Playing for the first time since a heartbreaking overtime loss in the 2019 Atlantic-10 championship game, Massachusetts found the result a little sweeter this time. The Minutewomen stunned state rival and No. 5 Boston College 15-11 in both team’s season openers. BC had won each of the last four meetings between the two schools since they resumed their rivalry in 2016.

BC, the national runner-up the last three seasons, reloaded following the graduation of four first team All-Americans by bringing in transfers Charlotte North and Rachel Hall, but it wasn’t enough against a potent UMass offense.

North, who ranked third in the country in goals per game at Duke last year, had a hat trick and Hall, the Pac-12 Rookie of the Year at Oregon, made nine saves.

UMass led 6-4 at the half and stretched the lead to 9-5 in the second half, but it looked like things were turning BC’s way. The Eagles scored five straight goals, taking a 10-9 lead on Cara Urbanks’ goal with 12:58 to play.

UMass showed no nerves. Haley Connaughton scored just 24 seconds later to tie the game and Stephanie Croke’s free position goal with 8:43 left to play put the Minutewomen back in front.

UMass’ scoring run eventually reached six straight goals before BC’s Jenn Medjid closed the scoring with just 2:34 to play.

Kaitlyn Cerasi led the UMass offense with four goals and two assists and Connaughton also scored four goals. Lauren Hiller made 13 saves to earn the win.

McGovern Carries Virginia Past Navy

Navy had No. 7 Virginia on the ropes for much of the game, but Ashlyn McGovern put the Cavaliers on her back and carried the Wahoos to a 14-13 overtime win in Annapolis.

"I have to credit Navy with playing a really consistent, much better game from start to finish than we did,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers. “I feel like we stole a game off of Navy, because they outplayed us. It was great to see that we made huge plays when we really needed to make a stop or score a goal.”

After Natalie Irwin scored on a behind-the-back shot with just 21 seconds left in the first half to put Navy up 6-3, McGovern began her work, scoring as time expired just before the half.

Virginia tied the game at 8-8 and 10-10 in the second half, but Navy stretched the lead to two goals twice more, the last coming on Irwin’s fourth goal of the game with 4:11 to play.

Nora Bowen scored with 2:56 to get the Cavaliers within striking distance. McGovern scored with 34 seconds left to send it to overtime and then slipped past her defender on a back cut, received a pass Bowen in front of the cage and buried the game-winner just 46 seconds into overtime.

Ashlyn McGovern plays the hero! @UVAWomensLax with a comeback 14-13 win over Navy. McGovern's fifth goal wins in it overtime for the Cavaliers.

: (@PatriotLeagueTV) pic.twitter.com/suiqpIORl3

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 8, 2020

McGovern had a career-high five goals in the game and Bowen had three goals and three assists.

Stars Show Up in UNC Win at James Madison

Two years ago, James Madison opened the march to a national championship beating North Carolina in Harrisonburg.

Could the Tar Heels have started on the path to a national championship with a season-opening win in Harrisonburg?

North Carolina, No. 1 in the Nike/US Lacrosse preseason rankings, got big contributions from its stars in a 15-7 victory over the No. 14 Dukes. Katie Hoeg tied her career-high with six assists, Nike/US Lacrosse Preseason Player of the Year Jamie Ortega had three goals and four assists and Taylor Moreno made 12 saves.

USC Rallies Late to Nip Hofstra

Stymied by Hofstra goalie Jess Smith for much of the game, No. 10 USC rallied with three goals in the final 7:02 of the game, beating the Pride 9-8 on Emily Concialdi’s free position goal with 2:01 left in the contest.

It's #ComebackSZN on the Island. @USCTrojansLax scores the final three goals, beating Hofstra 9-8 on Emily Concialdi's third goal of the game with just 2:01 left.

(: Pride Productions) pic.twitter.com/zAhu5I6E0t

— US Lacrosse Magazine (@USLacrosseMag) February 8, 2020

Goals by Alexa Mattera and Alyssa Parrella less than a minute apart gave Hofstra an 8-6 advantage with 16:06 remaining in the game. Hofstra maintained that two-goal cushion for more than nine minutes before Hope Anhut broke the drought with 7:02 left.

Smith, who finished with 14 saves, made back-to-back saves a few minutes later, but Kerrigan Miller grabbed a rebound and tied the game with 3:53 left to set the stage for Concialdi’s game-winner.

Concialdi led the Trojans with a hat trick, Miller had a pair of goals and Riley Hertford made 11 saves. Mattera paced Hofstra with a game-high four goals.

Notable

• Brianna Harris scored a career-high five goals and had seven draw controls as Florida rallied late to beat Colorado 11-10. (Read More Here)

• Sisters Catie and Libby May scored Maryland’s first four goals and Kali Hartshorn tied her career-high with seven points (4g, 3a) as the No. 3 Terps beat George Mason 19-6.

• Defense carried Denver to the NCAA quarterfinals in 2019, but the offense stole the show in the Pioneers season-opening 17-13 win over Stanford. Quintin Hoch-Bullen paced the Pioneers with five goals.

• No. 19 Georgetown scored 15 first-half goals on its way to a 19-5 victory over Saint Joseph’s. Michaela Bruno scored four goals for the Hoyas.

• Sophia Triandafils had a game-high four goals, and scored the last two goals of the game, to help Penn State pull away from a one-goal lead to beat Towson 12-9.

• Johns Hopkins scored the final three goals of the game to stave off an upset bid by Drexel, beating the Dragons 13-11. Carly Steinlauf gave the Blue Jays a 12-11 lead with 6:41 left and Shelby Harrison scored an insurance goal with 3:44 remaining. Harrison and Aurora Cordingley each scored three goals for Hopkins.

• Paige Petty scored five goals and Kayla Frank had three goals and five assists to lead Virginia Tech to a season-opening 17-10 win over Davidson.

• Danielle Van Calcar scored six goals to carry Colgate to a 14-9 win over Marist in Kathy Taylor’s first game coaching the Raiders.

• Samantha Budd scored five goals as Rutgers made a winner of new head coach Melissa Lehman. The Scarlet Knights downed Long Island University 15-9.

• Kerri Clayton had four goals and two assists as Arizona State won Tim McCormack’s debut with the Sun Devils, beating UC Davis 16-12.

• New head coach Jackie Dando led Bucknell to a season-opening 18-9 win over Sacred Heart. Eve Calabria had four goals and three assists.

Nike/US Lacrosse Top 20

No. 1 North Carolina 15, No. 14 James Madison 7
No. 3 Maryland 19, George Mason 6
Massachusetts 15, No. 5 Boston College 11
No. 7 Virginia 14, No. 16 Navy 13 (OT)
No. 10 USC 9, Hofstra 8
No. 13 Denver 17, Stanford 13
No. 17 Florida 11, No. 18 Colorado 10
No. 19 Georgetown 19, Saint Joseph’s 5

Other Scores

Arizona State 16, UC Davis 12
Bucknell 18, Sacred Heart 9
Coastal Carolina 12, Old Dominion 8
Colgate 14, Marist 9
Elon 12, Campbell 5
Holy Cross 10, Fairfield 8
Johns Hopkins 13, Drexel 11
Manhattan 12, LaSalle 11
Oregon 20, Liberty 12
Penn State 12, Towson 9
Radford 15, St. Francis 8
Rutgers 15, Long Island University 9
Temple 17, George Washington 8
Vermont 19, Merrimack 11
Villanova 16, William & Mary 12
Virginia Tech 17, Davidson 10