Maryland’s players quietly walked off the field knowing they had squandered a great opportunity as the Virginia Cavaliers raucously celebrated an overtime victory that sent them to the Final Four.

For much of the afternoon, seventh-seeded Maryland controlled the game, but with one flick of Virginia senior attacker Ben Rubeor’s wrist, the ball that ended Maryland’s season bounced off the turf and passed Maryland junior goalie Jason Carter.

“This hurts a little bit because we were in a position to win,” Maryland coach Dave Cottle said. “No one gave us much of a shot going into this game.”

Rubeor’s goal gave the Cavaliers an 8-7 victory and caused them to spill onto the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium field as many Terrapins collapsed in disappointment.

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The seventh-seeded Terrapins (10-6), who beat Denver on May 10 to advance to the quarterfinals, dominated the game in just about every facet in the first half. They grabbed 19 ground balls to the Cavaliers’ two, and outshot Virginia, 26-11. Still, Maryland led the second-seeded Cavaliers just 6-4 at the half.

“If we could have changed one thing, we would have changed out shooting,” Cottle said. “Either shoot a little harder or shoot a little smarter or shoot a little more accurately.”

The Terrapins extended their lead to 7-4 with nine minutes, 40 seconds remaining in the third quarter on sophomore defender Brian Farrell’s second goal of the game. But the Terrapins were held scoreless for the final 24:30, as Rubeor, a former Loyola standout, scored the tying goal 8:43 left in regulation before scoring his third goal in overtime.

But as Virginia (14-3) focuses on its game against third-seeded Syracuse (14-2) in the Final Four in Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Saturday, the Terrapins can only look toward next season.

Maryland graduates its three starting defenders, including All-ACC selection Joe Cinosky, but will return three freshman attackers this year and most of its midfielders.

“It was a great experience this year,” said freshman attacker Grant Catalino, who scored twice on Saturday and led Maryland with 29 goals this season. “We’ve got some experience under our belt now and we can carry it for the next four years.”

But that didn’t make the loss to Virginia, which prevented the Terrapins from advancing to the Final Four for the third time in four years, any less painful.

“Words can’t express how I feel right now,” Farrell said. “We’ve got a bunch of kids in there that love each other.”

avitelli@baltimoreexaminer.com