CHESTER, Pa. -- Matt Kavanagh scored the game-winner with seven seconds left as No. 9 Notre Dame topped No. 5 Maryland 6-5 on Friday evening in the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference championship at PPL Park. Notre Dame will face Syracuse at 1 p.m. ET Sunday for the ACC title.
The game-clinching sequence began when the Notre Dame defense forced a Maryland turnover and Jack Near scooped up the ground ball, raced down the field and found Kavanagh, who gave the Fighting Irish their first lead of the game.
Maryland led 3-1 at halftime and extended the cushion to three early in the second half on a Connor Cannizzaro goal. Notre Dame answered back with three consecutive scores to make it 4-4 less than two minutes into the fourth quarter. John Scioscia started the run when he scored from close range off a pass from Nick Ossello. Jim Marlatt then fired in a shot from distance to make it 4-3 by the end of the third period. A man-up tally from Eddy Lubowicki evened the affair.
The Terrapins regained the lead with 9:31 left on a man-up goal from Rustin Bryant. Notre Dame tied it up (5-5) a little more than a minute later when Conor Doyle worked his way around the goal and sent a shot to the back of the net. The Irish had six different players score their six goals.
Notre Dame junior goalie Conor Kelly made 12 saves, while Maryland's Niko Amato had nine stops. The Terrapins held a 37-30 advantage in shots.
