WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—The SUNY Potsdam women’s lacrosse team (1-1) battled the Bridgewater State Bears (2-0) to the wire before falling 13-12 in overtime on Tuesday night.

Junior Sierra Langkammerer (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) scored four goals to lead the Bears. Juniors Maribeth Simmons (Clinton, Conn./The Morgan School) and Carly Richards (Niskayuna, N.Y./Niskayuna) also had strong showings with four (1 goal-3 assists-4 points) and three (2-1-3) point games, respectively.

Junior Kaci Milligan (Liverpool, N.Y./Bishop Ludden) was very sharp in goal, making 20 saves for Potsdam. Both Bears squads traded leads throughout the first half.

Three times in the opening 30 minutes Potsdam grabbed a one-goal lead and twice trailed by two. With just seven seconds remaining in the half, Potsdam senior Samantha Brown (Rochester, N.Y./Eastridge) scored an unassisted goal and the Bears trailed 8-7 at the break.

Potsdam never led in the second half, but tied the game twice and outscored the other Bears 5-4 in the final period.

Junior Whitney Boshart (Calcium, N.Y./Indian River) tied the game at 11 on a free position at the 12:53 mark and Richards evened the score at 12 with 4:38 remaining to force overtime. Bridgewater State turned up the pressure in overtime, outshooting Potsdam 5-1.

At 3:38 Courtney Lennon struck for the enemy Bears and gave Bridgewater State the lead for good. Potsdam fought for the remainder of the six-minute overtime period, but couldn’t net the equalizer.

In addition to her 20 saves, Milligan also collected three ground balls and caused two turnovers. Katie Weber made six saves and recorded the win for Bridgewater State. Lennon led Bridgewater state with four goals and Jill Carmello added three more.

Bears Head Coach Lauren Bruce is pleased with what she’s seen from her team in the first two games.

“Things are coming together more quickly this year than they have in the past,” said Bruce. “This was a tough loss tonight, but it’s a good lesson when you can face a pressure situation like this early in the season.”

Bruce was especially happy with the play of some of her defenders. “Kaci Milligan played very well and really kept us in the game in the first half,” added Bruce. “And (senior) Kathleen Frear (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) really marked out one of Bridgewater’s top scorers and held her to just two goals.”

Potsdam gets a shocking change of scenery when the Bears leave sunny Florida and travel to Utica on Saturday, March 12. Game time is scheduled for 1 p.m. Potsdam edged the Pioneers, 8-5, at home last season.