After imposing the 10-goal mercy rule just two days earlier on UMBC, Virginia almost repeated the same feat last night against William & Mary at Klöckner Stadium. During the contest, the Cavalier lead never dwindled below two goals and reached an advantage as high as nine on the way to a 16-8 victory over the Tribe.
Virginia coach Julie Myers' new offensive strategy once again upset the opponent's defensive cohesion through a combination of quick passes, motion sets and cutting players through the eight-meter circle.
The Cavaliers (7-2) entered the game ranked fifth in the nation, facing an in-state rival who, at 4-2, had earned a ranking of No. 18 nationally. The competition also had personal ramifications, as William & Mary coach Tara Brown was a member, along with Myers, of the 1991 Virginia national championship team.
Throughout the game, the Cavaliers moved through an alternating series of scoring runs and droughts, but they were never forced to change their offensive style. The first half was dominated by forced turnovers, ground balls and stick contact for Virginia, which appeared to regain the ball after every change of possession in favor of the Tribe.
"We've been working a lot on our transition and ground balls in practice this week, and obviously it is paying off," sophomore attacker Tyler Leachman said. "I think we are really putting it together."
Junior attacker Amy Appelt notched her ninth straight hat trick for the Virginia offense on four goals and four assists. Three times throughout the game, Appelt scored by backing down a William & Mary defender, then spinning through the center of the circle and bouncing the ball into the net.
Leachman also performed notably well for the Cavaliers with four goals and two assists. As the offense progressed throughout the game, she was consistently making plays with the help of her teammates.
Leachman "is a great shooter, and she sees the field really well," Myers said. "For somebody like Tyler, our new offense is perfect -- it really brings out her strengths."
As a team, the Cavaliers held the groundball advantage by a margin of 31-27 and sacrificed two fewer turnovers than the Tribe. Throughout the scoring runs of the first and second halves, Virginia succeeded in disrupting William & Mary on both sides of the field, rarely allowing the Tribe to establish a rhythm. In the first 20:36 of the game, Virginia scored eight goals, only to go more than 13 minutes before scoring again. After that score, however, the Cavaliers went on a four-goal run to extend their lead.
For the second time in three days, the highlight for the Cavaliers was the success of a new offensive strategy put into place by the coaching staff.
"I don't even think that we have run [the offense] perfectly yet," Myers said. "I think we get a little anxious, and when we see the first shot, we try for it. When we get a little more disciplined, it will be even more damaging to teams."
Despite an offense molded with only two games of competitive experience, Virginia has scored at least 16 goals in each of these contests. As the new offensive attack evolves for the Cavaliers, a newly diverse scoring corps should only continue to improve.
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