Division I Men :      May 13, 2006 [ The Game Story]
Maryland 16 Denver 8 Scoring: Scoring: Maxwell Ritz Joe Walters Brendan Healy Xander Ritz Bill Mcglone Jimmy Borell Drew Evans (5, 1) (1, 5) (3, 2) (3, 0) (2, 0) (1, 0) (1, 0) Adam Goodwin Brett Koll Joey Murray Brad Richardson Geoff Snider Michael Goltra Ryan Zordani (3, 2) (1, 1) (2, 0) (1, 0) (0, 1) (1, 0) (0, 1) Saves: Saves: Harry Alford Jason Carter 8  (0.533) 2  (0.667) Jeb Hollingsworth Austin Konkel 7  (0.438) 5  (0.417) Current Record :     (11-4) Current Record :     (12-5) Team Page For 2006 Team Page For 2006       The Game Story:

The Maryland offense had no trouble creating scoring opportunities and they were finishing their shots. Joe Walters continued his assault on the Maryland record books in an unselfish fashion, recording a 1 goal, 5 assist performance. In the process, he became Maryland’s all-time leader in points scored. Max Ritz mirrored Walter’s performance with a 5 goal, 1 assist outing. Big brother Xander put up a hat-trick and Billy McGlone put away 2 goals. Brendan Healy’s hand remains hot in May, scoring 3 and 2, giving him 16 points in the Terps last four games.

Max Ritz got the ball rolling with a nice unassisted goal of an iso nearly 5 minutes into the game. Both teams remained quiet for a while after that, until the Terps exploded for five goals in the final five minutes of the first quarter. Healy scored on a nice individual move, Walters handed out an assist to Max Ritz, then another to Drew Evans, before Xander Ritz scored the last two goals of the first.

Denver made a run early in the second, scoring the quarter’s first two goals on unassisted tallies by Adam Goodwin and Joe Murray. However, the Terps answered with a 3-0 run to finish the half, and extended it with three more unanswered goals to start the third quarter. Healy scored his second of the day, taking a punishing hit that left him dazed momentarily after the goal. D Midi Jimmy Borell took a clearing pass and went right to the cage to make the score 8-2 shortly thereafter. With 5:33 left in the first half, Max Ritz fed Bill McGlone who finished a craft behind the back to give the Terps a very comfortable 9-2 cushion at the half.

Only two minutes into the half, the Terps continued where they had left off when Walters found Max Ritz. Healy completed his unassisted hat-trick with another dodge into the heart of Denver’s D and Walters found Xander Ritz to give the Terps a 12-2 advantage. Denver scored the next three goals of the quarter, but the game was clearly out of reach at this point. Goodwin fed Brett Koll in traffic, a Koll finished a difficult shot past Harry Alford. Koll then fed Joe Murray for another nice finish in close. Goodwin found a cutting Brad Richardson to finish the three goal run. Walters finished the scoring in the third with his only goal of the game.

Having held the ball with a flag down late in the 3rd, the Terps began the quarter man-up and quickly drew a second penalty. Walters found Max Ritz for the third time in the game to make the score 14-5. McGlone scored the next goal on a slick underneath move before Michael Goltra got the Pioneers on the scoreboard in the 4th. The Terps scored their final goal with 8:04 remaining when Healy fed Max Ritz on an EMO chance. With the game clearly in hand, the Terps began to really milk the clock and Denver managed two more goals, both by Adam Goodwin to make the final 16-8.

Maryland looked very strong today and was comfortable playing at the breakneck pace Denver forces opponents to play at. Things will likely slow down substantially next week in Towson when the Terps face Princeton in the quarterfinals. This is a must watch quarterfinal matchup, as the Terps will look to get some revenge on Tierney’s Tigers in the round of eight, as there is no way the Terps have forgotten their 2004 quarterfinal collapse.