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.