In last year’s loss to the Syracuse women’s lacrosse team, Virginia’s Lauren Aumiller notched five goals and one assist. She finished the season as the nation’s scoring leader with 106 points.

In Saturday’s 12-11 overtime loss to the Orangewomen at the Carrier Dome, the preseason Player of the Year failed to live up to last year’s performance.

She scored one goal in 66 minutes.

Credit the Syracuse defense.

All week, SU head coach Lisa Miller warned her team about Virginia’s speed and quick-scoring offense.

‘We didn’t want to let them run,’ Miller said. ‘Their bread and butter is transition.’

After falling behind, 5-1, midway through the first half, the Cavaliers stormed back with three quick scores to close out the half. Though Syracuse’s defense struggled, it maintained its game plan to single-team Aumiller.

The gamble worked.

‘We were going to hold (Aumiller) individually,’ Miller said. ‘She’s such a great player and she’s got great vision, if you go to a double early she finds the inside and picks you apart.’

The Orangewomen contained Aumiller, but they weren’t as successful in stopping Cary Chasney and Amy Appelt. The Cavalier duo combined for seven goals and four assists.

‘We can’t check on everybody, we focused on their main players,’ said Ellen Rust, one of three Orangewomen assigned to guard Aumiller. ‘It just shows how well-rounded Virginia is as a team.’

Monica Joines and Leigh-Ann Zimmer were the other players who had the daunting task of guarding Aumiller. They succeeded in slowing down the quick-paced Cavalier offense by clogging the middle and preventing passes.

‘They slowed everyone down, including myself,’ Aumiller said. ‘We didn’t move as well as we usually do.’

Virginia head coach Julie Myers agreed. She cited lost draw controls and shooting woes as reasons why the Cavaliers lost.

Syracuse goalkeeper Carla Gigon played a big part in the win, too. She made 13 saves on 38 shots, including a point-blank save in the final seconds of overtime.

But in the end, it came down to Aumiller, who scored her only goal with 5:10 left in the second half. With the game tied at 11 and seven seconds remaining, the senior All-American had a solid look from just outside the Syracuse crease, but she bobbled the ball as time ran out.

Aumiller disputed the claim that she was the sole focus of the Syracuse defense. She felt she didn’t have her rhythm.

‘They were concentrating on everyone,’ Aumiller said. ‘Everyone on our attack can put the ball in the goal.’

Her teammates need to heed her prediction, especially if she has more one-point games like Saturday.

‘We knew they had a lot of good attackers,’ Rust said. ‘Lauren’s a great player. Amy (Appelt’s) a great player, but as a team, we played better.’

Published on March 2, 2003 at 12:00 pm