Virginia Women's Lacrosse Takes Down No. 3 Boston College 13-12 in Overtime Thriller
In the final regular season home game of her first year at the helm of the Virginia women's lacrosse program, Sonia LaMonica has just coached the Cavaliers to perhaps their greatest victory in the last decade.
Boston College, a team that has played in each of the last six National Championship games and is without a doubt one of the top programs in the sport, rolled in to Charlottesville to face a Virginia squad the Eagles had not lost to since 2016.
But on a day in which they honored their seniors, who have been pivotal in this coaching transition, the Cavaliers would not be denied.
Though the seniors provided plenty of significant contributions throughout the game, it was a pair of freshmen who played the role of the heroes, as first-years Kate Galica and Madison Alaimo respectively scored the game-tying goal and overtime game-winner to give No. 11 Virginia (12-3, 5-3 ACC) a massive 13-12 victory over No. 3 Boston College (12-3, 6-2 ACC) on Saturday evening at Klockner Stadium.
Having already proven that they aren't intimidated by any opponent, it should have come as no surprise that the Cavaliers came out as the aggressors early on, with Kate Miller scoring the game's first goal and Virginia holding a 3-1 lead at the end of the opening period thanks to a smothering defensive effort.
After Mackenzie Hoeg scored to stretch the UVA lead to three, Boston College answered with a pair of goals. It was all Virginia for the rest of the second quarter, though, as four different UVA players found the back of the net. Former Cavalier Rachel Clark, who is now Boston College's leading scorer, assisted on a Mckenna Davis goal with just one second left in the first half to make it 8-4, but that was the only point of the first half for Clark.
Both teams successfully face-guarded their opponent's best attacker, as Clark, who came in with 54 goals on the season, was held without a goal in the first half and Virginia senior Morgan Schwab had zero points in the entire game.
Somewhat expectedly, Boston College was shot out of a cannon in the second half, opening the third quarter on a 5-0 run to take its first lead of the game. Five different Eagles scored on the run before Jenna Dinardo scored to tie things up at 9-9 heading to the fourth.
The final period of the game was a back-and-forth affair that epitomized the game as a whole. The teams alternated goals until Ryan Smith converted on a free position to give Boston College the lead with just 51 seconds left in regulation.
The Eagles initially won the ensuing draw control, but Maggie Bostain forced a critical turnover to prevent them from running out the clock and gave possession back to the Cavaliers. LaMonica called timeout and then freshman Kate Galica scored a clutch goal, absorbing some contact from a Boston College defender in front of the crease and keeping her balance before finding some daylight and burying her shot between the goalie's legs to tie the game with just two seconds remaining.
The draw control has been an area of weakness for the Cavaliers all season long, giving the Eagles a distinct advantage entering the sudden victory overtime period. But Kiki Shaw was able to win the scrum for the ground ball on that decisive draw and earned the possession for Virginia.
That was the only possession UVA needed, as some crisp passing opened up the BC defense and the Cavaliers cashed in on a slow rotation as Katia Carnevale found Madison Alaimo creeping up from behind the cage. Alaimo caught the pass and quickly finished low to give Virginia the epic overtime win.
While the clutch goals from Galica and Alaimo will deservedly be the headlines from the win, UVA goalie Mel Josephson also deserves some immense credit as she made 10 saves, four of which came in that second quarter in which the Cavaliers took their four-goal advantage. Boston College had a 15-12 edge in draw controls and a 22-18 advantage in shots on goal, but Virginia getting 10 saves from Josephson as compared to five goals from BC goalie Shea Dolce was a critical difference.
Kate Galica led Virginia with a hat trick, while Kate Miller, Kiki Shaw, and Jenna Dinardo each had two goals. Katia Carnevale tallied one goal and two assists and Madison Alaimo had two assists and two goals, including the game-winner in overtime.
The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for Virginia against Boston College, with the last victory coming back in 2016. It was the Cavaliers' first win over a top three team since 2015 and UVA's fifth victory over a ranked opponent this season.
Virginia will wrap up the regular season with the Commonwealth Clash at Virginia Tech on Wednesday at 7pm in Blacksburg.