Making Lacrosse History By ESPN Kids Writer

One of the most exciting college sports moments of the year happened last weekend. And it wasn't a close game in the Men's or Women's Basketball Tournaments. No, this history-making moment happened in a college lacrosse game.

On March 28, the University of Virginia Cavaliers defeated the University of Maryland Terrapins 10-9 in seven overtimes, the longest college lacrosse game ever played. It ended when Midfielder Brian Carroll scored a goal for the Cavaliers to beat their Atlantic Coast Conference rivals. The win moved Virginia's record to 11-0, making the Cavaliers the top-ranked team in the country.

In order to win such a long and stressful game, the Cavaliers had to do a lot of things well. First of all, they had to stage a dramatic comeback in the final minutes of regulation time. Maryland held a 9-6 lead with six minutes left in regulation, but Virginia came back to tie the game. Virginia showed why it is important to play hard from start to finish. Even though they were losing by three goals with very little time left, the Virginia players tried even harder to catch up with Maryland. That is one of the main things that makes Virginia a great team. Even when they are losing, the players don't give up.

One of the big heroes in the game for Virginia was Goalie, Adam Ghitelman. In lacrosse, each four-minute overtime period is sudden victory, meaning that the first team to score a goal wins. This puts a lot of pressure on the goalie, because if he lets even one goal in, his team loses. Ghitelman made six saves in overtime, one of the main reasons the Cavaliers were able to win the game. He made 22 saves throughout the game, the most saves he has ever made in his college career.

Like in any sport, defense is very important. Sparked by Ghitelman's great play in goal, Virginia didn't allow Maryland to score a goal for nearly 40 minutes. Even though everybody gets excited to score goals, it's just as important to keep the other team from scoring. Virginia's defense was able to stop Maryland from scoring and gave its offense a chance to score the winning goal.

The Cavaliers' historical win over Maryland showed why Virginia is one of the best teams in the country. They never gave up, played good defense and used their great athletic ability to stay strong throughout seven overtimes to eventually win the game.

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