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April 15, 2003
Virginia erupted for three goals in a span of 75 seconds to break open a close game as Lauren Aumiller fed Cary Chasney twice, giving the Cavaliers (11-3) some breathing room and Virginia held on to defeat George Mason 15-8 today in Fairfax. Aumiller had seven assists in the game, five of them to Chasney, and tied the Virginia record for assists in a game set by Lindsey Sheehan in 1985 and tied by Sheehan three more times. Her ten points tonight is the most scored by a Cavalier this season and the most since Anna Yates had 10 (5g, 5a) against Old Dominion in 1995. Lauri Kenis had four caused turnovers and five ground balls to pace the Cavalier effort while Aumiller had five draw controls to lead Virginia.
After Mason won the opening draw, Aumiller caused a turnover on the left flank and scooped up the ground ball, starting a fast break that saw Kim Connors feed Appelt for the opening goal of the game 2:42 into the contest. Courtney Young picked up a dropped pass in the Virginia defensive arc and started another fast break in which Morgan Thalenberg fed a streaking Chasney, putting Virginia up 2-0 4:37 into the game. GMU’s Jill Toomey scored to pull the Patriots within one, but Chasney picked up a Mason overthrow at the restraining line and passed the ball to Appelt, who tossed the ball to Tyler Leachman who ran in from the right, eluded a defender, and scored to push the margin back to two.
Aumiller won the ensuing draw and took it right upfield to the goal line extended, where she fed Chasney who was on the goal circle. Chasney scored 17 seconds after Leachman to give Virginia a 4-1 lead. Tiffany Schummer won the next draw and got the ball to Aumiller, who took it behind the cage. In the set attack, Aumiller sent an opposite post feed to Chasney, who scored her third goal of the game 15:10 into the contest. Toomey scored again to stop the Virginia run to pull Mason to 5-2.
The next draw was batted all the way back to the Mason keeper, who controlled it but threw it away where Chasney picked up the dropped ball at the restraining line and brought the ball back upfield where Aumiller fed Appelt who was cutting through the arc. Kenis picked up a dropped Mason ball at the top of the fan and brought the ball upfield for the Cavaliers to set an attack. In the attack, Aumiller fed a streaking Chasney for a 7-2 lead with 9:38 to play in the first half.
Virginia then scored three goals in a 97-second span, starting as Lindsay Buchanan scooped up a loose ball in the Virginia 8 and started the next transition in which Chasney fed Aumiller, who was on the goal circle, for the Cavaliers’ eighth goal. Thalenberg won the draw and got the ball to Aumiller, who fed Chasney who was streaking through the arc. Chasney converted, scoring 40 seconds after Aumiller. Thalenberg won the next draw as well and in the set attack, Caitlin Banks drove to the cage and Aumiller fed her, putting the Cavaliers in double digits 25 minutes into the game. Mason tacked on a third goal 1:34 before halftime, sending the teams to halftime with Virginia up 10-3.
George Mason scored two goals in the opening seven minutes to pull the Patriots within five at 10-5, but Meredith Lazarus won the following draw and got the ball to Aumiller, who drove in from the top to stop the 2-0 run. Mason scored again on a goal from Lisa Hagan to pull back within five with 16:27 to play in regulation.
With under five minutes to play, Leachman picked up an overthrow to start the next goal sequence for Virginia, where Aumiller fed Chasney who was in the arc. Aumiller’s assist tied the record set by Sheehan when she had seven assists against Bucknell in 1985, a game Virginia won 21-4. Sheehan also had three goals in that game.
Mason scored off the draw to keep within five, but Aumiller won the draw to herself and tossed the ball to Chasney, who led Appelt with a pass to the goal circle. Appelt scored the Cavaliers’ 13th goal 25 seconds after Mason to push the margin back to six. Mason answered right back 50 seconds later to stay within five.
The Cavaliers scored twice in the final 52 seconds, starting as Connors scooped up a ground ball in the Virginia defensive third and in the transition Leachman picked up a dropped ball right in front of the Mason cage and fired it into the net. Chasney won the next draw and ran the ball upfield where she fed Aumiller in transition, and Aumiller scored with 39 seconds to play for a final score of 15-8.
Aumiller’s seven assists give her 88 in her career, 26th all-time in Division I history, while her 197 goals rank 24th all-time in Division I history. Her 10 points tonight give her 285 for her career (197g, 88a), which ties her for 17th all-time in Division I history.
Virginia returns to action on Friday, April 18 in the semifinals of the ACC Championships. The Cavaliers are seeded third and will play second-seeded and third-ranked Duke at 3:30. Virginia is the host of the tournament and will watch top-seeded and second-ranked Maryland play #14 North Carolina in a game starting at 1:00.
Linescore 1 2 FVirginia 10 5 15Geo Mason 3 5 8
Scoring summary:2:42 V Appelt (Connors) 1-04:37 V Chasney (Thalenberg) 2-05:55 G Toomey (Manas) 2-113:55 V Leachman 3-114:12 V Chasney (Aumiller) 4-115:10 V Chasney (Aumiller) 5-118:17 G Toomey (Hagan) 5-218:48 V Appelt (Aumiller) 6-220:22 V Chasney (Aumiller) 7-223:28 V Aumiller (Chasney) 8-224:08 V Chasney (Aumiller) 9-225:07 V Banks (Aumiller) 10-228:26 G Hagan 10-334:22 G Ohler 10-437:15 G Toomey (Manas) 10-538:53 V Aumiller 11-543:33 G Hagan 11-655:23 V Chasney (Aumiller) 12-655:48 G Toomey (Manas) 12-756:00 V Appelt (Chasney) 13-756:50 G Ohler (Manas) 13-859:08 V Leachman 14-859:21 V Aumiller (Chasney) 15-8
Goals: V: Chasney 6, Aumiller 3, Appelt 3, Leachman 2, Banks G: Toomey 4, Hagan 2, Ohler 2
Assists: V: Aumiller 7, Chasney 3, Connors, Thalenberg G: Manas 4, Hagan
Keepers: V: Andrea Pfeiffer (60 mins, 7 saves, 8 GA) G: Meg Dentler (60 mins, 18 saves, 15 GA)
Draws: V 18, G 7Shots: V 42, G 20Ground balls: V 38, G 23Caused turnovers: V: 14, G 5Turnovers: V 16, G 19Clearing: V 9-13, G 16-228-meter attempts: V 3, G 38-meter shots: V 3, G 3