A hat trick wasn't enough for junior attacker Amy Appelt Wednesday night, and neither was a hat trick times two. Virginia's leading scorer netted seven goals, including the final three of the contest, to propel the No. 5 Cavaliers past No. 7 James Madison, 12-9.
In the previous four games, all wins, the Virginia women (9-2, 2-0 ACC) have outscored their opponents by nearly 11 goals per game. It was evident in the opening minutes of Wednesday's game, however, that the Dukes weren't going to surrender to the red-hot Cavaliers without a fight. JMU controlled possession of the ball and capitalized on their good scoring chances. They scored the game's first goal less than five minutes into the contest and mounted their advantage to four goals, 5-1, 12 minutes later, leaving Virginia in the unfamiliar position of having to come from behind.
Appelt, who had a hat trick by halftime, attributed the Cavaliers' slow start to hasty offensive play in the scoring zone.
"We were overanxious," she said. "We wanted to put them away at the beginning, and that obviously didn't happen."
The Cavaliers went into halftime down by only one goal, 6-5, thanks to Appelt's trio of goals and two from senior attacker Caitlyn Banks. Banks also added two assists in the contest.
After a stiff start, the Virginia offense loosened up in the second half. Sophomore attacker Tyler Leachman contributed two goals -- the second of which tied the game at 9-9 with fewer than eight minutes to play -- before Appelt went on her game-ending surge.
With her eight-point performance, Appelt tied former Cavalier All-American Dawn Wisniewski with 224 career points, which ranks third all-time at Virginia. Her 50 goals on the season also leads the nation.
The game marked the first test of Virginia's new offensive scheme against a high-caliber team. While they appeared shaky at first, the Cavaliers quickly settled into an offensive pattern characteristic of their past four wins.
"I think we played a little bit tight," Virginia coach Julie Myers said. "I think we didn't trust our pattern at first against a great opponent. But once we settled down and made the easy pass and started making each other look a little bit better, we set each other up for success and that was enough to make a difference."
The Cavaliers travel to Durham tomorrow to take on No. 6 Duke (6-3, 2-0). Myers stressed the importance of playing a quality game prior to facing Duke and highlighted the focal points that the team needs to improve on to win Saturday.
"I think our best preparation is playing a close game and a competitive game where you have to fight for every ball like we did with JMU," Myers said.
"We just have to work on sharpening our own game and making sure we have our game plan set. That means making good, hard cuts to the ball and trying to take advantage of some opportunities that we're able to create."
Although Virginia struggled early in the win against JMU, the game acted as a solid foundation for the Cavaliers to build upon heading into Durham, where they look to come away with an undefeated conference record and the top spot in the ACC.
Read More
Katie Grimes posts historic debut as women’s swimming and diving annihilates Virginia Tech
By Xander Tilock | 4 hours agoGrimes broke out as a new superstar for Coach Todd DeSorbo's squad.
Women’s basketball displays stingy defense, but falls short versus No. 14 Duke
By Xander Tilock | 10 hours agoThe Cavaliers nearly conquered a ranked rival but could not generate consistent offense.
You cannot say money is the problem for Virginia football
By Peter Kriebel | 16 hours agoMoney, after all, is just one aspect of a winning program.
