AURORA, IL - The Calvin women's lacrosse team opened its 2015 season in winning fashion, defeating host Aurora 14-12 Saturday afternoon.

Calvin led 8-4 at halftime and held a 13-9 lead with 15 minutes left in the second half. Aurora sliced the deficit down to two goals at 13-11 with 8:56 remaining but Calvin sophomore Emily Cefaratti scored with 3:23 left to give the Knights a 14-11 advantage. Aurora's final goal came with 11 seconds left to play.

Freshman Amanda Davio led Calvin in scoring with five goals while Cefaratti had three. Karissa Reed and Carolyn Forbes had towo goals apiece while Paige Noordyke and Erin Leegwater had one goal each.

Calvin goalkeeper Corry Remy had three saves for the Knights in goal including a couple of key stops late in the second half.

Calvin held a 27-21 shots at goal advantage including 19-6 in the first half. The Knights also held a 16-12 edge in draw controls won. Both teams committed 19 turnovers.

"I think it is always tough to play in the cold but I think we did a good job preparing the team for a cold physical game," said Calvin women's lacrosse coach Blake Boehm after the game. "Our team responded well and I think they were able to hold a competitive edge in that regard."

Heading into the game, Boehm knew that Aurora would provide a strong test. "Aurora's head coach is a former defender so we knew they would be well-coached defensively," said Boehm. "They did a great job of keeping our offensive players on their toes with a lot of on-ball pressure. We responded by moving the ball quickly and making them work extra hard."

Offensively, Boehm felt that the Knights worked through opening-game jitters. "Offensively I think we could have been a little more patient," said Boehm. "But we were working against the nervousness that comes with the first game of the year."

Calvin returns to action on March 11 when it hosts Carthage at 4 p.m.