Top Virginia Sports Moments: No. 8

Here on Christmas Day, we’re moving on to No. 8 in our Top 30 Virginia Cavaliers sports moments of 2019 countdown!

But, before we get to the latest reveal, make sure you’ve seen our previous installments first:

• Top Moments of 2019: 30-25
• Top Moments of 2019: 24-20
• Top Moments of 2019: 19-15
• Top Moments of 2019: 14-11
• Top Moments of 2019: 10
• Top Moments of 2019: 9

8. Lacrosse Comes All The Way Back Against Maryland

Virginia’s win over Maryland in men’s lacrosse’s NCAA quarterfinals ranks among the best, if not the most unlikely, comeback wins in program history. Plain and simple.

It all started with just 10:38 to play in the fourth quarter, when a Terrapins goal had pushed their lead to 12-7. That left the Hoos in a precarious position, to say the least.

But the Cavaliers would keep fighting. This was the 2019 athletic season, after all.

So, with Maryland content to burn the clock down, UVA kept chipping away.

Senior captain Ryan Conrad got his team back on the board at the 9:23 mark. Then, following a scoring drought of nearly six minutes, he added another to trim the margin to three. From there, Virginia took complete control, taking advantage of four consecutive faceoff wins with goals on three of their final four possessions in regulation.

Now knotted at 12, the two headed to overtime, where Cavaliers sophomore attackman Matt Moore finished things off just 45 seconds into the first extra session.

And, just like that, they had pulled off the impossible:

Of course, I’d be remiss not to give some credit to the referees, too, who counted Michael Kraus’ game-tying goal late in regulation, despite the shot appearing to rattle off the cage.

You can catch that controversial call and the rest of the highlights below:

We’re back tomorrow with No. 7!