The Best NCAA Tournament Goalie Moments of the Past 25 Years

Goals dominate the highlight reels, but goalies define legacies.

Over the last 25 years, the NCAA men’s and women’s lacrosse tournaments have given us some unforgettable performances in the cage.

Here are some that come to mind.

TRENDSETTERS

Iconic performances that inspired a new generation of goalies.

Tillman Johnson | 2003

You can’t talk about NCAA goalie greatness without mentioning Tillman Johnson. In 2003, he delivered one of the most memorable performances in NCAA history, culminating in Virginia’s national title. Johnson made 13 saves in the championship game against Johns Hopkins at muddy M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore — many of them acrobatic, including a three-save sequence in the fourth quarter that will forever live in lore.

Megan Taylor | 2019

Taylor didn’t just backstop Maryland to a championship — she became the first goalie ever to win the Tewaaraton Award. In the championship game, she made 10 saves against Boston College. Her short stature (5-foot-3) and sweet nature belied her tenacity, all qualities that have remained with her as a goalie coach.

GOALIE GOALS

For the ultimate juice play — going coast-to-coast to score.

Andrew Goldstein | 2003

In Dartmouth's first-round game at Syracuse, Goldstein made history with a play that became iconic for multiple reasons. After making a save, he vacated the crease and sprinted the length of the field to become the first goalie to score in an NCAA tournament game. The moment electrified the crowd and cemented Goldstein’s legacy as a trailblazer, both for his on-field talent and as one of the first openly gay athletes in men’s collegiate sports.

Blaze Riorden | 2015

Riorden punctuated Albany’s first-round upset at Cornell — and foreshadowed his uniquely brilliant pro career as a two-way star in the PLL and NLL — by grabbing a ground ball, rumbling past midfield, dodging defenders like a seasoned attackman and burying a shot. The goal became an instant viral highlight.

HEROIC IN DEFEAT

Because not all epic performances end in victory.

Scott Rodgers | 2010

While Duke’s 6-5 NCAA championship game victory over Notre Dame will forever be remembered for long pole CJ Costabile taking the OT faceoff to the house, Rodgers’ powerhouse performance earned him MVP honors. Facing a high-powered Duke offense, Rodgers made 15 saves, many of them spectacular, to keep the Irish alive into overtime.

Kyle Bernlohr | 2016

The 2016 NCAA championship game featured plenty of late-game drama, which ended when Chris Cloutier scored in overtime to end North Carolina’s 25-year title drought. Before that, however, Bernlohr denied Cloutier with one of the best saves of all time. It was Dolcean, the way he leapt in the air, thrust his stick across his body and stuffed Cloutier mid-air to keep Maryland alive. Bernlohr would get his title three years later.

GUTSY PERFORMANCES

They left it all out on the field.

Matt Russell | 2004

Navy was the Cinderella story of the 2004 NCAA tournament, making it all the way to the finals to face Mikey Powell and mighty Syracuse. Russell dislocated his shoulder, exited briefly and returned to try to will the Midshipmen to victory. Powell scored with a minute left to lead the Orange to a 14-13 victory.

Ben Gaebel | 2006

A 280-pound Goliath of a goalie, Gaebel made 18 saves — including one in the final seconds of regulation and two in overtime — as Cortland ended Salisbury’s 69-game winning streak and claimed its first national title in 31 years with a 13-12 victory at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Gaebel had exerted himself so much that after celebrating, he vomited on the field. Classic.

LAST-SECOND SAVES

Because goalies don't just stop shots — they stop seasons.

Alexis Venechanos | 2001

As a sophomore goalie at Maryland, Venechanos played the best game of her young career in the NCAA final against Georgetown. She made 14 saves, the biggest coming on a Sheehan Stanwick free-position shot with less than a minute remaining, helping send the game to overtime. The Terps won 14-13 to claim their seventh straight national championship.

Jesse Schwartzman | 2007

With just seconds left and Duke threatening to tie the game, Schwartzman made a sprawling kick save on a Brad Ross shot from seven yards out — preserving a 12–11 victory and securing Johns Hopkins’ ninth national title. The dramatic stop capped off a stellar performance and cemented his legacy as a clutch postseason performer.

Alex Rode | 2021

In the 2021 NCAA final, Maryland mounted a furious fourth-quarter rally with five goals in the final six minutes to pull within one of Virginia. After the Terps scored with 11 seconds left to make it 17-16, Luke Wierman won the next faceoff and had broad daylight to score, but Rode denied him as time expired to secure UVA's pandemic-interrupted repeat.

Taylor Moreno | 2022

North Carolina erased an eight-goal deficit with nine fourth-quarter goals to stun Northwestern 15-14 in the 2022 semifinals. Benched in the third quarter, Moreno returned and made the most important save, denying Lauren Gilbert with 28 seconds left to preserve the second-largest comeback in NCAA tournament history.

Shea Dolce | 2024

Take it from ESPN analyst and former All-American goalie Quint Kessenich, who called this the best save he’s ever seen, considering the circumstance. With BC clinging to a 14-13 lead against Northwestern in the NCAA championship game — after trailing 6-0 out of the gate — Dolce made a leaping kick save on Erin Coykendall with 28 seconds left.