Williams' overtime tally sends Lyons past Pride in NEWMAC thriller

March 31, 2007

NORTON, MA- Sophomore Madeline Williams' (Annapolis, MD/Key School) goal midway through overtime gave the Wheaton College women's lacrosse team the lead for good, and the Lyons held on for a 10-9 victory over Springfield College to avenge a loss in last year's New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament title game.

In a battle of teams that have met in each of the last five league championship tilts, Wheaton picked up its first victory of the year during its NEWMAC opener and improved to 1-5. The Pride, which represented the conference in last year's NCAA Tournament, is 4-4 overall and 0-1 in the league.

Springfield tallied twice during an early 1:12 span and still held its 2-0 edge nearly 12 minutes into the game before Wheaton knotted the score. Junior Meredith Hurd (Bath, ME/Hyde School) scored at 18:21 for her 100th career point, and senior Kim Corbin (Branford, CT/Branford) recorded her first goal since her freshman year just 1:36 later. However, the Pride netted four of the next five goals, including the first two from senior Rachel Lampros (Boxboro, MA/Acton-Boxboro Regional), to forge ahead and hold a 6-3 edge with nearly four minutes to go in the opening stanza.

After scoring three times in the opening 25:43, Wheaton matched that output during the final 4:17 of the opening half. Hurd started the run by netting her third goal of the game, and junior Alexa Jurczak (Davidsonville, MD/Miss Porter's School) scored at 3:17 before sending the teams into the locker room tied at six by finding the back of the net with 13 seconds remaining.

Springfield scored the first two goals of the second half, but the Lyons took advantage of a Pride player receiving her second yellow card midway through the stanza, as Wheaton played with an 11-on-10 advantage for the rest of the game. Hurd tallied the second of two straight goals for the Lyons with 8:53 left in regulation to again knot the game, this time at eight. Sophomore Heather Dobson (Longmeadow, MA/Longmeadow) put the Pride back on top with 3:07 to go, but sophomore Caitlin Grant (Walpole, MA/Walpole) countered with 1:34 left, sending the squads to overtime. In the extra period, Williams tallied with 3:05 to play for the only goal on Wheaton's lone shot.

Senior Kristin Konig (Montecito, CA/Cate School) made 11 saves, including a big stop with just over a minute remaining in overtime, while Hurd sent home four goals. Jurczak added a pair. For Springfield, Lampros had two goals and one assist, while senior Ashley Martell (Billerica, MA/Billerica) tallied one goal and three helpers. Freshman Lauren McAuley (Yorktown, NY/Yorktown) made 11 stops.

The Lyons continue conference play when they travel to Babson College on Tuesday for a 7:00 p.m. game.

SCORING: 1st 2nd OT Final
Springfield (4-4, 0-1) 6 3 0 9
Wheaton (1-5, 1-0) 6 3 1 10

Cumulative Scoring:
Goals: WC- Meredith Hurd 4, Alexa Jurczak 2, Kim Corbin, Caitlin Grant, Abbie Sherwin, Madeline Williams; SC- Rachel Lampros 2, Lindsay Bugbee, Heather Dobson, Heidi Eidse, Ashley Martell, Kerrigan Murphy, Lisa Thomas, Jennifer Zubkus

Assists: WC- Hanna Landis, Bridget Thornton; SC- Martell 3, Lampros, Thomas

Goalie Saves: WC- Kristin Konig 11; SC- Lauren McAuley 11

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