Maryland
Maryland blankets Virginia in NCAA men's lacrosse semifinal
PHILADELPHIA — Having the best defender in the country brings a lot of confidence to a team and Maryland gets that from Ajax Zappitello.
There was a moment early on in Saturday’s semifinal game against Virginia, though, when it seemed as if that might not be enough for the Terps. Less than a minute into play, Connor Shellenberger, Virginia’s top scorer and Zappitello’s mark for the afternoon, buzzed past him one-on-one for the first goal of the game.
Maryland’s faith in Zappitello never budged, though. They kept him locked on Shellenberger while rarely sliding help in his direction and ultimately he rewarded them for that, holding his target to just one assist the rest of the game and leading No. 7 Maryland to a 12-6 win in front of 32,269 at Lincoln Financial Field.
“Ajax is incredible,” fellow Maryland defender Colin Burlace said. “To be able to take a player like Connor Shellenberger and put him on an island with Ajax, I mean, he’s amazing . . . He’s the leader of our defense and he’s been killing it all year. Nothing is going to change that.”
Virginia coach Lars Tiffany said he thought that first goal was going to be a harbinger in both the game and the individual clash. Shellenberger’s two points tied his season low.
“It wound up being more the anomaly that the norm,” the former Stony Brook coach said. “Connor just wasn’t able to shed him.”
Zappitello and Maryland will have a much bigger challenge when they face top-seeded Notre Dame in the final on Monday that pits the last two champions against each other. Notre Dame beat Maryland, 14-9, when they played in March. Zappitello will likely be matched up against either Pat or Chris Kavanagh, the attackmen from Rockville Center who each scored three goals in their semifinal win over Denver earlier in the day.
“Oof,” Maryland Coach John Tillman said with an audible grunt when asked what concerned him about Notre Dame. “They were the best team last year and they’ve been the best team all year this year.”
Saturday, though, Maryland (11-5) was able to overwhelm No. 6 Virginia (12-6). It did it defensively — Virginia managed 39 shots but only 15 were on goal — and it did it on faceoffs with Luke Wierman winning 15 of the 22 draws. Daniel Kelly, meanwhile, scored three goals and Eric Spanos had two goals and three assists for Maryland, which will make its 16th championship game appearance in search of its fifth title.
Maryland fans certainly had little reason to believe they would reach this level when the team lost back-to-back games to Johns Hopkins and Penn State a little over a month ago by a combined score of 26-14, but Tillman said that is what has made this late-season run that also included an upset win over No. 2 Duke in last week’s quarterfinals so special.
“It’s all about the journey,” he said. “You go through a lot of ups and downs… We’ve had some bad moments and I’ll own that. At times we have not played well. But the thing most rewarding is the guys never pointed a finger, everybody stuck together, everybody kept believing.”.
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Maryland
U.S. Air Force reverses course on retiring A-10 Thunderbolt planes, making way for potential Maryland return
MIDDLE RIVER, Md. — It was March of 2025 when Maryland’s Air National Guard gave up their treasured A-10 Thunderbolt planes.
The U.S. Air Force planned to retire the planes, 21 of which were stationed at Warfield Air National Guard Base at Martin State Airport.
Warfield was ordered to transition from flying missions to offensive and defensive cyber operations.
Air Force to retire Maryland National Guard’s A-10 planes in leadup to Cyber transition
On Wednesday Maryland Congressman Andy Harris said the Air Force decided to preserve the A-10 Thunderbolt II program through 2030, giving Warfield some hope they could get the planes back.
Air Force Secretary Troy E. Meink made the decision amid an ongoing war in Iran, in an attempt to preserve the U.S. military’s combat power as aircraft production ramps up.
“We are pleased that the A-10 program is now being extended,” said Harris. “The Maryland Guard has extensive experience to bring to the table, and we are in contact with the Office of the Air Force Secretary to urge them to bring A-10s back to Maryland so our airmen can help defend the nation.”
Most of the people who shop at the Safeway on Connecticut Avenue in Kensington, Maryland would be absolutely shocked at what took place there during the overnight hours in early April.
It was a scene of absolute chaos inside the grocery store parking garage at 2:30 a.m. April 4.
Security camera video shows a man in a black sweatshirt with a white design, with a gun in his right hand. He walks toward a group of people gathered for a car rally and meet-up. The video shows muzzle flashes as he fires the weapon.
Two people were injured.
Police say 19-year-old Hermes Matewere of Laurel, Maryland is now charged with first degree assault, reckless endangerment and several firearms violations.
That shooting happened six weeks after another chaotic car rally Feb. 22 at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and East West Highway in Chevy Chase near the Columbia Country Club. Rally goers could be seen blocking responding Montgomery County Police cruisers as officers responded. One man sprayed a fire extinguisher onto an officer’s windshield.
“This thing keeps evolving, and before when the police showed up, they would run and run off to another area. Now, they feel emboldened for whatever reason,” said Assistant Chief Darren Francke with Montgomery County police.
Police released an image of one of the damaged police cruisers.
Police say 18-year-old Ayden Joseph Cline of Cumberland, Pennsylvania jumped onto a cruiser waving a lit flare and has now been charged as an adult with crimes that include reckless endangerment and malicious destruction of property. Novorriya Gregory Smith Jr. of Lusby, Maryland, is accused of smashing the rear window of an officer’s cruiser and then pulling down his pants to expose himself to the officer. The 20 year-old is facing multiple charges.
Both men are being held without bond until their next court appearance.
A 17-year-old arrested in connection with the February melee was released to his parent’s custody.
Hey Testudo Times community! This is your open space to discuss all things Maryland women’s basketball. Keep things respectful as always.
Be sure to keep up with all of our women’s basketball coverage here.
All open threads will be restarted periodically as needed. Please direct any questions/comments/concerns to managing editor Matt Germack(mgermack@gmail.com). Enjoy!
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