BRIEF: Women's Lax Falls to No. 8 Virginia, 13-9

Harvard (1-1, 0-0 Ivy) fell to No. 8 Virginia (3-2, 0-1 ACC) in Charlottesville, Va., on Tuesday night. Although the teams headed into halftime tied, 5-5, the Cavaliers outscored the Crimson 8-4 in the second frame to clinch the victory, 13-9.

During the opening minutes of both halves, Harvard came out strong, putting numbers on the board before the Virginia offense could execute. Within the first three minutes of the beginning frame, freshman midfield Julia Glynn found the net for her second goal of the seasonafter a feed from sophomore attack Megan Hennessey. Sophomore attack Marisa Romeo, who led the team with three goals, then tallied an unassisted score for the Crimson and gave the team to a two-point lead.

Harvard had another opening surge in the second frame, holding a lead for 12 minutes after putting up three consecutive goals within the first few minutes. The Cavaliers then answered with three goals of their own, tying the score at 8-8 midway through the half.

“Overall, I was really proud of the way our team played,” junior co-captain Tory Waldstein said. “We proved that we belong on the same field as a top ten team like UVA. I thought our attack was really composed, and our defense made them work for a lot of their goals.”

After two alternating goals led to another deadlock at 9-9, the Virginia defense held the Crimson scoreless for the duration of the match while netting four more goals for the win. The Harvard offense went zero-for-five in free position opportunities, and the Cavaliers edged out the Crimson, 13-11, in draw controls, 11-7 in ground balls, and forced seven Harvard turnovers.

“Towards the end I think we got a little tired and made a couple mistakes that let them pull ahead,” Waldstein said. “Hopefully we will get another shot at them in NCAAs.”

Hennessey led the Crimson in assists, caused turnovers, and ground balls with two apiece. Her registered total three points came in crucial moments for the Crimson. She participated in both opening goals in each period and tallied an assist to sophomore midfield Maeve McMahon to tie the game, 5-5, heading into halftime.

Freshman midfield Nekele McCall recorded her first career point after taking advantage of a pass from captain junior midfield Audrey Todd. Her goal was the ninth and final goal for the Crimson.

“Tough loss yesterday, but it is still really early in the season,” said junior co-captain and goalie Kelly Weis. “We have time to improve.”

Virginia’s junior attack Kelly Boyd led both teams with four goals and three ground balls. Three of her four goals came in the final six minutes of the matchup.

“We are a young team,” Weis said. “So being able to go toe-to-toe with a top 10 team like UVA gives us some confidence moving forward this season.”

Weis recorded eight saves for Harvard, and the Crimson defense executed eight of nine clears.

—Staff writer Kelley-Guinn McArtor can be reached at kelleyguinn.mcartor@thecrimson.com.