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No. 15 Virginia Holds Off No. 10 Boston College
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Box Score April 2, 2016
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 15 Virginia women’s lacrosse team (6-6, 1-4 ACC) topped No. 10 Boston College (6-5, 1-4 ACC), 15-14, to earn its first conference win on Saturday at Klöckner Stadium.
Virginia used a 6-1 run in the opening 13 minutes of the second half to take a 12-5 lead over Boston College. The Eagles cut the lead to one twice, but UVA was able to hold on for the win on Senior Day.
“It was huge to win this game today,” Virginia head coach Julie Myers said. “Our girls did a great job of starting strong in both halves and playing tough enough to be able to come away with a really important win for so many reasons. We have been working a lot on shooting the last few weeks and today it all came together.”
The Cavaliers were efficient on offense with 15 goals on 24 shots. Sophomore Kasey Behr (Northport, N.Y.) and freshman Maggie Jackson (Alexandria, Va.) each had four goals. It was a career-high for Jackson, who was 4-for-4 on shots and picked up a team-best four draw controls.
Senior Kelly Boyd (Baltimore, Md.) scored a hat trick and recorded the eventual game-winner, with all three goals on assists from junior Besser Dyson (Alexandria, Va.). UVA tallied eight assists on the afternoon.
Jackson got the Cavaliers off to a hot start with the first two goals of the game. BC scored on a free position shot for its first of the game, then Lilly DiNardo (Salisbury, Md.) netted a goal to put UVA up 3-1.
Kate Weeks, who led Boston College with four goals, scored to cut it back to one, but junior Posey Valis (Baltimore, Md.) and Behr notched back-to-back goals in less than a minute to put the Cavaliers ahead 5-2. After two-straight goals by BC, Behr found the net once again to give UVA a 6-4 lead at halftime.
Virginia came out strong to start the second half with a 6-1 run to lead Boston College, 12-5, with 17:28 remaining. The run included two goals for Behr and Boyd, while Dyson and senior Mary Alati (Glen Ridge, N.J.) each added one.
Boston College began its comeback with three-straight goals in less than two minutes. Jackson scored to put the Cavaliers up 13-8 with 12:15 to play. The Eagles then went on a 4-0 run to cut it down to one, 13-12, with 6:24 left on the clock.
Virginia responded with back-to-back goals by Jackson and Boyd to go up 15-12 with 4:05 remaining. Boston College was able to score two more goals, but a turnover with 24 seconds to play gave UVA the ball back and secured the win for the Cavaliers.
“BC has so many strong shooters and we knew they were going to come hard at us,” Myers stated. “I thought Sarah Gillespie did a great job on their big player, Sarah Mannelly, and frustrated her during the game and caused that pass to be off at the end. To be able to come up with a big stop there was huge.”
Sophomore Rachel Vander Kolk (Severna Park, Md.) had three of her 10 saves in the final four minutes of the game. Zoe Ochoa had five saves for Boston College.
Virginia had a 15-14 edge in ground balls, while BC led with 20 draw controls to 11 for the Cavaliers. UVA had 12 turnovers to 13 for the Eagles.
“I think our fourth years have done so much for us, and not just on game days, it is everyday,” Myers added. “This group has done everything the right way and they have worked their tails off as a class. To have an exciting game here on Senior Day just speaks volumes to how much we love our fourth years.”
Virginia will close out the regular season with four-straight games on the road. Up next, the Cavaliers will travel to take on Navy on Wednesday, April 6 at 6 p.m. before returning to ACC play at No. 6 Louisville on Saturday, April 16.