Story Links
March 22, 2003
The University of Virginia’s Caitlin Banks caused a turnover with 20 seconds left in the first half by intercepting a pass back to the Carolina keeper, setting up a Cavalier goal with two seconds left in the stanza, and then scored twice in the second half to help Virginia (6-2) defeat UNC 7-6 today in Chapel Hill. Captain Tiffany Schummer led Virginia with two draw controls, two caused turnovers, and four ground balls while Courtney Young had five ground balls and three caused turnovers. Andrea Pfeiffer made five saves while Tyler Leachman, Kim Connors and Lauren Aumiller each had a goal and an assist. Aumiller’s assist to Connors at the 33:18 mark of the game was her 250th career point (177g, 73a).
Virginia jumped on the board first as Pfeiffer made a save on a Carolina shot and Meredith Lazarus outraced two Tar Heel attackers for the ground ball. After Virginia transitioned into the offense, Amy Appelt challenged from the left of the cage and scored 10:04 into the game, putting UVa up 1-0. Carolina scored the next two goals in a seven-minute span to take a 2-1 lead with just over 9 minutes remaining in the half.
The Cavaliers won the draw and took the ball into their offensive zone but lost control of it. In a scramble for the loose ball, Leachman picked it up at the top of the fan and raced in, scoring with 3:18 left in the half and tying the game. UNC answered right away on an Allison Higgins 8-meter shot, putting the Tar Heels up 3-2 with 2:05 remaining in the half.
The Tar Heels won the next draw but Virginia got the ball back and set up for the final play of the half with under 30 seconds to go. The Cavaliers lost the ball on the challenge to the cage, but Banks intercepted the pass back to the keeper, giving Virginia a second chance to score. The offense worked the ball behind the cage to Leachman, who fed Aumiller on the goal circle. Aumiller scored on a quick stick with :02 showing on the clock, tying the game at 3-3.
The Tar Heels won the opening draw of the second half, but Young caused a turnover and Schummer scooped up the ground ball. The Cavaliers worked the ball to Aumiller, who drove into the arc and drew a double team. Connors raced into the open space in the arc and Aumiller passed over the double team to Connors, who buried the ball in the net for a lead the Cavaliers would not relinquish 3:18 into the second half.
Virginia won the next draw but the Tar Heels took possession before Virginia was able to set their attack. As the Heels attempted a transition, they overthrew a pass and Pfeiffer collected the loose ball in front of her cage. Virginia brought the ball back upfield where Banks drove around the goal circle and scored two minutes after Connors’ goal, putting the Cavaliers up by two.
Lazarus won the ensuing draw on the far side of the field and fed Cary Chasney in the middle of the field, who in turn fed a streaking Morgan Thalenberg on the left side of the cage. Thalenberg raced in and scored 13 seconds after Banks, putting Virginia up 6-3 35:56 into the game, forcing the Heels to call a timeout. The Heels scored five minutes later as Melissa McCarthy fed Stephanie Scurachio, cutting the deficit to 6-4 with 19:18 to play.
Young started the next scoring play as she stripped a Carolina player and in the transition Connors forced a shooting space foul on the left side of the cage. On the reset, she fed Banks who was unmarked on the right side of the keeper. Banks’ goal with 9:58 to play in the game gave Virginia a 7-4 lead. Scurachio scored just over a minute later to push the margin back to two.
The Tar Heels got possession of the ball and took it into their offensive zone where they were able to get off a shot, but Pfeiffer saved it to keep the lead at two. The Cavaliers brought the ball up into their offensive zone but lost possession with just over two minutes to go in regulation. In the fast break transition, Nicki Barnes fed Brooke Young, who scored with 2:01 to go in the second half and pulling Carolina within one at 7-6.
UNC won the ensuing draw but as they challenged the cage lost the ball and Connors picked up the loose ball in the arc and Virginia brought the ball upfield where they ran out the clock, sending the Cavaliers to their third win in a row, all over top-10 teams.
Virginia returns to action on Tuesday, March 25 as they travel to UMBC for a game.
Linescore 1 2 F recordsVirginia 3 4 7 6-2 (1-1 ACC)UNC 3 3 6 3-4 (0-3 ACC)
Scoring summary:10:04 V Appelt 1-014:06 N Ames (Higgins) 1-120:43 N Scurachio (Barnes) 1-226:47 V Leachman 2-227:55 N Higgins (8m) 2-329:58 V Aumiller (Leachman) 3-333:18 V Connors (Aumiller) 4-335:43 V Banks 5-335:56 V Thalenberg (Chasney) 6-340:42 N Scurachio (McCarthy) 6-450:02 V Banks (Connors) 7-451:18 N Scurachio 7-557:59 N Young (Barnes) 7-6
Goalies: V: Pfeiffer (60 mins, 5 saves, 6 GA) N: Katelyn Hoffman (60 mins, 7 saves, 7 GA)
Shots: V: 25, N: 25Groundballs: V: 34, N: 33Draws: V: 6, N: 9Caused turnovers: V: 9, N: 12Turnovers: V: 16, N: 20Fouls: V: 7, N: 118-meter attempts: V: 3, N: 28-meter shots: V: 2, N: 1Clearing:V: 17-19, N: 9-16