoring, had a goal and an assist for the Ivy League champions. The Terrapins (13-3), the six seed, received three points each from Joe LoCascio (Lindenhurst, N.Y.), Matt Rambo (Glenside, Pa.) and Bryan Cole (Oakville, Ontario). LoCascio opened the scoring 2:38 in. It was the 18th-straight game with a point by the Terps' midfielder. The senior scored again with 5:21 left in the opening quarter. Alessi got the Elis on the scoreboard at the 11:55 mark. Shane Thornton (Garden City, N.Y.) assisted on the freshman's fifth goal of the season. Maryland, the top defense in the nation, showed why early. The Bulldogs had four turnovers and only six shots on goal, the majority of which were from farther out, in the first period. The Terps scored on their second quarter-opening EMO. Colin Heacock (Catonsville, Md.) sent a Rambo feed past Yale goalie Eric Natale (Westminster, Md.) 30 seconds in. The Bulldogs' top-15 defense kept Maryland off the board for the rest of the quarter, allowing the offense to tie the game at the half. Alessi equaled his career-high with his second of the beautiful Saturday afternoon at the 8:45 mark. Michael Keasey (Newport Beach, Calif.) knotted the first round game with 14 seconds remaining in the first half. Eric Scott (Basking Ridge, N.J.) had the helper. Natale, keeping the Elis close early, had seven stops at the break, while Maryland goalie Kyle Bernlohr (Akron, Ohio.), who entered the Tournament the NCAA leader in goals against average, had six saves. In the X, Jonathan Reese (West Islip, N.Y.) won five of the seven first half face-offs. Cole commenced the post-intermission scoring with an unassisted tally 2:20 in. From there, the Yale defense shut the door again for the remainder of the quarter; allowing the offense to score three times in a 4:26 span to take a 6-4 lead entering the final quarter. Flaherty tied the game at four, sending home a dish from Ben Reeves (Macedon, N.Y.), the Ivy League Rookie of the Year, at the 7:09 mark. Reeves gave the Bulldogs their first lead of the day 1:46 later. Thornton assisted on the freshman's 25th goal of the season Flaherty and Scott connected again with 3:25 left in the third. After killing a Maryland EMO to start the final frame, Conrad Oberbeck (Greenwich, Conn.) rocketed home a Mark Glicini (Mahwah, N.J.) 44 seconds in. Maryland responded less than a minute later when Cole got his second goal of the game. LoCascio completed the hat trick with 7:27 remaining. Rambo assisted on the senior's third three-goal game of the spring. Rambo tied the contest at seven with a near side bouncer 46 seconds later. The Terps regained the lead with 5:07 remaining. Henry West (Darien, Conn.) one-timed a Cole pass into the net. The Bulldogs had their chances over the final five, completed with Keasey hitting the pipe with 21 seconds left. Natale (11-5) finished with nine saves, while Bernlohr (13-3) got a piece of eight Yale shots. Maryland will meet either No. 3 seed North Carolina or Colgate in the quarterfinals the following weekend on May 17 in Annapolis, Md.