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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - For a moment, the comeback seemed possible.

Grant Catalino's behind-the-back goal late in the third quarter of Friday's ACC men's lacrosse tournament semifinal against Virginia brought the Terrapins within two.

In position to rally past the tournament's host, the Terps then won the ensuing faceoff.

Seconds later, junior midfielder Jeff Reynolds bore down on the Cavalier net with an opportunity to wind up and fire an open shot.

The shot sailed wide, and, when play resumed, Catalino dropped a pass in traffic as he tried to catch and shoot.

Virginia responded to the turnover with two quick goals before the end of the quarter, and the Terps failed to mount another serious comeback effort.

"I felt like if we could get it to one goal, we would've had a chance," coach Dave Cottle said. "We just didn't get it to one goal."

The No. 3 Cavaliers, who lost to the Terps in College Park on March 29, returned the favor with an 11-8 win before a partisan crowd of 3,507 at Klockner Stadium to oust the No. 5 Terps from the tournament for the third consecutive season. The Cavaliers advanced to yesterday's championship game, where they fell to No. 1 Duke 11-9.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia admitted his team was "manhandled" in the first matchup, but his team had a different edge before its home crowd.

"[The Terps] want to be tough and play you tough. We needed to demonstrate a little toughness tonight, and I think we did," Starsia said. "It was probably our best effort overall of the season."

Unlike the earlier meeting, where the Terps built a six-goal halftime advantage, Virginia was able to grab momentum early and sustain it throughout the game.

With All-ACC senior defender Joe Cinoski locked on Virginia's leading scorer, attackman Danny Glading, other Cavaliers stepped up.

Attackman Garrett Billings got the Cavaliers started with a pair of goals in the game's first 2:19 and scored four of the team's first six goals, leading to a 6-3 half-time advantage.

Cavalier midfielder Shamel Bratton and attackman Ben Rubeor picked up the slack in the second half.

Bratton ripped a pair of perfectly placed shots past Terp goalie Brian Phipps, who replaced starter Jason Carter after halftime, in the third quarter. Rubeor scored the Cavaliers' next three goals, including the final one where he broke out of a double team for an easy goal with 8:32 remaining to give his team a five-goal lead.

"Those guys are great players, and they just made good plays today," Cinoski said. "We didn't slide like we normally do on defense, and they got a couple of looks they shouldn't have. But those guys are just great players to make those plays."

The Terps, who are 0-5 when trailing after the first quarter, did not adjust well to having all three of their freshman attackmen marked by long poles this time around, and they failed to generate the offense off faceoffs that keyed their earlier win.

Still, Cottle was pleased with his young team's performance against one of the nation's top teams in an unfamiliar environment.

"It was going to be a tough game," Cottle said. "I thought our kids stood up and just didn't make enough plays in the end on both sides of the field. But from an effort standpoint, I was very proud of how hard we played."

Small mistakes and a lack of consistent offense sent the Terps to their third loss in four games. While the offense clicked at times, including converting two-of-three extra man opportunities, scoring droughts doomed the Terps. After a goal by senior midfielder Max Ritz tied the game at three in the first minute of the second quarter, the Terps went scoreless the rest of the half.

Ritz said it is tough to know that a few plays could have been the difference in the game, but he said it gives the Terps something to build on for the remainder of the season.

"I wouldn't even say we played that well," Ritz, who along with Catalino notched a pair of goals to pace the offense, said. "I think we showed a lot of potential. But if a few more things go our way, we could have had a different score today."

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