With only one game left before the ACC tournament, the No. 4 Virginia women's lacrosse team travels to Farifax, Va. tonight to take on George Mason in a non-conference match.
The Cavaliers (10-3) are coming off a huge win over in-state rival Virginia Tech where Virginia pounded the Hokies for 19 goals, giving up only three in return.
In the matchup, Virginia won 42 ground balls while Virginia Tech took only 26. The more startling statistic, however, is that the Cavaliers out-shot the Hokies 33-5 for the game. Eight different Cavaliers notched goals against the Hokies on the afternoon. Sophomore attacker Cary Chasney led all Cavalier scorers with five goals on the day, followed by senior tri-captain Lauren Aumiller's four.
Aumiller sees the Patriots as similar to Virginia Tech and will take the same attitude into tonight's game.
"It'll be the same thing," she said. George Mason "is okay, but they're not great. They're the same kind of team as Virginia Tech, so it should be the same thing."
George Mason currently is 5-6 on the season and is coming off a 12-6 loss to No. 9 James Madison on Sunday. Virginia narrowly beat James Madison earlier in the year off a last second goal from sophomore attacker Amy Appelt.
A major key to this game will be the defensive play of Virginia, who must use this game to work out communication and mental mistakes. Against No. 3 Duke, these mistakes caused the Cavaliers to fall behind instead of keeping the game close and playing their style of lacrosse.
"Every team's coming out to try and get you," Appelt said. "It's our job to make sure that we come out and handle things from the beginning."
Junior keeper Andrea Pfeiffer also will have to bring the Cavaliers together from between the posts. If Pfeiffer can keep George Mason off the score board early and often, the defense will become more confident.
Over the past several games, Virginia has had problems finishing games. Countless offensive possessions have gone wasted due to missed shots or bad passes. George Mason will be looking tocapitalize on the opportunities these miscues will provide.
"It's to our best advantage to just go out hard and finish the game," Appelt said.
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