WESTWOOD — Following his team’s 10-8 win over Westwood on Saturday, Wellesley girls lacrosse coach Steve Balter clapped and said, “You did it. Got over the hump.”

He was not kidding.

The victory for Wellesley was just the second over Westwood in the last 18 years and the last since 2018, when Wellesley won a state championship.

So, indeed, it was a triumph over Westwood (14-4) worth celebrating for the Raiders (13-4).

“I’m really proud of this team,” Balter said. “We’ve worked hard all year to get to this point. They are young, as a group, but we have great senior leadership. On defense, three of our starters are seniors, and we have a starting senior on attack. But our whole midfield line are sophomores, and we have a bunch of juniors out there, as well.

“It’s taken us two months to really get to this stage, which is the poise, and just the fight that they have to hang in there in the most critical moments,” he added. “We’ve worked a lot on end-of-game situations. I wasn’t telling them what to do from the sidelines. They just did it, and they did it perfectly. They wound the clock down once we got possession. Scored and went up two with, what was that, about a minute left, and then critically won the draw and stalled it out again. That was really, really critical moments.”

Wellesley senior Eliza Chapman was happy to get the elusive win.

“For me, honestly feels surreal,” Chapman said. “I’m ecstatic about the win. It’s amazing. It’s embedded in my brain, the 16-1 state championship game my sophomore year (a Westwood D1 state title victory in 2022). To finally beat them and win is just such an amazing feeling, and I’m so happy I can do it my senior year, as well.”

The game was close throughout. Westwood took a 5-4 lead in the third quarter, but Wellesley answered with four straight goals to grab momentum at 8-5 heading into the fourth. Alexandra Papavassilou, Abby Beggans (3 goals), Tara Battaglino and Olivia Comella (4 goals) were responsible for that scoring as the Raiders briefly took control.

But Westwood had an answer. The Wolverines won five draws in a row to start the fourth quarter behind star junior Caroline Nozzolillo (2 goals). Emilie DeMaio (2 goals) and Kate Sullivan (2 goals) score to bring the Wolverines to within 8-7.

The Raiders, though, never wavered. Beggans scored off a free position, then Nozzolillo scored one of her own to cut the deficit to 9-8.

Westwood won the ensuing draw, but Wellesley made a defensive stop, and Comella scored a goal to help seal it. Beggans helped win the final draw, and Wellesley earned the huge win.

Wellesley is playing well with the state tournament not that far off. But these teams will not meet again until next season, as Wellesley is in D1 and Westwood at D2.

“It’s exciting for us,” Balter said. “Obviously, Westwood is in D2 now, so it didn’t have the stakes of a future playoff game, but for us, of course, and I think for them, it’s a pretty good rivalry and a big-time game against two good teams. For us, it’s a great way to prepare going in. We’ve got three more games going in this week, and then playoffs. It’s a really good game for us.”

Wellesley’s Eliza Chapman, right, fends off the attack by Westwood’s Katie Krumsiek during Saturday’s girls lacrosse game. Wellesley was a 10-8 winner. (Photo by Paul Connors/Media News Group/Boston Herald)