Senior Keller Torrey scored twice in the final minute of regulation to force overtime, but the 20th ranked University of Mary Washington women's lacrosse team dropped a 10-9 triple overtime decision to 16th ranked Messiah College on Wednesday afternoon at the Battleground. the Eagles fall to 3-3 on the season, while the Falcons improve to 2-3.
After Messiah's Ceclia Kjellman scored the game's first two goals, UMW answered with three straight to take the lead. Junior Angela Sperbeck scored on a Torrey assist with 13:14 left in the half, and again two minutes later on another Torrey feed to tie the score. Junior Megan Gersbeck scored on yet another Torrey assist with 6:17 remaining.
Messiah's Lizzy Keeney scored with four minutes left to tie the score, but UMW's Karlie Fuller scored on Torrey's fourth assist with just four seconds left to give UMW the momentum and a 4-3 halftime lead.
The eagles boosted their lead to start the second half, as sophomore Corinne Wiederkehr scored unassisted with 26:10 left in regulation. The Falcons responded with four goals by four different players over the next 12 minutes to lead 7-5, with 10 minutes remaining.
Gersbeck scored unassisted with 4:30 on the clock to cut the deficit to one, but the Falcons' Kjellman returned the lead to two at 8-6 with just 2:46 remaining. Torrey scored with 58 seconds left, and, after gaining the draw control, UMW scored again with Torrey providing the tying score with 44 seconds left. The Eagles stayed alive as senior goalkeeper Kathryn Stiltz made a save on Kjellman with four seconds left on a breakaway.
After a scoreless three minutes, UMW went ahead in the second overtime, as Sperbeck scored again with 1:58 remaining. The Falcons tied the score on a Keeney goal with eight seconds left. Messiah scored the game winner with 2:13 left in the third overtime, as Keeney scored unassisted.
Messiah held a 30-29 edge in shots, and led, 23-16, in ground balls. Stiltz had 15 saves for UMW, who went 19-20 on clear attempts on the day. Emily Atkinson and Torrey each had four ground balls to pace UMW.
The Eagles will host #1 Trinity (Conn.) College on Monday at 4:00 p.m.