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BEST adj.
/best/
superlative of GOOD

1: excelling all others

2: most productive of good: offering or producing the greatest advantage, utility, or satisfaction

3: most, largest

(Source: Merriam-Webster)

Best of Lacrosse 2018 Finalists
Men’s Player | Women’s Player
Men’s Coach | Women’s Coach
Men’s Breakthrough | Women’s Breakthrough
Men’s Performance | Women’s Performance
Game | Moment

As the lacrosse calendar turns from 2018 to 2019 and we reflect on one of the most riveting years in recent memory, US Lacrosse Magazine is taking to Twitter for the fans’ perspective on what made it so. We’ve identified four finalists each in 10 categories in preparation for our annual “Best of Lacrosse” edition.

Below, we present the finalists for Best Game.

Canada-USA
FIL World Championship Round Robin

Round 1 between the U.S. and Canada at the Wingate Institute delivered exactly what you would have expected — sterling highlights, edge-of-your-seat suspense, a lot of late-game intrigue and a little bit of bad blood. John Galloway’s spectacular man-down save, Matt Danowski’s searing game-tying goal, Paul Rabil’s ankle-breaking roll dodge to set up his game-winner and then Team USA’s man-down stand as time expired after faceoff specialist Greg Gurenlian got flagged for an illegal stick examined at Canada’s behest — it made for a tantalizing appetizer for more drama in the gold medal game six days later.

Denver-Albany
NCAA Quarterfinal

Hopefully, anyone on the NCAA rules committee with designs of getting rid of the faceoff paid attention to the buildup to this game — namely, the hype surrounding an encounter between two history-making faceoff men in Denver’s Trevor Baptiste and Albany’s TD Ierlan. Baptiste, the NCAA’s all-time winningest specialist, and Ierlan, who set three NCAA single-season records, dueled to a 15-15 stalemate and the Great Danes defeated the Pioneers 15-13 to advance to championship weekend for the first time in program history.

Michigan-Penn State
Regular Season Finale

Maggie Kane’s goal as time expired sent Michigan into a frenzy as the Wolverines scored twice in the game's final six seconds to stun Penn State 12-11 in Happy Valley. Michigan dug out of a 6-0 hole and never led until the very end. Trailing 11-10 with 10 seconds left, Molly Garrett forced an unlikely turnover at midfield, darted toward the goal and fed Catherine Granito on the left side for a goal that tied the game with 0:06 on the clock. Kane won the draw and launched a long-range shot before time expired. The ball skipped twice on the turf, and then handcuffed Nittany Lions keeper Lucy Lowe, bouncing just over her stick for the winner.

Stony Brook-Boston College
NCAA Quarterfinal

This game was billed as an instant classic worthy of being played on championship weekend. It lived up the lofty expectations. And then some. Dempsey Arsenault’s falling goal in front of the crease off a feed from Sam Apuzzo with 1:42 left in overtime sent Boston College to the final four with a 12-11 win over Stony Brook in rainy Chestnut Hill, Mass. The intensely emotional game of 64-plus minutes featured four stick checks, six yellow cards and two green cards. It turned out the Seawolves were without 100-point scorer Taryn Ohlmiller, who tore her ACL a week earlier against Penn State, and that Stony Brook, ranked No. 1 nationally for most of the season, probably had a legitimate gripe about being the No. 5 seed.