As the game clock wound down to zero at the national championship game, feelings of anger, disappointment and disbelief flushed the faces of the Virginia women's lacrosse team.
But that was 2003.
When the clock started back up in February 2004, one thing was certain for the Cavaliers: That was then and this -- the 2004 season -- would be anything but the same.
The date was May 18, 2003. The venue: The Carrier Dome on the campus of Syracuse University. Virginia surged to a 3-0 lead in the opening seven minutes of the game. Senior All-American attacker Lauren Aumiller, the star of the team, already had 17 points in the tournament -- including a nine-point performance against Georgetown in Virginia's quarterfinal game.
With each passing minute, the Cavaliers came closer to dethroning the Princeton Tigers and capturing their first title in 10 years. The team that always stressed the importance of playing a full 40 minutes did so. Unfortunately for Virginia, the game extended into overtime.
After squandering a two-goal lead with 23:37 to play, the Cavaliers ran out of ammunition in the extra period, eventually losing 8-7.
As if losing the game weren't a large enough knock to the Cavalier squad, they also lost several key players to graduation. Along with offensive commander Aumiller, defensive mid-fielders Tiffany Schummer and Lauri Kenis had also played their last game in the blue and orange.
But still, every remaining facet of the Virginia arsenal exuded the possibility for greatness.
Attacker Amy Appelt and midfielder Cary Chasney, All-Americans entering their junior seasons, were slated to lead the Cavaliers in their ascent back to the apex of women's collegiate lacrosse. Defender Elizabeth Pinney would be the anchor of the defense in front of goalkeeper Andrea Pfeiffer, and senior attackers Morgan Thalenberg and Caitlin Banks were prepared to do the little things for their team to win.
The late second-half blunder against Princeton in the 2003 title game was hardly an afterthought during the 2004 season -- some players even admitted to thinking about the loss daily. But from the first draw, control of the new season -- even from the first practice on the cold, barren field on the outskirts of Klockner Stadium -- it was evident that the heartbreaking loss didn't taint Virginia's morale.
The Cavaliers again lost regular season contests to national powerhouses Syracuse and Princeton, two hurdles they consistently struggled to clear during each regular season, even in the midst of defeating other top-20 teams by upwards of 10 goals.
Midfielders Meredith Lazarus and Chasney -- both expected to make extensive offensive contributions -- suffered ACL injuries that ended their seasons prematurely.
Appelt effectively picked up the slack, notching 90 goals and 121 points. She took over Lauren Aumiller's role, while sophomore attacker Tyler Leachman broke through as the number two scorer, with 53 goals and 11 assists.
Despite the setbacks, Virginia boasted a winning record (15-3), an ACC championship and the second seed in the NCAA tournament behind only Princeton. The Cavaliers were entering May poised to make another run at the national title.
The Cavaliers registered convincing wins in the first two rounds of the tournament -- 19-2 over Mount St. Mary's and 15-11 over Northwestern -- and avoided a second-half collapse to defeat Georgetown in the semifinals, 12-9.
The stage was set for a rematch -- the game Virginia had envisaged the entire season.
"I've definitely been thinking about it a lot," Appelt said after the Georgetown win. "We've been training all season. You don't want to have a heartbreak loss like that again. A chance to play such a competitive team is great."
The Cavaliers exhibited inerrant confidence in a situation that could have hampered them with feelings of anxiety and doubt.
"I definitely think that we're ready for them," Pfeiffer said. "They're a great team, but mentally we've been waiting for this since last year."
Princeton scored first, 4:14 into the game. It would be the Tigers' only lead of the contest.
Virginia scored five straight goals for a 5-1 halftime advantage. The defense held steadfast thanks to a career-high 19 save performance from Pfeiffer, and the offense never stalled: The Cavaliers tamed the Tigers, 10-4.
"It's a new year, new team," Appelt said. "We just wanted to go out there and play our game on the field. Last year, maybe we didn't play our game. We fell into a little bit of pressure. We failed when we needed to be composed. This year, we all said 'clean slate,' and we were going to do it this year when we started from the beginning."
With such assertions, it's likely that Princeton never stood a chance at winning the championship -- at least in the mind of a confident Cavalier.
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