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Late run pushes Virginia past Harvard

Boyd leads Cavaliers with four goals

The No. 8 Virginia women’s lacrosse team opened its home schedule Tuesday afternoon with a 13-9 victory against Harvard. Down one goal with 14:27 remaining in the game, the Cavaliers went on a 5-0 run to secure their second straight win of the season.

Harvard (1-1) got things started with two goals in the opening five minutes but was not able to extend its lead as the two teams went back and forth the rest of the half.

“We did start the game really slow,” coach Julie Myers said. “I think Harvard caught us off guard a little bit. They weren’t going real fast, but they were going effectively. I think our defenders sat back and thought it was going to be easy, so it was nice to see us step up as the game went on.”

After Harvard retook the lead, 3-2, Virginia (3-2, 0-1 ACC) came right back a minute later with an unassisted goal from freshman midfielder Kasey Behr. Behr scored again nearly two minutes later, but neither team scored for almost eight minutes as Harvard missed nine shots in that span before hitting one with 5:32 remaining in the half to tie the game at four. The two teams traded another pair of goals before entering halftime tied.

Harvard opened the second half scoring three straight goals, prompting Virginia to call a timeout. But afterwards, the Cavaliers came out of the time out with a three-goal run of their own.

“We had talked in halftime and said we were playing too soft,” Myers said. “We’re sitting back and letting them do whatever they wanted to do. We challenged them to go out and stop ball and try to step up. They didn’t do that in the beginning in the half, and that’s why we called that timeout. We just said, ‘You can’t wait anymore. The time is now. Let’s go and do it and play the style of defense we want to play instead of the way Harvard wants us to play.’”

Harvard called a timeout of its own to set up its next goal but would not score again in the game as the Cavaliers went on its 5-0 run.

“Lacrosse is a game of runs, so we knew it was our time to make our run,” junior attacker Kelly Boyd said. “We got a few quick goals that set our momentum and it was just upwards from them.”

The Cavaliers finished the half with almost double the number of shots as Harvard after the Crimson outshot them 22-11 in the first half.

“The nice thing about the stops and transition balls was that it resulted in some fast break goals and some other good shooting opportunities,” Myers said. “We just kept creating opportunities and at the end we were able to capitalize on them.”

Harvard fired off 22 first half shots, but freshman goalie Rachel Vander Kolk collected seven saves.

“You really just need to keep focusing on the next shot,” Kolk said. “Even when you’re giving up rebounds, you have to be able to adjust quickly. My defense does a good job of giving me shots that are really manageable for me to save.”

Boyd led the Cavaliers with four goals on five shots including three of the game’s last five goals. The Crimson were led by freshman attacker Marisa Romeo, who had three goals and an assist on the day.

“They started pressuring out further because they knew they needed the ball back, so that gave me more opportunities wide open in the middle,” Boyd said. “I knew I needed to finish my shots, and I did.”

Virginia returns to the road Saturday to face North Carolina.

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