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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – The No. 9 Virginia women’s lacrosse team rallied for a 9-0 run midway through Sunday afternoon’s contest with Harvard to pull away from the Crimson, en route to a 13-9 win in Harvard Stadium.
Senior Jenny Hauser got the scoring started at 24:51, but after five scoreless minutes, the Crimson rallied for three unanswered goals to take a 3-1 lead by 15:13.
Senior Ashley McCulloch knotted the score at three all, with two-straight goals, before Hauser and junior Kaitlin Duff combined for the final four goals of the half to give Virginia a 7-3 advantage at halftime.
Virginia opened the second half with three goals in the first six minutes, before Harvard halted the Cavaliers’ 9-0 run with a tally at 21:25. The Crimson notched a second-consecutive score at 17:45, before senior Blair Weymouth found the back of the net at 16:36 to mark the 22nd straight game she’s scored a goal in the ninth longest active streak in the NCAA.
Jess Halpern attempted to spark a comeback for the Crimson, recording two-straight goals, before Duff tallied her fourth of the contest at 9:26 to push Virginia ahead 12-7.
Halpern would fire another goal into the cage for Harvard, before Shannon Flynn capped the scoring for the day, tallying a goal at 1:10 to account for the final 13-9 score.
Overall, Duff led the Cavaliers with a career-high four goals and seven caused turnovers moving her into Virginia’s top-10 single season caused turnover records with 36 this season. Hauser and McCulloch each contributed three goals, while Weymouth had two goals and an assist. Gardner added a goal, while junior Brittany Kalkstein had an assist. Senior Katie Shannon also had an assist and won a career-high five draw controls.
In goal, senior Sara Hairfield made her first career start, recording a career-high 11 saves for her second win of the season.
For Harvard (4-7), Halpern led the way with four goals, five draw controls and three ground balls. Kerry Clark collected 10 saves in cage.
The Cavaliers (9-5) will take a week off before heading to Fairfax, Va., to face George Mason on Tuesday, April 14. Opening draw is slated for 7 p.m.