STANDISH, Maine – Grad student Lydia Dexter (Oakland, Maine) scored with 27 seconds left in the first overtime period to lift Saint Joseph's College (7-0, 3-0 GNAC) past Simmons University (5-2, 2-1 GNAC), 14-13, in an evenly matched Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) at the SJC Athletics Complex on Tuesday evening.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
In an early-season conference contest that will surely have playoff implications down the road, the Monks and Sharks dueled to seven tie scores and fought through three lead changes while neither team managed to build a lead of greater than two goals.
Saint Joseph's – which entered the game having outscored opponents by a combined 121-24 score in six previous games – trailed for the first time all season after Lauren Whitman and Abby Stoller hit pay dirt in the opening three-plus minutes to lift the Sharks to a 2-0 advantage.
The Monks countered with tallies from Madison Scott (Cumberland, Maine) and Cailyn Wesley (Peabody, Mass.) to produce the first tie of the evening before Stoller capped the first quarter scoring with the visitors clinging to a 3-2 edge.
Sammi Hogan kicked off the second stanza scoring at the 11:18 mark, but St. Joe's rallied with four unanswered strikes as Dexter capped the surge with her 26th goal of the year and the Monks holding a 6-4 lead with 2:34 before the break.
Simmons sandwiched intermission with a Stoller free-position goal as the second quarter clock expired while Lauren Whitman and Liz Krenicky scored in the first two-plus minutes of the third period to lift the visitors to a 7-6 lead. SJC freshman Shauna Clark (Oakland, Maine) tied the game yet again with 10:05 left in the penultimate period, but the Sharks countered with a pair of strikes in the next five minutes to regain the two-goal cushion.
The Monks proceeded to post another four-goal run spanning the last two minutes of the third and first four of the second to stake an 11-9 advantage with 11:21 remaining in regulation. Sophomore Megan Mourmouras (Biddeford, Maine) highlighted the run with a tremendous coast-to-coast effort, as the speedy midfielder caused a turnover on the Monks' defensive end, picked up the ground ball, and motored all the way to the circle where she scored the tying (9-9) goal with 10 seconds on the third-quarter clock.
Trailing 11-9 after Wesley and Bridget Collins (Milford, Conn.) scored early in the fourth, Stoller took control of the Sharks' offense and scored twice in a matter of 65 seconds to make it an 11-11 game with 10:09 left. Freshman Brianna Paul (Brattleboro, Vt.) netted her 15th goal of the year at the 4:24 mark and Wesley struck again with 2:51 on the clock to make it a two-goal (13-11) game once again.
The Sharks refused to go away however and hit pay dirt twice over a 22-second span with Hogan scoring the equalizer at the 2:01 mark. The visitors nearly scored the winning goal with seven seconds left in regulation as Lauren Whitman unleashed a shot from inside the circle that clanged off the post.
The game seemed to be headed for an additional extra frame before Dexter delivered the game-clincher off a Carson Battaglia (Gorham, Maine) pass with 27 seconds on the OT clock.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (35-25), shots on goal (26-17) and ground balls (27-19) in the thrilling conference triumph.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC starter Morgan Wright (Chelmsford, Mass.) picked up the win with four stops in 57:13 minutes while first-year Jenna Shutt (Holliston, Mass.) allowed two goals in 3:20 of relief duty. Simmons keeper Nicole Elliott played very well in the setback with 12 saves.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Wesley paced the SJC offensive attack with three goals on five shots
- Dexter tallied two goals, two assists and five ground balls
- Paul scored twice with an assist and a pair of ground balls
- Collins netted a pair of goals on three shots
LEADERS – SIMMONS:
- Stoller scored a game-high five goals with an assist, two ground balls, and two caused turnovers
- Hogan added three goals and an assist
- Kat Wood scored a goal with three helpers
- Marita Northacker picked up six ground balls and three caused turnovers
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 8-7 all-time versus Simmons University and has now defeated the Sharks in back-to-back meetings.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host GNAC-rival Emmanuel College on Saturday at 3:00 PM.
