Princeton University
Loyola
Women's Lacrosse Falls In Overtime Thriller
March 09, 2003 | Women's Lacrosse
March 9, 2003
Box Score
Princeton, N.J. - Senior co-captain Sarah Small scored off a pass from Elizabeth Pillion to send Sunday's women's lacrosse game versus Loyola into overtime. Theresa Sherry scored in the final minute of overtime to send the game into a sudden death period. It was Loyola, however, that scored 55 seconds into that third and final overtime and left Class of 1952 Stadium with a thrilling 9-8 win over top-ranked Princeton.
The Tigers found themselves down early when Rachel Shuck slipped Loyola's first shot past Princeton goalkeeper Sarah Kolodner. It was only 29 seconds later, however, that senior Alex Fiore connected on a free position shot and tied the game at 1-1. Senior Whitney Miller scored the third goal of the game and her third goal of the season at 7:25 in the period. Fiore scored 12 seconds later and the Tigers were out front 3-1. When senior Hannah Foster notched her first career goal at 25:11 of the first half, the Tigers held a comfortable 4-1 lead. The Greyhounds cut that lead in half with Stephanie Walker's unassisted goal with 13 seconds remaining on the clock. The halftime score was 4-2 in Princeton's favor.
After Princeton dominated the stats page in the first halt, registering 21 ground balls and winning five of seven draw controls, Loyola quickly answered in the second with three unanswered goals and took a 5-4 lead at 41:45. Miller tied the score at 5-5 with a free position shot, but the Greyhounds scored the next two and led 7-5 with 1:30 remaining in regulation.
"One thing we stressed was that 90 seconds was plenty of time," says Princeton Head Coach Chris Sailer. "We just wanted to remain composed and get good shots down the stretch."
Sherry, who was battling a cold a week, stepped up and took her defender one-on-one to the goal and scored with 1:11 left on the clock. Princeton won the ensuing draw control and patiently set up Small, who scored in front of the goal with 29 seconds left.
Loyola scored in the first three-minute overtime period and Princeton once again waited and set up last-minute heroics with Sherry scoring off a one-on-one play for the second time in the game.
"The play was set up for me to go one-on-one," says Sherry. "I didn't expect the double team and when it came I wanted to pass but I knew we needed to score so I just shot it."
The goal was Sherry's second of the game and fourth of the season. Miller and Fiore also finished the game with two goals, but it was Talia Shacklock who also scored two goals, who had the game's deciding point.
Susan Tyrrell won the draw control in the sudden death period and Shuck found a streaking Shacklock in front of the goal 55 seconds later to give the Greyhounds the win. Loyola, which came in ranked No. 5 in the nation, improved to 3-0 on the season.
"That last goal was a complete defensive breakdown," says Princeton defensive captain Rachael Becker. "We just didn't communicate on the pick and left the girl wide open"
Despite a defensive breakdown, the Princeton defense played well, forcing 18 turnovers and picking up 36 ground balls. Becker finished with seven ground balls and six caused turnovers while Katie Norbury had three caused turnovers and two ground balls.
"This really was a great game," says Sailer. "We showed a ton of character by coming from behind late in the game. You never like to lose, but there are things we can build on from this game."
The Tigers fall to 1-1 and snap the nation's longest winning streak at 20 games. Princeton's last loss also came in overtime. That game was the 2002 season opener versus Georgetown. The Tigers went on and defeated Georgetown in the NCAA Championship game.
Princeton now heads south for a pair of ACC tests against No. 3 Virginia and No. 2 Duke. The Tigers face Virginia on Sunday, March 16 at 1 p.m. That game can be heard live on both WBUD AM 1260 and on the Web at www.GoPrincetonTigers.com