CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Marisa Romeo amassed four points on three goals and an assist, and Audrey Todd added two goals and a helper, but the Harvard women’s lacrosse team dropped a road game at No. 8 Virginia, 13-9, Tuesday afternoon.
The Crimson (1-1) led by three goals in the second half and had four separate leads in the game, but the Cavaliers (3-2) outscored Harvard 8-1 down the stretch for the comeback victory.
Goalie Kelly Weis recorded eight saves in net for Harvard, while her counterpart, Rachel Vander Kolk, stopped eight shots. Harvard owned the final count in shots, 31-28, while the Cavaliers led in ground balls, 11-7. Megan Henessey also had three points for Harvard, scoring once and contributing two assists.
Maeve McMahon and Todd both had three draw controls for the Crimson, while the team finished 8-of-9 on clear attempts.
The Crimson jumped out to a 2-0 lead early in the first half, as Julia Glynn found the back of the net at 27:05, followed by a goal at 24:29 by Romeo. After Virginia knotted the game, 2-2, at the 18:30 mark, Harvard regained the lead with a tally at 16:46 by Todd.
With 5:32 to play in the opening stanza, Romeo tied the game, 4-4, with an unassisted goal, and then Maeve McMahon kept the game knotted, as he scored off a pass by Megan Hennessey with 3:04 to play, making it 5-5.
In the second half, Hennessey put the Crimson on top, 6-5, with an unassisted goal at 28:30, and then Todd made it a two-goal lead, 7-5, just 30 seconds later. Harvard upped its advantage to 8-5 with Romeo’s third goal of the game at 26:44, but the Cavaliers struck back with the game’s next two goals, cutting the Crimson lead to 8-7 with 21:44 to go.
UVA tied the game, 8-8, with a free-position goal by Courtney Swan with 16:27 remaining, but the Crimson kept pushing back, as rookie Nekele McCall accepted a pass from Todd and fired a shot for a goal at 14:27, making it 9-8 Harvard.
As the game moved into the final minutes, the Cavaliers managed to tie the game again, this time at 9-9 with a score by Liza Blue at the 10:15 mark. With 7:55 to play in regulation, UVA grabbed its first lead since being up 5-4 when Mary Alati scored off a rebound, making it 10-9. The Cavaliers added three more goals late in the game to go up, 13-9, sealing the victory.
Harvard will return home to host Columbia in its Ivy League opener Saturday, March 7 at 3 p.m.