The No. 12 Penn State (2-2) women's lacrosse team suffered a 15-9 loss at Klockner stadium Friday night as the No. 8 Cavaliers rebounded from a loss to No. 3 Maryland March 11. Sunday afternoon yielded similar results for Virginia. No. 2 Princeton (1-2) was thrown for a loop by the Cavaliers, when they lost 13-8, raising Virginia's record to 5-2 on the season.
In Friday's match-up, Penn State took the early 2-0 lead two minutes in on goals from sophomore midfielder Kristen Burke and junior attacker Stephanie Curnoles. It took Virginia almost half of the first 30 minutes to find their rhythm as a team. With 15 minutes left in the first half, Virginia finally captured the lead from the visiting Nittany Lions.
After a shaky performance in the first 10 minutes of play, Virginia junior keeper Andrea Pfeiffer stabilized, allowing only five goals during the first half. Despite Penn State sophomore keeper Lee Tortorelli playing well enough to tie her career high of 20 saves, the Cavalier offense still was potent enough to put Virginia ahead 12-5 at the half.
The final 30 minutes would not be much different as both teams buckled down on defense -- Virginia allowing four goals and the Lions allowing three. At the final horn, Virginia had taken a 15-9 victory from Penn State.
For the Cavaliers, sophomore attacker Amy Appelt had a team-high five goals and senior midfielder Lauren Aumiller tallied four. Junior midfielder Morgan Thalenberg recorded a hat-trick against the rival Nittany Lions. Appelt also led Virginia with three assists on Friday.
Sunday would be another showcase for Appelt as she recorded three goals and four assists.
"If I see it, I take it," Appelt said. "If not, I look for the next person."
Virginia coach Julie Myers sees Appelt as an asset to the team due to her offensive potential and leadership abilities.
"I'm glad she's on our team," Myers said. "I wouldn't want to prepare for her cause I'm not so sure how to do it."
With a light rain falling Sunday afternoon, the Cavaliers again took the lead atthehalf and went on to take down the No. 2 Tigers 13-8, handing them their second straight loss.
Princeton only had played in three games previous to yesterday's match-up while Virginia had six under their belt. These two losses for Princeton may only be a sign of the Tigers' early season jitters.
Virginia's offense worked smoothly and effectively but it was their defense that helped keep their lead against a dangerous Princeton squad that made a late run in the second half.
"I think our defense did an amazing job on keeping the gap as short as it was and we just thought that we had worked so hard for the first 30 minutes that we could do it for the next 10-20," Appelt said.
A three goal margin was the closest Princeton came to Virginia's lead, but with 6:14 left in the game, Appelt put Virginia back up by four. From behind Princeton's net, Appelt sprinted to the right and came around the corner, powering over a Princeton defender and rifling home the goal to give Virginia the 12-8 lead, en route to the 13-8 win.
Coach Myers was very pleased with her team's performance.
"It was our most consistent game so far," Myers said. "I feel like we're moving in the right direction."
For Virginia, Aumiller reached a historic mark in Sunday's game as she set the Cavalier record for consecutive games with a goal at 28. She is not, however, letting her personal achievement overshadow yesterday's key win.
"I'm not even concentrating on that," Aumiller said. "It was just a great team effort."
These past two games have served as a wake-up call for the Cavaliers and an opportunity to learn from their earlier mistakes. The loss to No. 3 Maryland brought Virginia back to earth and these last two victories have shown that they have the talent to play with the rest of the nation at the highest level.
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