BALTIMORE -- After digging itself a 5-0 hole against eventual champion Virginia in the first half of the Division I Men's Lacrosse Championship game May 26, hometown favorite Johns Hopkins fought its way to within 7-4 entering the fourth quarter.

But Cavaliers goalie Tillman Johnson, who had held Maryland to one goal per quarter and made 18 saves in the semifinal game two days before, then ran a highlight reel to smother any momentum the Blue Jays had.

After stopping a point-blank shot with his team a man down, Johnson made one of his few mistakes of the weekend. His errant clearing pass was intercepted, and the Blue Jays charged at him again. Johnson made another save but the ball bounced from his stick. Another Hopkins shot followed, as did another Johnson save, then Virginia regained possession. The three saves in about 10 seconds gave the Cavaliers all the momentum they needed to ride to a 9-7 win for their third championship and first since 1999.

Despite his heroics, Johnson said after the game that the victory was far from assured at that point.

"I felt I stopped the momentum there, but it's a long quarter," he said.

Virginia coach Dom Starsia, whose team won its second title under his tutelage and finished 15-2, praised his goalie after Johnson's performance in the semifinals. "Before anyone asks, I'm our goalie coach (he isn't)," Starsia said as he opened the postgame press conference. The former Brown mentor said after the championship-game victory that his goalie's performance on that day was equally impressive, although the numbers were not.

"He might not have had as many saves, but the saves he came up with were big," Starsia said.

Playing in front of a championship-record paid attendance of 37,944 in the muck and mire that came courtesy of six days of rain and four games in two days, Virginia opened the contest with a flurry, claiming a 4-0 lead.

But the 14-2 Blue Jays, which had rallied from a 4-1 first-quarter deficit against defending champion Syracuse in the semifinals two days earlier, did not panic despite being in their first title-game appearance since 1989, when they lost to the Orangemen, 13-12.

"This group has earned my trust," said coach Dave Pietramala of the team that entered the tournament ranked No. 1 and had lost just one game despite falling behind early many times. "I believed we would do it."

Blue Jays senior midfielder Adam Doneger believed the same right until the end.

"We scored three goals in 19 seconds against Syracuse (in the regular season), so we never give up until the final whistle," he said.

Reflecting on his optimism in the postgame press conference, Pietramala allowed that his team had erred too often early to expect to win without some mistakes from the other team.

"You're not going to beat a team that good when you get down like that," he said. Still, the man whom many call the game's greatest defenseman ever said: "If someone had told me we were going to hold them to nine goals, I'd have liked our chances."

Of course, Johnson had different ideas.

Starsia said the setting made the victory even more gratifying, though he admitted the thought of winning a championship trophy hadn't really hit him yet.

"Playing in their back yard makes it special to beat a team that was ranked No. 1 most of the year," he said.

That back yard, which looked -- and smelled -- like a swamp, didn't affect play as much as Starsia thought it might.

"In some ways it was the worst field we've ever played on, but looking back I don't think it affected either team that much," he said.

Johnson was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates A.J. Shannon, who had four goals in the title game; Chris Rotelli, who had four assists; Matt Ward; and Brett Hughes. The Blue Jays placed Corey Harned, Bobby Benson, Kyle Barrie and Tom Garvey. Maryland's Michael Howley also made the squad.

The day's attendance obliterated the previous record of 26,229 set in 1995 at Maryland. The three-day total of 108,790 for paid attendance beat the old mark of 73,983 set in 1997, also at Maryland. The record crowds came despite nearly constant rain in a stadium that had limited ticket availability to about 40,000 by closing its upper bowl.

The championship game, the first since 1991 that didn't include either Syracuse or Princeton, was the last game of any sport to be played on the stadium's natural surface, which will be replaced with artificial turf this summer. Championship weekend will be played on that turf next year. No sites beyond next season have been determined.

Semifinals

Syracuse scoring: Brian Nee 2, Liam Banks 1, Michael Springer 1, Sean Lindsay 1, Jarett 1, Greg Rommel 1, Kyle Olson 1.

Johns Hopkins scoring: Kyle Barrie 4, Bobby Benson 4, Conor Ford 3, Peter LeSueur 2, Joe McDermott 2, Kyle Harrison 2, Kevin Boland, Corey Harned.

Shots: Syracuse 44, Johns Hopkins 41. Saves: Syracuse -- Jay Pfeiffer 12; Johns Hopkins -- Rob Scherr 15, Scott Smith 2. Paid Attendance: 37,823.

Maryland scoring: Joe Parker 1, Mike Mollot 1, Sean Leary 1, Brendan Healy 1.

Virginia scoring: Matt Wared 4, Joe Yevoli 3, A.J. Shannon 2, Kyle Dixon 1, Billy Glading 1, Trey Whitty 1, Matt Poskay 1, Justin Mullen 1.

Shots: Maryland 39, Virginia 37. Saves: Maryland -- Danny McCormick 11, Teddy Murphy 0; Virginia -- Tillman Johnson 18, Ryan Thompson 0. Paid Attendance: 37,823.

Virginia scoring: A.J. Shannon 4, John Christmas 2, Chris Rotelli 1, Billy Glading 1, Matt Ward 1.

Johns Hopkins scoring: Adam Doneger 2, Kyle Barrie 1, Boby Benson 1, Joe McDermott 1, Greg Peyser 1, Corey Harned 1.

Shots: Virginia 32, Johns Hopkins 35. Saves: Virginia -- Tillman Johnson 13; Johns Hopkins -- Rob Scherr 12. Paid Attendance: 37,944.