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Bears women's lacrosse team shocks Hawks in OT, 15-14

Posted 4/3/13

POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's lacrosse team (3-3, 1-0 SUNYAC) pulled out a stunning 15-14 come-from-behind overtime victory against SUNY New Paltz (3-3, 0-2) at Maxcy Turf field on Tuesday …

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Bears women's lacrosse team shocks Hawks in OT, 15-14

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POTSDAM, N.Y.—The SUNY Potsdam women's lacrosse team (3-3, 1-0 SUNYAC) pulled out a stunning 15-14 come-from-behind overtime victory against SUNY New Paltz (3-3, 0-2) at Maxcy Turf field on Tuesday afternoon. Sophomore midfielder Margaret Wall matched a career-high with five goals to lead the Bears, while sophomore midfielder Lianne Valdivia paced the Hawks with a game-high six points (3g-3a).

The Bears never led in regulation, but got a buzzer-beating goal from freshman attack Bri McClusky to reach the extra period. In overtime senior captains Whitney Boshart and Denise Johns each scored to put Potsdam up by a goal. Junior goalie Jen Chmiel stopped a critical Hawk free position opportunity with just 39 seconds left and Potsdam ran out the clock. The victory extends the Bears winning-streak to three, their longest since 2010, and gets them back to .500.

Defense controlled the contest early, preventing the offenses from getting quality scoring chances through the first seven minutes. New Paltz senior attack Erin Tornatore opened the scoring at the 22:15 mark, but Wall evened the score two minutes later on a free position. The Hawks started a 7-1 run after two minutes, getting three goals from sophomore attack Kelsey Healy, two from Valdivia and one each from junior attack Talia Tesler and Tornatore. The lone Bears goal coming from junior attack Michelle Varney. The 8-2 lead at the 15:48 mark was the Hawks largest of the game. Potsdam responded with three in a row over a six-minute span to close the gap to 8-5 with 2:23 remaining in the half. Johns started the run and Wall capped it with two straight. With 1:14 remaining in the half, freshman attack Alexa Vitale made it a 9-5 Hawk lead heading into the break.

The Bears started quickly in the final period, outscoring New Paltz 3-1 over the first four minutes. Sophomore attack Bailey Weigel and McClusky cut the gap to 9-7 at 27:54. Wall's fourth made it 10-8 less than a two minutes later. Healy and Valdivia scored the next two in succession to open up a 12-8 lead and put pressure on Potsdam's offense. Again the Bears answered with a 5-1 run send the game to overtime. Sophomore midfielder Emily Petit started the streak with a man-up goal with 19:37 remaining. Weigel, Boshart and Wall tallied the next three to pull Potsdam to within 13-12 with 1:31 left. After a New Paltz turnover, McClusky muscled her way in front of the goal and fired. Hawk sophomore goalie Jackie Ulanoff got a piece of the ball, but it rolled over the goal line as time expired.

Boshart gave Potsdam its first lead of the day just 40 seconds into the extra session, but Tesler tied the score at 1:56. Johns scored the eventual game-winner 40 seconds later. Tesler got another chance to tie the score with a free position, but Chmiel stuffed her low and scooped up the rebound.

Chmiel made 11 saves, including three in overtime, to earn her third career win. Ulanoff finished with eight stopp for the Hawks.

New Paltz edged the Bears in shots (37-35) and draw controls (19-13), but the Potsdam picked up 34 ground balls to the Hawks 25.

The Bears are now 8-3 all-time against New Paltz.

Potsdam looks to extend its winning streak to four when it hosts SUNYAC rival Brockport (6-2) at 11 a.m. on Saturday.