Women's Lacrosse Downs Plymouth State, 11-9, in Overtime

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University women's lacrosse team erased a late two-goal deficit as the Bears posted a dramatic 11-9 overtime victory over visiting Plymouth State University on Thursday evening at Swenson Field.

The host Bears remain undefeated on the season as they improve to 8-0. The Panthers slip to 4-2 overall as their four-game winning streak comes to an end.

Trailing 9-7, the Bears pulled to within one on a goal by junior attack Melanie Appleman (Hyannis, Mass.) with 8:13 remaining in regulation. Then, with just 1:24 left on the clock, freshman attack Alexis Hadcock (East Lyme, Conn.) potted the game-tying strike as she found the back of the net off the rebound of a Shelby Farland (Fiskdale, Mass.) shot.

Both teams had scoring opportunities in the waning seconds of regulation. BSU freshman keeper Chandler Ross (Wrentham, Mass.) made a big save with just 24 seconds left, while Sammi Salverio's (Hanson, Mass.) shot with four seconds remaining was off the mark.

Appleman gave the Bears their first lead of the night 1:31 into the first three-minute overtime period off a feed from Farland. Freshman midfielder Lauren Geary (Hull, Mass.) then notched an unassisted tally with just one second left in the session to give Bridgewater the 11-9 lead.

After sophomore midfielder Shannon Connerty (Nashua, N.H.) scored to give the Panthers a 9-7 advantage with 8:41 remaining, Plymouth managed only three shots on goal the rest of the way including just one in six minutes of overtime.

The Panthers jumped out to an early 4-1 lead behind a pair of goals by sophomore attack Meghan McNabb (Lexington, Mass.). Plymouth would take a 5-3 advantage into the intermission.

Appleman opened the second half scoring to cut the Bears' deficit to 5-4, but the Panthers answered with back-to-back goals by sophomore attack Amy MacDonald (Hull, Mass.) and senior midfielder Caitlin Swanson (Holderness, N.H.) to jump ahead 7-4.

BSU sophomore attack Riley Cachelin (Westwood, Mass.) scored a pair of goals in a span of a minute and 29 seconds to pull the Bears to within one at 7-6.

Sophomore midfielder Rachel Fistori (Medford, Mass.) gave the Panthers a two-goal lead (8-6) at the 14:47 mark, but Appleman answered just 18 seconds later.

Bridgewater held a 30-24 shot advantage for the game, while Plymouth held a 16-7 edge in draw controls.

Appleman finished with four goals to lead the Bears, while Geary notched two goals, five draws, five ground balls and three caused turnovers.  Junior midfielder Taylor Clancy (Braintree, Mass.) added a goal, seven ground balls and two caused turnovers.

Ross turned aside nine shots to record her fourth win in as many games.

McNabb and Swanson paced the Panthers as they each tallied two goals and an assist, while MacDonald finished with a goal and two helpers. Sophomore midfielder Molly Gleason (Haverhill, Mass.) led all players with nine draw controls to go along with a goal and four ground balls.

PSU junior netminder Lorin Field (Hollis, N.H.) made 13 saves between the pipes for the Panthers.

Both teams are back in action on Saturday. The Bears entertain Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference foe Worcester State University at 7:00 PM, while the Panthers travel to Little East Conference rival UMass Dartmouth (1:00 PM).