Cavaliers Rally to Upset Loyola 12-11 on Fourth-Year Day

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April 17, 2004

Final Stats | Video Highlights

The Virginia Cavaliers women’s lacrosse team made the last home regular-season game for six fourth years a memorable one, as they rallied twice from a three-goal deficit in the first half to take the lead, and then scored the final two goals of the game, including a free position shot by Tyler Leachman with nine seconds on the clock, to upset the Loyola Greyhounds 12-11 tonight in Charlottesville. With the Cavaliers (12-3) facing an 11-10 deficit and Loyola (12-2) holding possession in their offensive zone, Courtney Young and Jess Wasilewski executed a double team with just under four minutes to play and got possession for the Cavaliers. Virginia scored to tie the game, and Nikki Lieb won the ensuing draw to give the Cavaliers a final possession. Leachman challenged from the top of the arc and was fouled en route, placing her on the 8 with 10 seconds to play. On the restart, she deposited the ball in the back of the net, putting Virginia up 12-11.

The Greyhounds scored the first three goals of the game in a span of 3:24 as Talia Shacklock scored on a free position shot, Sydney Greene challenged from the wing, and Shacklock converted a Rachel Shuck feed at 3:24 to give Loyola an early 3-0 lead.

Loyola got the ball back and set up their attack again, but a Young caused turnover in the arc was picked up by Ashley Dodson, and Virginia brought the ball upfield where Appelt was fouled three times on successive 8-meter attempts. She was knocked to the ground on the third and had to leave the game, but Ashleigh Haas converted the center hash to put Virginia on the scoreboard at 6:06. Loyola won the draw and answered with a goal by Jackie Borrone 44 seconds later to move the margin back to three at 4-1.

Again Loyola won the draw but Julie Hauser caused a turnover behind the cage and Kim Connors picked up the loose ball, giving Virginia possession. Lieb took the ball upfield where she fed Leachman in transition, and Leachman scored at 7:56 to cut the deficit to two. Appelt won the ensuing draw and Virginia set its offense, where Appelt took the ball from the wing to the cage, scoring to bring Virginia within one at 4-3.

Lieb won the next draw and again Virginia set its offense. Leachman got off a shot that rebounded high in the air; Banks snagged it out of the air and threw it back in the net to tie the game at 4-4 10:30 into the contest.

Andrea Pfeiffer picked off an opposite post feed to start the next scoring play, and at the other end of the field Appelt dumped the ball into Courtney Young, who scored at 16:11 to give Virginia their first lead of the game at 5-4 thanks to a 4-0 run in a span of 8:15.

Loyola answered with a 3-0 run of their own, starting with a Shuck pass to Stephanie Walker at 19:31. The assist was Shuck’s 80th of her career, setting a new Loyola College record, passing Rita Ciletti (’86). Greene scored three minutes later off an assist from Borrone, and Borrone scored on a pass from Jen Schuerholz at 26:16 to give the Hounds a 7-5 lead which they would take into the break.

Banks won the the opening draw and took it straight to the cage, scoring 22 seconds into the stanza to pull the Cavaliers within one at 7-6. The goal was the 100th of her career at Virginia. A Greene 8-meter shot after a shooting space foul pushed the margin back to two one minute later. A Pfeiffer save gave the Cavaliers possession, and Morgan Thalenberg passed the ball to Wasilewski, who fed it up to Young. Young gave the ball to Appelt, who took the ball from the top and scored at 34:38 to again pull Virginia within one. Again the Hounds responded, as Shacklock converted a Greene pass less than a minute later to keep the margin at two at 9-7.

Virginia won the draw and set their offense, and an Appelt shot was saved by Cindy Nicolaus, but the ball popped up and again Banks snagged the ball out of the air and slammed it home, pulling the Cavaliers within one. Leachman won the draw and the Hoos took it up field where Nicolaus made a save and the Greyhounds attempted a clear. A pass to the front of the cage was checked out of the crosse by Thalenberg, who then deposited the ball in the empty net at 48:01 to tie the game and forcing the Hounds to call a timeout.

On the ensuing draw, Thalenberg won the draw and passed the ball up to Leachman, who streaked down the field before leading Connors with a pass to the arc. Connors scored 21 seconds after Thalenberg to give the Cavaliers a 10-9 lead with 11:38 to play. Borrone tied the game up for the Hounds with an unassisted goal two minutes later, and Schuerholz gave the Hounds another one-goal lead with 8:15 to play.

Loyola won the draw and looked to take time off the clock, but Wasilewski and Young executed a double team on the wing and got the ball back for the Cavaliers. Virginia brought the ball right up field where Appelt took from the top, tying the game at 11-11 with 3:19 to play.

Lieb won the draw and Virginia looked to hold the ball for the final possession. A Leachman shot and then an Appelt shot went wide, but the Cavaliers retained possession. Virginia worked the ball back around to the top where Leachman was fouled on a drive to the cage and was placed on the center 8-meter with 10 seconds to play. Leachman converted the 8-meter, putting Virginia up 12-11. Lieb won the draw and the Cavaliers held on for the upset.

Pfeiffer had seven saves in the game, giving her 479 and moving her into second place all-time on the career saves chart, passing current mentor Heather Dow, who had 474 in her stellar career at Virginia.

Banks finished with three goals, giving her 101 for her career. She also had five draw controls and now has 120 for her career, where she ranks third all-time, having passed All-American Jamie Haas tonight, who had 119 during her tenure.

Appelt’s three goals and one assist give her not only her fourteenth hat trick of the season, but also a career-high 62 goals and 21 assists for 83 points, tying her scoring mark from last year and placing her fourth-all time for a single season. Her 62 goals also ties her for fourth for a single season, and she now has 240 career points, 173 career goals, and 67 career assists.

Virginia has now defeated Loyola five consecutive times, and the Hoos have roared back from deficits late in the game in each of them, including a three-goal rally in 66 seconds last year in Baltimore, and a 6-0 run in the final 13:31 to close the game in 2002.

Virginia will close out the regular season portion of its schedule on the road at Blacksburg on Monday, April 19 against the #20 Virginia Tech Hokies. The Cavaliers will play Maryland in the first round of the ACC Tournament on Friday, April 23 in Chapel Hill.

Linescore	1	2	F	recordsLoyola		7	4	11	(12-2)Virginia		5	7	12	(12-3)

Scoring summary1:09 L Shacklock (FP) 0-12:21 L Greene 0-23:24 L Shacklock (Shuck) 0-36:06 V Haas (HP) 1-36:49 L Borrone 1-47:56 V Leachman (Lieb) 2-49:04 V Appelt 3-410:30 V Banks 4-416:11 V Young (Appelt) 5-419:31 L Porcella (Shuck) 5-522:50 L Greene (Borrone) 5-626:16 L Borrone (Schuerholz) 5-730:22 V Banks 6-731:18 L Greene (FP) 6-834:38 V Appelt 7-835:22 L Shacklock (Greene) 7-942:50 V Banks 8-948:01 V Thalenberg 9-948:22 V Connors (Leachman) 10-950:29 L Borrone 10-1051:45 L Schuerholz 10-1156:41 V Appelt 11-1159:51 V Leachman (FP) 12-11

Goals: V: Appelt 3, Banks 3, Leachman 2, Young, Connors, Thalenberg, Haas L: Shacklock 3, Greene 3, Borrone 3, Schuerholz, Porcella

Assists: V: Leachman, Appelt, Lieb L: Shuck 2, Schuerholz, Greene, Borrone

Goalies: V: Pfeiffer (60 mins, 7 saves, 11 GA) L: Kim Lawton (30 mins, 6 saves, 5 GA); Cindy Nicolaus (30 mins, 8 saves, 7 GA)

Draws: V 17, L 8Shots: V 33, L 19Ground balls: V 19, L 19Caused turnovers: V 7, L 7Turmovers: V 11, L 88-meter attempts: V 11, L 28-meter shots: V 6, L 2Clearing: V 8-10, L 12-14Fouls: V 12, L 19