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| Helena Enders |
Down 4-0 early on, The College of Wooster women's lacrosse team stormed back behind a 7-0 run before a back-and-forth second half brought Allegheny College back into the mix to force overtime, as the Gators prevailed 19-18 in heartbreaking fashion for the Fighting Scots, who were handed a critical loss on Wednesday night at Frank B. Fuhrer Field in Meadville, Pa.
With the setback, Wooster (10-5, 3-4 North Coast Athletic Conference) remains on the outside looking in regarding NCAC Tournament qualification, as the Scots stand tied for fifth-place with Kenyon College (7-8, 3-4 NCAC) with one league game left to play.
Against the Gators (8-5, 4-3 NCAC), the Black and Gold stooped to a four-goal deficit within the opening nine minutes before answering with seven straight goals over nearly a seven-minute span.
A sophomore trio jumpstarted a sluggish Scots' offense, as Laura Papp got Wooster on the board with a free position conversion at the 18:11 mark. Following up shortly after were classmates Jordan Stone and Emma Lawrence, who each found the back of the cage less than a minute apart before Papp closed a 4-0 run within a two-minute span on a man-up opportunity conversion off the helpful hands of junior Helena Enders.
Both teams swapped goals throughout the remainder of the first half, with Wooster outscoring the Gators 4-3 in the final 11 minutes to take an 11-7 lead heading into the break.
In the second half, the scorecard reversed with Allegheny outscoring Wooster 11-7. After an opening tally from Allegheny's Shelby Piper, Wooster posted its largest lead of the night behind goals from Stone and Enders to make it a 13-8 Scots' advantage with just under 28 minutes remaining.
The Gators trimmed the deficit considerably with three unanswered goals within a 39-second span before steadily clawing back, scoring seven of the final 12 goals to tie it at 18 to force overtime. Wooster looked to have sealed the game with 1:39 remaining in regulation, however, as Enders buried one home off the pass from junior Michaela Lawrence, but the Gators converted on a free position attempt with :48 left to equalize. Of note, Allegheny was granted a free position attempt with :05 left, but the ball was checked away before a shot was fired.
In overtime, Wooster initially gained possession found themselves with a free position attempt, but a crucial turnover gave way to the Gators, who successfully cleared the ball before tallying the game-winning goal nearly a minute later to move into a top-four position in the league standings.
Enders finished the game with a career-high in points (8) and goals (5), while both Emma Lawrence and Papp tallied four goals each. Of note, Papp moved into a tie for eighth-place in the program record books for most points in a season with 67.
The Scots conclude the regular season on Saturday, April 29 at Hiram College (5-11, 0-7 NCAC), with the start time slated for 1 p.m.