PORTLAND, ME –Saint Joseph’s College (6-0-1, 3-0 GNAC) remained unbeaten with a thrilling four-overtime victory over GNAC rival Norwich University (2-4, 2-1 GNAC) at Deering Memorial Stadium on Friday evening. Junior attacker Lizzie Farley (Scarborough, ME) scored a free-position goal in the 83rd minute of play to lift the Monks to the 13-12 triumph.
Monks midfielder Lauren Hagerman ’10 (Scarborough, ME) tallied six goals, two assists, four groundballs and six draw controls, while Amelia Santos ’12 (Beverly, MA) and Emily Wight ’13 (Westbrook, ME), who scored the game-tying goal, a man-up tally, with 33 seconds remaining in regulation to send the contest to extra play, both netted three markers in the victory.
Taylor Allison ’12 (Pawtucket, RI) made seven stops in net for the Monks, while counterpart Kellie Pickel ’11 (Montpelier, VT) registered 11 saves for the Cadets.
Neither team held a lead of more than two goals in the hard-fought contest, as the conference foes essentially swapped scores for the entirety.
Cadets midfielder Chelsea Martin ’11 (Barre, VT) kicked off the scoring with a goal 24 seconds in off a free-position shot, but Santos and Hagerman both found the back of the cage over the subsequent two minutes to provide the Royal Blue with a 2-1 edge.
Kacey Abbriano ’12 (Hicksville, NY) scored twice over a three-minute span to lift the Cadets to a 3-2 lead, but Santos and Hagerman answered the call again with the game’s next two tallies to put the hosts back on top. Norwich knotted the game at four apiece when Danielle Del Dotto ’12 (Andover, MA) beat Allison off a Jillian Balasco ’12 (Barrington, RI) pass at the 12:54 mark. Hagerman proceeded to net back to back goals for the Monks to make it a 6-4 game with 9:23 to play in the opening half.
Norwich managed to score four unanswered goals over a seven-minute stretch to gain an 8-6 advantage with 1:31 left in the first stanza. Martin scored twice for the Cadets during the surge.
Wight and Cadets’ attacker Lindsay Mathias ’12 (Worcester, MA) traded tallies in the closing 1:17 of play, as the visitors carried a 9-7 edge into intermission.
Hagerman opened the second half with a free-position goal at the 28:34 mark, but Martin put the Cadets back up by a pair with a goal two minutes later. Wight and Santos scored the next two goals of the contest to knot the game at 10 apiece, but the Cadets jumped out to a two-score lead again when Abbriano and Martin found the back of the net to make it a 12-10 game with 12:27 left in regulation.
Over ten minutes of scoreless play followed, as Hagerman netted her fifth of the game with 1:49 left to cut the SJC deficit in half. Wight’s marker with 33 seconds on the game clock, and 18 ticks after Abbriano was summoned to the sideline with a yellow card offense, sent the game into extra play.
After a six-minute overtime period failed to yield a victor, the game proceeded into “sudden victory” play. After over 16 minutes, and nearly three six-minute periods, Farley ended the drama when she beat Pickel with a free-position shot with 1:11 left in the fourth OT frame.
The marathon contest goes down as the longest in SJC program history and is the team’s first-ever overtime victory. The Monks have now participated in two OT games, with the other ending in a 15-15 tie earlier this season against Husson University.
St. Joe’s held an advantage in shots (41-24), groundballs (35-17) and draw controls (16-14) in the victory.
The Monks will host GNAC rival Simmons College on Wednesday, April 7th at 4:00 PM, while the Cadets will resume play tomorrow when they play at Mount Ida College in a conference contest scheduled to begin at 3:00 PM.
