April 10, 1999

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - With a trio of Cavaliers netting hat tricks and eight Cavaliers scoring overall, the fourth-ranked Virginia women's lacrosse team upset second-ranked Duke 15-9 today in Klockner Stadium in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers forced 15 turnovers, including five from Stephy Samaras (Annapolis, Md./Annapolis), and broke four of the Blue Devils' clears to help stage the upset.

Duke jumped on top as Kate Kaiser scored on a drive to the cage 6:44 into the game. The Cavaliers went ahead with two quick goals a minute apart from Jess Hull (Arnold, Md./Broadneck) and Gina Sambus (Garden City, N.Y./Garden City). Hull scored on a free position and Sambus hit with an assist from Mia Mooney (Rosemont, Pa./Shipley) to stake the Cavaliers to a lead they would never relinquish.

Duke tied it up as freshman Kelly Dirks scored on a free position halfway through the period. But the Cavaliers went ahead for good as they scored two quick goals again, this time in 51 seconds. Mooney drove to the cage at 10:56 and 51 seconds later Amy Fromal (Folsom, Pa./Ridley) took a feed from Hull to the upper left corner for a 4-2 lead, forcing the Blue Devils to take a time out.

The Blue Devils cut the deficit in half at the 7:10 mark when Karen Sutton forced a broken clear and fed Tricia Martin, who took it to the cage on a 1v1. But the Cavaliers scored the last three goals of the half as Sambus converted an 8-meter at 6:02, Hull scored on a crease challenge at 4:27, and Samm Taylor (Springfield, Va./Robinson) scored through a double team with just 53 seconds to go in the half.

At the start of the second half the Blue Devils made a run, as they forced a turnover after Virginia won the opening draw and scored just 2:21 into the period. Duke cut the lead to 7-5 just over a minute later as Kate Soulier was left alone on the crease and fired a Kendra Basner feed into the cage.

But Mills Hook (Lutherville, Md./St. Paul's) helped right the Cavaliers with a pair of quick stick goals just over two minutes apart to stem the Blue Devil roll. At 22:14 she took a feed from Mooney on the left side and at 19:55 Hull fed her in the same spot to give the Cavaliers a 9-5 margin. Just 35 seconds later Kaiser scored for the Blue Devils, but Hook completed her hat trick two minutes later on a blasted bounce shot to push the margin back to four at 10-6.

The Cavaliers went up by five at 10:34 when Hull notched her hat trick off an opposite post feed from Kelly Allenbach (West Chester, Pa./W. C. Henderson). Soulier notched her second goal of the day with a conversion of an 8-meter at 8:35 to move the margin back to four at 11-7, but Jamie Haas (Berwyn, Pa./Marple Newtown) hit her only goal of the day on a free position of her own at 6:35 at make the score 12-5.

The Cavaliers went on a run at the end of the game, scoring three times in 54 seconds to put the game out of reach. At 2:40 Sambus completed her hat trick on another crease feed from Haas, and on the ensuing draw the Cavaliers gained control and Hook and Mooney worked a 2v2 to the cage where Mooney scored just 18 seconds later. Taylor closed out the scoring for the Cavaliers at 1:46 as she scored on a drive to the cage.

Dirks added a goal for the Blue Devils just 26 seconds later and with 25 seconds to go Martin scored on a crease challenge, but it was not enough as the Cavaliers scored the upset 15-9.

Virginia was led by Haas' six ground balls and six draw controls, and Samaras added five caused turnovers. Francis Segarra (Coto Laurel, Puerto Rico) had eight saves for UVa.

The Cavaliers return to action tomorrow as t#17 Vanderbilt takes on the Cavaliers at 1:00 in Klockner Stadium.

              1  2  Final (Records)
Duke (#2)     3  6  9 (8-2)
Virginia (#4) 7  8  15 (8-3)