Enduring Boston College’s late offensive surge, the No. 15 Virginia women’s lacrosse team held on to defeat the No. 10 Eagles (6-5), 15-14, on the Cavalier’s (6-6) senior day. The win marks Virginia’s first in the ACC play and third over a top-10 opponent this season.
“I thought our girls really did a really nice job in starting strong and playing just tough enough down the stretch to be able to come up with a really important win for so many reasons,” coach Julie Myers said.
The Cavaliers led 12-5 with only 17:28 remaining in the game after a goal by sophomore midfielder Kasey Behr. However, right as it seemed that Virginia would cruise on to victory, Boston College responded with a 7-1 run over the following 11 minutes to cut Virginia’s lead to just 13-12 with 6:24 left to play.
Goals by freshman midfielder Maggie Jackson and senior attacker Kelly Boyd put Virginia up three with 4:05 left. But two quick Boston College goals cut the Cavaliers lead back to just one goal, 15-14, with 1:09 remaining.
Boston College won the proceeding draw and held the ball in the final minute with a chance to tie. However, the Cavaliers got the stop and came out victorious.
“We shot really well today,” Boyd said. “We had a heavy focus on shooting this entire week in practice, so I’m just glad we were able to hit them on game day.”
Strong play by Virginia’s seniors helped lead the team to victory. Honored before the game started, senior attackers Brooke Boyd and Kelly Boyd, senior midfielder Mary Alati and senior defenders Ella Cooper and Sarah Gillespie played with passion on what could possibly be their final game at Klöckner Stadium. All five of seniors started for the Cavaliers, with Kelly Boyd scoring three goals while Alati chipped in a goal and two assists.
“It was a great celebration and awesome recognition before the game,” Kelly Boyd said. “Our class is really close since there is only five of us. It’s been a great four years with my best friends and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.”
Myers added that the seniors have also added valuable contributions on the field.
“I think our fourth years have done so much,” Myers said. “This group has done everything the right way and they’ve worked their tails off.”
While the emphasis of the game was on Virginia’s senior class, the future of the program also looked bright in the Cavalier’s victory. The leading Virginia scorers in the game were a freshman and a sophomore, as Jackson and Behr each had four goals. Additionally, sophomore midfielder Lilly DiNardo, junior attacker Posey Valis and junior attacker Besser Dyson all scored one goal apiece. Sophomore goalie Rachel Vander Kolk made 10 saves for the Cavaliers.
“Everybody really stepped up and contributed,” Myers said. “I know the younger players kept saying ‘let’s do it for the fourth years,’ so I wasn’t surprised to see some of the younger players have big games today.”
Virginia was outshot by Boston College 33-24. The Eagles also held the edge in draw controls, 20-11.
Virginia opened the game with two goals by Jackson to go up 2-0. After a Boston College goal, the Cavaliers responded with one of their own by DiNardo at the 18:17 mark to lead 3-1.
The Eagles scored less than 30 seconds later on a free position shot. Virginia then followed this with back to back goals by Valis and Behr to lead 5-2 with 8:57 left in the first half.
Boston College next scored two consecutive goals to cut Virginia’s lead to one with 4:53 remaining in the first half. But another goal by Behr with just 1:58 left before halftime put the Cavaliers up 6-4 at the half.
Virginia started the second half on fire, scoring six of the game's next seven goals in a less than 10-minute span. Starting with a Behr goal at the 26:45 mark, the Cavaliers pulled ahead, 12-5, with 17:28 remaining in the game.
Boston College then went on their big offensive run, outscoring the Cavaliers 9-3 for the rest of the game after Behr’s goal. Still, it wasn’t enough to entirely cut the Eagles’ deficit, and Virginia survived for the win.
The Cavaliers will next play Navy (7-4) Wednesday as Virginia tries to pick up its first road win of the season.
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