LAURINBERG, N.C. (February 29, 2008) - Junior
Annie Harris scored just 24 seconds into the sudden-victory
overtime period to lift the Tars to an 18-17 triumph over host St.
Andrews Presbyterian College on Friday afternoon. The Rollins
College women's lacrosse team advances to 2-2 with their first ever
win against an NCAA Division II opponent, while the St. Andrews
Presbyterian College Knights drops to 2-3 for the season.
Freshman Courtney Bianculli scored eight goals and added an
assist to lead the Tars for the afternoon. Freshman Lacy Goodwyn
would score her first goal of her career, and continue on to tally
a hat trick and add an assist. Junior goalie Lisa Weber had an
impressive day making four of her 10 saves in overtime to help the
Tars on their way to victory.
Freshman Kate Pray, and Harris would each tally two goals, with
the freshmen trio of Liz Scully, Liz Connelly, and Katy Tyszko
adding one goal each to round the goal-count at 18.
St. Andrews sophomore Kerrie Brown matched Bianculli with eight
goals for the Lady Knights, including the game-tying goal with 2.8
seconds left in regulation to force overtime play.
SAPC attacker Kelsey Binggeli scored with 1:39 into the game to
give the Knights an early lead. But the Tars were not going to fade
under pressure as Bianculli scored on two consecutive free-position
shots. With unassisted goals by freshman Lacy Goodwyn and Harris
Rollins extended their lead to 4-1 with 15 minutes left in the
first half.
The two teams alternated the next six goals before St. Andrews
rattled off two straight from Brown and Binggeli in just 35 seconds
with a little over five minutes left in the half to bring the score
to 7-6. However, Pray scored on a free-position shot with 13
seconds left to give Rollins an 8-6 lead at halftime.
The Tars fired off the first two of the second half thanks to a
Connelly goal assisted by Harris, and Scully who found the back of
the cage off of a free position shot. Rollins continued with their
streak and pulled ahead by four with a score of 12-8 with 20
minutes remaining before St. Andrews posted three straight goals to
pull back to within one with a little under 13 minutes left in
regulation.
Bianculli and Tyszko netted two late scores to give the Tars a
seemingly comfortable 15-12 lead with a little over five minutes
left. But St. Andrews was not going to back down scoring two
astonishing goals as the final two minutes counted down to trail by
one.
With a huge save by Knights' goalkeeper Eryn McCaffrey, St.
Andrews gained possession one final time, handing it to Brown who
raced down field as the clock counted down, neatly placing the
game-tying goal past Weber with 2.8 seconds left to send the game
into overtime.
The Tars entered into the first overtime bout with Bianculli
once again giving them the lead. St. Andrews took advantage of some
Tars turnovers and scored back-to-back goals to pull ahead 17-16,
taking their second lead of the game as they entered into the final
three minutes of regulation OT.
Rollins remained poised and steady as the second three minutes
of overtime continued, and with help once more from Bianculli the
Tars were matched-up with the Knights at 17-17, sending the game
into the final sudden-victory overtime period.
With the next game deciding the contest, both teams were hungry
for the ball off the draw. Things looked dismal for the Tars as St.
Andrews gained possession off of the initial draw control, the
Knights were quickly called on a team-related turnover, placing the
ball in the cradle of Kate Pray five yards from the Tars' offensive
restraining line.
At the whistle, Pray wheeled it down field with an offensive
two-on-one situation at hand and took a hard shot for the Tars. But
McCaffrey made her 16th save of the contest, rebounding the ball
back into play. Annie Harris quickly scooped-up the loose ball and
swiftly placed it behind McCaffrey to end the game just 24 seconds
into the final period.
The Tars will be back in action Saturday, March 1 at 11:30 a.m.
as they take on #7 Gannon University at neutral site St. Andrews
Presbyterian College.
