U.Va. lacrosse player remembered as 'truly remarkable'

BALTIMORE

Nearly 2,000 mourners joined hands and lifted their voices Saturday morning, not in prayer but in a cheer, filling a cathedral with a chant once uttered by Yeardley Love on a lacrosse field.

Leading the cheer for the slain lacrosse player was Julie Myers, Love's coach at the University of Virginia, who helped celebrate Love's life in a funeral Mass at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.

Myers recalled that the Cavaliers would take turns leading the pre-game cheer - "1-2-3, together, Hoos" - invoking a team nickname. One day, when it was Love's turn, she counted to four.

Saturday morning, Myers counted to four. The congregation responded as one: "together, Hoos!"

From now on, Myers said, the Cavaliers will always count to four.

Love was "truly remarkable," she said, "not because she tried to be, but because she just was. It came easy for her to be great, to be kind-hearted, welcoming, encouraging and engaging to all who knew her. She was legitimately awesome."

Love, 22, was found dead Monday in her apartment near the U.Va. campus in Charlottesville. Police have charged George Huguely, 22, a fellow lacrosse player and former boyfriend. Investigators say he shook her violently during an argument on the night of her death, slamming her head against a wall. Huguely's attorney has said Love's death was an accident.

On Saturday, congregants overflowed from the pews into the aisles of the cathedral, which seats 1,400. The Love family sat at the front. Behind them were rows of students from Notre Dame Prep, the Towson girls' school Love attended, and other Love relatives. Members of Huguely's men's lacrosse team served as some of the pallbearers.