Big 2nd Half Propels No. 13 UVA Women's Lacrosse to 14-11 Win at No. 14 Stanford

The Cavaliers outscored the Cardinal 10-5 in the second half to win their season-opener on Friday night in Palo Alto
Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

Facing a top-15 team on the road across the country to open the season became an even greater challenge for the UVA women's lacrosse team after the Cavaliers surrendered three-straight goals to start the game and trailed by two goals at halftime. 

But behind strong offensive performances from Ashlyn McGovern, Rachel Clark, and Jaime Biskup, the Cavaliers put together an explosive second half, outscoring the Cardinal 10-5 after halftime as No. 13 Virginia rallied to beat No. 14 Stanford 14-11 in the season-opener on Friday night in Palo Alto. 

The Cardinal opened the game with three-consecutive goals by three different scorers in the first six minutes of the game and the Cavaliers did not score until more than eight minutes into the contest. Ashlyn McGovern got the Hoos on the board with an unassisted goal and then Rachel Clark assisted on a Jaime Biskup goal to make it 3-2. Stanford got a fourth goal from a fourth different scorer, but then Clark found the back of the net to make it 4-3 at the end of the first quarter. 

Stanford goalkeeper Kara Rahaim made five saves in the opening period and then followed that up with four saves in the second quarter as the Stanford defense limited UVA to just one goal in the period. Fortunately for the Cavaliers, the Cardinal were unable to capitalize on UVA's scoring drought. Stanford scored just two goals in the period and took a 6-4 lead into halftime. 

The Cavaliers stormed out of the gate in the second half and scored four of the first five goals of the third quarter, starting with back-to-back goals from Jaime Biskup and Ashlyn McGovern to tie the game. After a goal from Annabel Frist put Stanford back in front, UVA got two more goals from Biskup and Morgan Schwab to give the Hoos their first lead of the game. Frist scored again to even things up, but Courtlynne Caskin then found the back of the net on an unassisted goal to give Virginia a 9-8 lead entering the fourth quarter. 

All told, UVA outscored Stanford 5-2 in the third quarter to completely turn the game around. Both goalkeepers made four saves in the period, but UVA had a 12-6 advantage in shots and a 9-6 edge in shots on goal in the third. 

Stanford briefly tied the game at the start of the fourth quarter on a goal by Sarah Jaques, but Virginia answered right back with goals by Clark and McGovern in the next couple of minutes to give the Cavaliers a lead they would never relinquish. Stanford twice got back within a single goal, but UVA continued to make big plays over the last several minutes of the game to close things out. A goal from Rachel Clark put Virginia back up by two with less than five minutes to play and then Kate Miller added an insurance goal with 43 seconds left to seal the 14-11 win for the Cavaliers. 

Graduate attacker Ashlyn McGovern led the way with four goals on seven shots and senior midfielder Jaime Biskup had three goals on seven shots. The reigning ACC Freshman of the Year Rachel Clark got her sophomore campaign off to a good start, tallying three goals and one assist, while junior Morgan Schwab had one goal and three assists.  

Virginia outshot Stanford 36-23 overall and shots on goal were 28-18 in favor of the Cavaliers. Stanford goalie Kara Rahaim had 14 saves to just seven for Virginia's Ashley Vernon and the Cardinal won the ground ball battle 11-9, but Stanford also turned the ball over 14 times, giving the Cavaliers a pivotal possession advantage. 

After starting the season with an impressive comeback win on the road against a ranked opponent, Virginia will look to go 2-0 on this season-opening California road trip as the Cavaliers play against UC Davis on Sunday at 2pm ET at Palo Alto High School. 

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Published
Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.