A number of streaks were on the line in the 2004 NCAA Division I women's lacrosse championship game between No. 1 Princeton and No. 2 Virginia. Princeton had won 28 consecutive games dating back to 2003 and was looking to capture a third straight NCAA title. Attacker Theresa Sherry, the Tigers' second-leading scorer, had tallied a point in every game during her final season. Virginia coach Julie Myers had not won in four trips to the final over her eight seasons running the Virginia program.
All these trends were reversed, however, as Virginia (19-3) won its first NCAA title since 1993 and third overall with a 10-4 victory over the Tigers (19-1) at Princeton Stadium Sunday, May 23.
Virginia's margin of victory may have been large, but the game was within Princeton's reach until Cavaliers attacker Caitlin Banks scored two successive goals with ten minutes left in the contest to complete a hat trick in her final collegiate game and give Virginia an 8-3 lead.
National Offensive Player of the Year Amy Appelt had four goals and an assist for the Cavaliers, bringing her final season totals to a nation-leading 90 goals and 121 points. She is only the third player to score that many goals and only the fourth player to tally that many points in one season.
Even more impressive than Virginia's offensive output in the title game was the play of senior goalkeeper Andrea Pfeiffer, named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, who held the vaunted Princeton attack to four goals which tied an all-time championship game low. Pfeiffer made 19 saves on 23 shots on goal, for a championship game record .826 save percentage, against a squad that had averaged 13.06 goals per game coming into the tournament. In Virginia's first meeting with the Tigers this season, Pfeiffer let up a dozen goals in a 12-9 Virginia loss.
"We came up with some defensive solutions for some of their moves, some of their plays and patterns, and Andrea knew where the shooters were going to shoot," Myers said. "It was one of those days that the lacrosse ball must have looked huge to Andrea, because she made it look incredibly easy, but yet made some fantastic saves."
The game did not begin so promisingly for the Cavaliers, as Princeton controlled possession early on and took a 1-0 lead on a goal by midfielder Elizabeth Pillion, who finished with two goals and an assist to lead the Tigers. Princeton continued to dictate the game -- at one point taking nine shots on a single possession -- but could not extend the lead.
Appelt hit the crossbar with Virginia's best chance during the period, but could not beat goalkeeper Sarah Kolodner, who entered the tournament with a nation-best 5.93 goals against average.
Sophomore Tyler Leachman finally got Virginia on the board nearly 20 minutes into the first half on an eight-meter shot, quickly followed by a goal from Appelt on her patented spin move, giving the Cavaliers a lead they would not relinquish.
After Leachman scored her second goal of the game, Princeton took a timeout in an attempt to stem the tide, but Banks and Appelt each tallied another goal to give Virginia a 5-1 advantage at halftime, the Tigers' largest deficit of the year.
Princeton freshman Kathleen Miller cut the deficit to three to start the scoring in the second half, ending a drought of 26:45. Pillion then had a chance to make the score 5-3 less than a minute later on an eight-meter shot, but hit the goalpost. Cavalier sophomore midfielder Nikki Lieb scored for just the fifth time on the season to restore a four-goal lead, but Princeton midfielder Lindsay Biles quickly responded to make it a 6-3 game.
Banks then scored twice in a row, quashing the partisan home crowd's hopes of a comeback. Appelt completed her hat trick with less than five minutes left, the 200th goal of her three-year career. After Pillion's second marker, Appelt scored her fourth of the game and 90th of the season to make the final margin 10-4.
The Tigers had started slowly several times throughout the season, including in an 11-3 semifinal victory over Vanderbilt which they ledonly 2-1 at halftime, but found playing catch-up against the Cavaliers especially difficult.
"Virginia's obviously very talented, very fast," Sailer said. "When they get the upper hand, they're tough to beat, and I think that's what happened to us today."
The Cavaliers began their NCAA tournament journey by dominating Mount St. Mary's 19-2 at home in the first round. That win was followed by a fast-paced 15-11 victory over Northwestern, also at Klöckner Stadium, putting Virginia in the final four. Next up was Georgetown, a back-and-forth 12-9 win at Princeton Stadium, leading to the championship game.
Virginia graduates seven seniors from this championship squad, including starting attackers Banks and Morgan Thalenberg, as well as team captain and goalkeeper Pfeiffer. With much of the team's nucleus returning, however, including Appelt and Leachman up front and Molly Urlock and Elizabeth Pinney on defense, the Cavaliers have a chance to establish their own dynasty next season.
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