No. 9 Virginia Tops No. 3 Maryland, 10-8
March 9, 2004
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - Junior Kirah Miles stopped 17 shots in goal for Maryland, but it wasn't enough as Virginia topped the Terps 10-8 Tuesday night in women's lacrosse action.
"I thought our team played well but we weren't good enough tonight," Maryland head coach Cindy Timchal said. "I thought Virginia played really well and that they dominated in a couple of areas that we struggled in. Hopefully we can get better in those areas. We weren't sharp tonight and we need to be to beat a team like Virginia."
Maryland jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on goals from Mollie Reese (Monkton, Md.) and Delia Cox (Newbury, Mass.). Kelly Coppedge (Annapolis, Md.) added an assist on Reese's goal to help move the Terps out to the early advantage. Virginia countered in the 20th minute on a goal from Amy Appelt and evened the score just over a minute later on a score from Tyler Leachman. Coppedge put the Terps back out in front converting on a free position shot with eight minutes left in the first half, but Appelt - curling from the back of the net to the top of the crease - countered for the Cavs on an unassisted goal at 4:55 to tie the game at 3-3 going into the half.
Miles (Villanova, Pa.) keyed the defense for the Terps stopping all three of Virginia's free position shots in the first half. Virginia controlled the pace of the play for most of the half, holding a 5-2 advantage on draw controls.
"I couldn't have asked more from every single girl on defense," Miles said. "Greta (Sommers) was on Amy Appelt and she was outstanding. I think the reason we played well on defense was the support that we had. We decided we were going to play for each other. You can't ask for any more."
Caitlin Banks opened the second half with a goal and Ashleigh Haas converted on a free position shot to take a 5-3 lead. Just under a minute later, Krista Pellizzi (N. Massapequa, N.Y.) raced in from the top of the fan and beat her defenders to score for Maryland. After another Appelt goal, the Terps knotted the game at 6-6 on scores from Coppedge and Cox with just 9:51 remaining. However, the Cavs would tally the game's next four goals as they controlled the next eight minutes of play, including one from Appelt and two from Haas, to seal the victory. The Terps would score a pair of late goals from Cox and Laura Warren, but the rally would fall short.
"I think we needed a little better possession, work the ball around and be more patient," Cox said. "That kind of set the tempo. We were frantic when we really needed to focus on one goal at a time."
The Terps were paced on offense by Cox's three goals and two assists and two goals from Kelly Coppedge. Pellizzi added a goal and assist for Maryland.
Maryland returns to action on Thursday, March 11, at home against Quinnipiac at 1 p.m. The game will be played at the Lacrosse Complex. Head coach Cindy Timchal will attempt to become the first coach in women's lacrosse history to win 300 games.
Scoring 1 2 F
#9 Virginia 3 7 10
#3 Maryland 3 5 8
Individual Scoring (G-A-Pts.): Maryland: Kelly Coppedge (2-2-4), Delia Cox (3-0-3),
Krista Pellizzi (1-1-2), Mollie Reese (1-0-1), Laura Warren (1-0-1); Virginia: Amy Appelt (4-0-4),
Ashleigh Haas (3-0-3), Tyler Leachman (2-0-2),Caitlin Banks (1-0-1), Julie Hauser (0-1-1)
Goalies (SV-GA-Mins): Maryland: Kirah Miles (17-10-60); Virginia: Andrea Pfeiffer (12-8-60)
