Josephson Stands Tall, Virginia Women's Lacrosse Holds Off Stanford 10-9

Welcome to college lacrosse, Mel Josephson. After posting 12 saves and a .667 save percentage in her collegiate debut on Friday to lead the Cavaliers to a road win at Liberty, Josephson made 12 more saves in UVA's home opener two days later, including five clutch stops in the fourth quarter and the game-sealing save with 15 seconds remaining to secure a 10-9 victory for No. 16 Virginia (2-0) over Stanford (0-1) on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville.

Although Virginia was at an expected disadvantage in draw controls with Stanford boasting one of the nation's top draw specialists in Annabel Frist, it was the Cavaliers who started strong with the game's first two goals by Mackenzie Hoeg and Katia Carnevale. Draw controls were 5-0 in the opening period, giving the Cardinal a hefty possession advantage and eventually, that disparity reached the scoreboard as Stanford scored twice to tie the game. Mel Josephson made three saves in the opening quarter, but the Cardinal found the back of the net twice, both times on free position shots that Josephson had little chance to save, so it was 2-2 at the end of the first quarter.

A Virginia crosscheck penalty allowed Stanford to gain the lead on a Power Play goal by Aliya Polisky. Carnevale forced a Stanford turnover and found Kate Miller in transition for a goal to tie things up, but Stanford scored two more goals on free positions to take a 5-3 to halftime. Ailish Kelly had two goals in the first half to lead the Cardinal, who boasted a 12-8 edge in shots, with 10 of those shots going on goal.

Kiki Shaw got the Cavaliers back within one to start the second half, but Kelly scored again to complete the hat trick. Hoeg scored her second goal and Madison Alaimo finished a feed from Shaw to pull Virginia even at 6-6. Jordyn Case scored to put the Cardinal back in front, but UVA scored the next two, with Alaimo assisting on goals by Jenna Dinardo and Morgan Schwab to give the Cavaliers their first lead since it was 2-1.

Aliya Polisky ripped the back of the net with a lefty shot off of a free position to tie the game early in the fourth quarter. Kiki Shaw drove down the middle, splitting multiple defenders and scoring her second goal to regain the lead for UVA and then Kate Miller found a cutting Carnevale to push the Virginia lead to 10-8 with seven minutes remaining.

The Cavaliers would not score again, but their defense, and more specifically Mel Josephson, did just enough to make sure that lead held until the end. Case scored her third goal to make it 10-9 with 3:32 to go and the Cardinal had plenty of opportunities to secure that equalizer.

Josephson made five big saves in the fourth quarter, including a huge one on Case, who had a lane and tried to score with a bouncer, but Josephson dropped down to make the stop to preserve UVA's one-goal lead with a little over two minutes remaining.

Virginia turned the ball over on its ensuing possession, giving Stanford one final chance to tie the game with 33 seconds left. Aliya Polisky got a decent look from outside with 15 seconds left, but Josephson stood tall and made her biggest save of the day, sealing the victory for Virginia.

Mel Josephson finished with 12 saves versus nine goals allowed for a .571 save percentage. In her first two starts in cage for the Cavaliers, Josephson has recorded 12 saves in both games and posted two wins to start the season.

Katia Carnevale and Kiki Shaw each had two goals and an assist and Mackenzie Hoeg had two goals on two shots. Madison Alaimo and Kate Miller had one goal and two assists each and Morgan Schwab had one goal and one assist.

The Cardinal had a 16-5 advantage in draw controls and Stanford outshot Virginia 30-18, with 21 of those shots going on goal. Mel Josephson saved 12 of those shots, while UVA had 12 shots on goal, scoring on 10 of them.

Now 2-0 on the season, Virginia remains at home to host Princeton on Saturday at noon at Klockner Stadium.

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