Virginia’s remedy for a slow start? A hot goalie.

Junior Adam Ghitelman has been superb in the first half and is a big reason why the No. 2 Cavaliers lead No. 5 Maryland, 5-4, at halftime of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament final here at Byrd Stadium in College Park.

Ghitelman has made eight saves in the half, and many of them have been of the spectacular variety. He’s turned away Terps junior attackman Grant Catalino three times, used his stick to block a behind-the-head offering from sophomore midfielder jake Bernhardt in the slot, and made back-to-back saves on junior attackmen Ryan Young and Travis Reed during one sequence.

Ghitelman has pretty much allowed Virginia to settle into the contest after Maryland opened with a 3-0 run over a span of 3 minutes, 18 seconds in the first quarter.

After sophomore midfielder Michael Shakespeare’s goal gave the Terps a 3-0 advantage with 7:34 left in the first period, the Cavaliers responded 45 seconds later with a tally from senior midfielder Brian Carroll (Gilman) , and they proceeded to reel off three more unanswered goals to assume a 4-3 lead with 2:02 left in the second quarter.

Twenty-two seconds later, Maryland knotted the score at four when junior long-stick midfielder Brian Farrell (Boys’ Latin) found Reed (Boys’ Latin) alone on the crease. But freshman long-stick midfielder Jesse Bernhardt threw a lazy pass on an attempted clear that was intercepted by junior midfielder Rhamel Bratton, and he found sophomore attackman Steele Stanwick (Loyola) alone at the left post to give Virginia the 5-4 lead with 13 seconds left.

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