The Virginia women's lacrosse team surprised North Carolina, but not itself, on Saturday afternoon. The No. 6 Cavaliers (6-2, 2-0 ACC) upset the No. 3 Tar Heels (5-2, 2-1), 11-8, by working the ball around and playing intense defense throughout the game.
"We're thrilled to play as well as we did," Virginia coach Julie Myers said after the game. "North Carolina's an excellent team, but I was expecting we were going to win."
Virginia started its offensive run off quickly, scoring the first five of the game. Senior midfielder Molly Cangemi got the Cavaliers on the scoreboard by making a shot from the arc with just under two minutes gone by in the game.
Freshman Amy Appelt, who quickly has adjusted to her role in the offensive lineup, scored the first of her five goals four minutes later. Appelt's scoring tally, which also included one assist, moved her into second place on the team for total points, with 29 for the season.
"I thought it was my time to step up, though I'm not expecting to get to the goal every time," Appelt said.
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Appelt's assist came on Virginia's third goal, scored by the Cavaliers' leading scorer, junior midfielder Lauren Aumiller. The Cavaliers followed up with a centered goal by sophomore attacker Caitlin Banks and another by Appelt, and the Tar Heels remained scoreless until midfielder Christine McPike connected on a shot with seven minutes remaining in the first half.
McPike was hit hard in the nose by the Cavalier defense shortly after the goal, but she would come back after being treated. Aumiller made the halftime lead 6-1 by hitting a shot with a little over a minute remaining in the half.
The second half started off in much the same manner as the first, with Appelt scoring with less than two minutes gone by. North Carolina would rally, however, matching Appelt's three early second half goals by scoring three of its own within the first seven minutes of the half.
After a scoring drought of nearly nine minutes without a goal from either team, North Carolina's Erin McInnes scored after a Virginia foul to narrow the Virginia lead to 9-5 with 14:46 to go in the game. Two and a half minutes later, McPike scored on an assist from midfielder Lindsay Stone, and the lead was as narrow as it had been since 3-0.
The Cavaliers, who have been impressive against top teams such as Princeton and Maryland lately, fought fire with fire again today. Cangemi scored off the free position with just under 10 minutes to go, and Virginia held off the Tar Heels on defense for another five minutes before Aumiller added to the lead by scoring her third goal. Aumiller also finished the game with three assists.
"I think as a team we played really well," said Appelt. "I know that [the Tar Heels] were a third-ranked team, and we all wanted to step up for them. Our defense was amazing and came up with some major saves"
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