CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) — In the two weeks since the beating death of Yeardley Love threw Virginia’s lacrosse programs into grieving disbelief, Whitaker Hagerman wondered if she would ever feel buoyed by her friend’s presence rather than empty in her absence.
Her answer came Sunday, and on the field where she and Love and the rest of Virginia’s women’s lacrosse team rose as a national power before everything came to a crushing halt.
“We had to go out there, we had to play a game, we had to play lacrosse, and we had to play well,” Hagerman said after Virginia rallied to beat Towson 14-12 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, finishing an emotion-filled weekend at Klockner Stadium in style.
The comments from Virginia’s players were the first since the slaying on May 3.
Throughout the game, Hagerman said, it was as if she had Love sitting on her shoulder, just as the men’s team might have felt as they rolled Mount St. Mary’s on Saturday night.
“Even though she’s not physically here, she will always be here with us,” Hagerman said.
That seemed true for everyone in Virginia colors, especially in the closing minutes as Towson rallied to pull even at 10-all, and again at 11-all, after trailing most of the game.
It was then, coach Julie Myers said, that she noticed Love’s mother, Sharon, and sister Lexie moving down the bleachers and toward the team bench.
“They came down when we were tied, and when they came down, and I saw them kind of walking up behind our team, I felt like we were going to suddenly be O.K.,” Myers said.
“I felt like they were going to kind of be our extra emotion on the side.”
As if on cue, Brittany Kalkstein then scored, giving the Cavaliers a 12-11 lead. Then it was Caity Whiteley, the roommate who found Love’s bloodied body, making it 13-11.
The Cavaliers (14-5) held on, giving Whiteley, Myers and the rest of the team another week to play together, grieve together and heal together while honoring their teammate.
“I know I wasn’t ready to be done,” Myers said. “I don’t thing the girls were even close to being ready either, partly because we’re really competitive … but also because we need to be together as we take these next steps. Emotionally we’ve been through an awful lot.”
Perhaps no one more than Whiteley, who finished with three goals.
“I don’t know when I’d be without my team,” she said.
Before the game, during a moment of silence to remember the senior defender, Hagerman said she spent the time talking with Love. Both were expected to graduate next Sunday, as was George Huguely, the men’s lacrosse player charged with first-degree murder in Love’s death.
“I was saying, ‘Be out here with us,’ and she definitely was. The entire 60 minutes,” Hagerman said. “It was amazing, and it was great to come out with a win at the end.”
Reminders of Love were throughout Klockner Stadium, and in the record crowd of 2,270.
Some fans unfurled a banner early on that said “1-2-3-4, together, Hoos,” a reminder of how Love once botched the team’s huddle-breaking cheer by counting to four instead of the usual three. Myers said at Love’s funeral her team will now always count to four as well.
The Cavaliers wore shirts under their jerseys with the phrase “One Team. One Heart. One Love.” on the back. The team also had black patches on the front of their jerseys with the word “LOVE” in white letters. Towson wore orange wristbands with “Y.L.” in dark blue.
“This was obviously much more than just a game today,” Myers said.
As the final seconds ticked down, fans chanted “U-V-A” and clapped in unison as the players huddled and then went to share a moment with the Tigers. In the background, Cher’s one-time hit “Believe” blared, with the lyrics “Do you believe in life after love?”
Towson players gave the Cavaliers pins showing an angel carrying a lacrosse stick.
“They played a great game in spite of everything today, and that’s what we wanted from them,” said Jacie Kendall, who scored four goals for Towson (13-5).
Nikki Marcinik and Hillary Fratzke each scored three, but Virginia goalie Lauren Benner stopped several other good scoring chances for the Tigers, and made six of her nine saves after halftime.
The Cavaliers will travel to North Carolina this weekend to play the Tar Heels.
Charlie Finnigan and Julie Gardner also scored three times each for Virginia, which is missing three starters because of torn knee ligaments sustained in the past six weeks.
Love was a sometimes starter, too, but her teammates felt like she was there all along.