Presbyterian Goal with 19 Seconds Left Foils Long Island Rally
from press release
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Shannon Hartford
(Georgetown, Mass.) scored the game-winning goal with 19 seconds
left to give the Presbyterian College women’s lacrosse team a
victory over Long Island on Saturday afternoon, erasing a late
rally from LIU at D.B. Milne Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
PC (2-7) pulled out the win after Long Island (0-5) scored four
unanswered goals late in the second half to tie the game with 2:11
remaining.
Tied 14-14 after the LIU rally, pressure on the defensive end from
PC forced an errant Blackbird pass to hand possession to the Blue
Hose. After recovering from a missed free position shot on the
other end, the ball found its way to Hartford. Hartford emerged
from behind the net and tucked a shot past LIU goalkeeper Jacquel
Simonian for what would prove to be the eventual game-winner and
the final of her game-high eight points.
Hartford tied career-highs with five goals and eight points in the
win and Jaime Beamish (Memphis, Tenn.) set a new career high in
goals as well, scoring four. Laura Meade added three (Acworth,
Ga.), Brianne Ward (Cincinnati, Ohio) scored twice and Rachel
Sweeney (Waxhaw, N.C.) tallied one.
Hartford also led in assists, with three. Beamish, Ward, Anne Lamb
Crosby (Jacksonville, Fla.) and Katie Prisco (West Babylon, N.Y.)
each tallied one assist.
Goalie Susan England (Bethesda, Md.) stopped 15 shots to secure her
second win of the year.
Beamish drew first blood, scoring the first goal of the game to
give PC an early lead. Beamish converted a Brianne Ward pass into a
goal 4:09 after the opening whistle and the Blue Hose led, 1-0.
The Blackbirds answered a little over two minutes later on a
Kimberly Kovar score to even the game at 1-1.
The Blue Hose defense locked down after the LIU goal and the
offense took advantage, rattling off the next six goals.
Beamish tallied her second of the match on Prisco’s fifth
assist of the year to give PC a 2-1 lead with 20:56 left in the
first half.
Next, Sweeney fired a free position shot into the net before
Crosby connected with Meade for Meade’s sixth of the year and
a 4-1 PC lead.
Hartford added two unassisted goals to the run before helping
Beamish complete the hat trick with 10:50 to go in the half.
LIU’s Shakoya Smith answered 12 seconds later and scored
again a little over a minute later to make the score 7-3 in favor
of the Blue Hose heading into halftime.
PC dominated in draw controls in the first half, controlling
the first eight before LIU recorded its first.
The second half told a different story for Long Island. The
Blackbirds scored 11 goals in the final 30 minutes but PC proved
able to hang on.
Ward began the half in impressive fashion, sprinting down the field
and converting a Hartford pass 12 seconds after the opening draw to
run PC’s lead to five, 8-3.
LIU’s Katie Williams began to chip away at her team’s
deficit less than two minutes later with two straight goals. PC
responded with another Ward-from-Hartford score and a Meade free
position goal but Williams finished the hat trick with 20:48 left
on the clock, kicking off a three-goal LIU run over the next three
minutes.
Annie Kaleta tallied the first of her five second-half goals and
Caitlin Farrell added another to draw within two, 10-8.
PC ran the lead back to four thanks to goals from Beamish and
Hartford, marking the fourth of the game for Beamish and the third
for Hartford.
The two sides then traded goals as LIU attempted to close the gap.
Williams scored her fourth of the game with 11:43 remaining,
followed by Meade completing her hat trick 52 seconds later. LIU
answered on an Annie Kalata free position goal only to see Hartford
counter with her fourth of the game and 14th of the season 27
seconds later.
PC led 14-10 after Hartford’s score, but Kimberly Kovar found
the net before Kalata scored three in a row to tie the game at
14-14. Overtime appeared imminent but Hartford’s goal sealed
the win for the Blue Hose.
The team returns home for a Thursday matchup against Fresno State.
The opening draw is slated for 3 p.m.
