The Brown Bears lacrosse team fell 15-14 in overtime to Maryland in the NCAA Lacrosse Final Four on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. The Bears are eliminated from the NCAA Tournament after reaching their first Final Four since 1994.
Brown won the overtime face-off but were unable to get any real control and the Terps took advantage.
With 2:41 to play in the first OT period, Maryland's Colin Heacock found himself uncovered in front of the net after taking a pass from Matt Rambo and beat Brown goaltender Jack Kelly for the game winner.
The game was forced into OT after Brown rallied from a 14-10 deficit with 9:33 to play in the game, knotting the game up at 14 on a goal by Brendan Caputo with 1:49 to play.
The Bears led 7-5 with 10:27 left to play in the first half before Maryland ended the half by scoring 4 of the next 5 goals to take 9-8 lead into the locker room.
Maryland's run came after a Brown rally which saw them score 6 of 7 goals after being down 4-1 in the first quarter.
Dylan Molloy
Molloy did not start the game for the Bears but entered early in the first quarter. He finished the game with 2 goals.
Bailey Tills led the Bears with 4 goals in the game while Jack Kelly made 14 saves. Next Up
The Terps will now move on to face North Carolina in the national championship game on Monday. The two teams are former ACC rivals and face each other earlier this season.
Related Slideshow: NCAA Lacrosse Championship - The Final Four Teams
The Brown University Bears are coming off an 11-10 quarterfinal win over Navy and are making their first Final Four appearance since 1994. Brown will play Maryland in the semifinal.
The Bears are in the midst of one of their best seasons, maybe the best season, in program history recording a program record 15 wins and going 6-0 in Ivy League play during the regular season.
Brown was ranked as high as number 2 in the country during the regular season before falling to Harvard in the first round of the Ivy League Tournament and taking a 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Leading the Way
Brown's Dylan Molloy has an outside chance of playing in the game after sitting out the last game with a broken foot which he suffered against Johns Hopkins.
"If Molloy is unable to play, Brown is going to need production from some players that they don't normally need production from," said Jamie Munro, a Brown lacrosse alum and the founder and CEO of 3D Lacrosse.
If he is unable to play, the Bears will look to Kylor Bellistri to fill the goal scoring void.
Billistri scored two goals in Brown's last game against Navy and is now the leading goal scorer on the team with 62 goals.
The Maryland Terrapins enter Saturday's game against Brown as the number 1 team in the country and coming off a quarterfinal win over Syracuse. Maryland will face Brown in the semifinal.
Maryland is 16-2 on the season and have won 15 straight games.
"Many think Maryland might be the best team in the field. They are a very good team, probably the most balanced team in the field and are very well coached," Munro said.
The Terrapins were are led by Matt Rambo who has netted 39 goals so far this season and scored 6 points in the Terps win over Syracuse. He also leads the team with 63 points. Meanwhile his teammate Colin Heacock has tallied 37 goals.
The North Carolina Tar Heels are in their first Final four since 1993 after they upset #3 Notre Dame in the quarterfinal last week. The Tar Heels wll face Loyola.
"Carolina is hyper athletic all over the field and they are a really hot team right now," said Munro.
In their upset win, the Tar Heels were led by Steve Pontrello who scored the Heels last four goes s of the game while also dishing out two assists.
Pontrello led the Heels all season with 45 goals and 62 points on the season.
Tar Heel goaltender Brian Balkam matched his career high with 14 saves including 8 int he fourth quarter.
Loyola enters the Final Four after a 10-8 win over Towson in their Sunday semifinal. The last time Loyola made it to the Final Four was in 2012 when they won the whole thing. Up until this season, they had not won a playoff game since.
"Loyola had a strong year, they got a 7-seed so they got a home game. I don't think people thought that they were going to be as good as they are," said Munro.
In their game against Towson, Pat Spencer and Zack Sirico each scored three goals and had an assist in the game.
The Greyhounds have been led all season by freshman Pat Spencer who has tallied 36 goals, dished out 47 assists and has recorded a total of 83 points.
"Pat Spencer is the best attackman in the country, other than Dylan Molloy. I don't think I've seen a better freshman ever," said Monroe.
