With a little under five minutes left in last night's women's lacrosse game against No. 7 Georgetown (10-3), the No. 3 Virginia (11-3) women still had a chance to pull out a win.
Cavalier senior Amy Appelt had just pulled her team within one, 12-11, with 4:43 remaining in the game. Appelt's goal came in transition as she streaked around her defender, then moved laterally to the middle of the field and fired a shot that beat Georgetown goalie Maggie Koch. As amazing as Appelt's goal was, it would be the closest the Cavaliers would come to overtaking the Hoyas. On the ensuing draw, the ball bounced all over the field and jarred loose several times before Georgetown sophomore Chloe Asslin came up with it.
"The draw was a little nuts because it was bouncing all over the place," Georgetown coach Ricky Friend said. "Whoever was going to run through the ball was going to get it. A lot of people were smacking at it, but Chloe Asslin ran through it. More importantly, she made a good decision after she got it."
The nail was placed more firmly in Virginia's coffin after Hoya senior Catherine Elbe scored with 3:44 remaining. Elbe was wide open in front of the goal after a nice pass from sophomore Coco Stanwick caught the Cavalier defense off guard. After that goal, Virginia coach Julie Myers called a timeout to talk to her team.
"It was really to give ourselves a deep breath, a chance to reiterate that we've got plenty of time on the clock," Myers said. "It was really more a sense of -- get some water, take a deep breath and relax."
Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, Georgetown won the ensuing draw and was able to take a substantial amount of time off the clock. Virginia sophomore Jess Wasilewski nearly forced a turnover with 90 seconds remaining in the game, but the ball bounced quickly back to the Hoyas. The Cavaliers would be able to get the ball back with about a minute remaining, but Tyler Leachman's shot was turned away, along with the chance for a Virginia win. The loss is the first time the Cavaliers have fallen to Georgetown.
"It hurts a little bit, but Georgetown is a great team," Myers said. "You know that when you put good teams in to play that you may not come out on top. It hurts me, because I'm the one who has been here forever, but for the kids I think there is a little bit of upset there but also respect for Georgetown."
The Cavaliers opened the game in control, building a 5-3 lead. Appelt scored four of Virginia's first five goals. The Hoyas charged back to tie the game at 5-5, but a late spurt by the Cavaliers gave them a two-goal lead at the break. After halftime, Georgetown scored five of the first six goals of the half to take control of the game, 10-8. Virginia would tie the game at 10 but would not regain the lead. With the win, Georgetown recorded its first win in seven tries against Virginia.
"It's a different team every year," Friend said. "I've only been here three years, so it's not that big a monkey for me. It's probably a gorilla for some other people around here. Regardless, it's good to get that out of the way."
Appelt tied Stanwick for a game-high six points. Virginia senior Cary Chasney scored a hat trick and added an assist to finish with four points on the night.
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