Sophomore Paige Haskins scored the game winning goal with 1:47 elapsed into overtime as the eighth ranked University of Mary Washington women's lacrosse team gained a bit of revenge of an earlier defeat at fifth ranked York College, 12-11, in the Capital Athletic Conference semifinal round on Wednesday in York, Pa. The Eagles improve to 16-3, and will visit second ranked and top seeded Salisbury University on Saturday for the CAC crown.
The overtime score capped a thrilling second half comeback by the Eagles, who trailed, 9-5, with 19:20 remaining in regulation.
The Eagles started the game with the first two scores, as senior Holly Hudson scored at 27:54, and again at 24:40 on a free position shot. The Spartans answered with three goals in just over a minute of action to take a 3-2 lead with 20:46 left in the first half. From there, the teams alternated goals back and forth through the rest of the half.
Julia Albert scored at 15:40 on an Allison Davis assist, but York went back ahead at 12:36 on a free position shot. Once again, the Eagles tied the score at 10:41 on another Albert tally, but once again York regained the lead at 10:07. Davis scored with 1:27 left to tie the score at 5-5, but the Spartans found the net with three seconds left to take a 6-5 advantage to halftime.
In the second half, York built on its lead, scoring the first three goals of play to expand its lead to 9-5, with 19:20 remaining in regulation. But from there, the Eagles took over, scoring seven of the game's final nine points for the comeback victory.
The rally started with a Mackenzie Maguire goal assisted by Albert with 14:20 left, and Haskins added another with 11:09 left on an Albert feed. After York scored to regain the lead to 10-7, the Eagles used a pair of goals from Kristen Kunaniec and another from Hope Lockwood, all assisted by Albert, to tie the score with 7:09 left in regulation.
York took its final lead with 5:41 remaining, before the Eagles tied the score with just 52 seconds left on a score from senior Holly Hudson. In the extra period, York won the draw control, but after a turnover, Haskins scored the game winner, her 30th of the season, on Albert's sixth assist of the game.
Albert led the Eagles with two goals and six assists, while Hudson scored three times. York was led by Regan Cook and Meghan Fox, who each had three goals.
The Eagles were outshot, 32-28, and York led in draw controls, 14-11. UMW held a 17-15 advantage in ground balls. UMW junior goalkeeper Hanna Ashby had 16 saves for the Eagles, while Charlotte Wright had nine for York.
Mary Washington will visit top-seeded Salisbury University on Saturday for the CAC Championship. The Sea Gulls scored in the final minutes to take an 11-10 win over the Eagles in their regular season meeting.