Statesmen Snag First OT Win as Royal Nets Golden Goal

Oskaloosa — After a pair of defeats on the road, William Penn women’s lacrosse returned to action at home against Missouri Valley. The Statesmen might have been down at halftime, but the team roared back to take a lead in the second frame. Despite the Vikings tying the game to force overtime, the squad rallied again and got the game winner from Bailee Royal (Fr., Hallsville, Texas, Sports Management) to give WPU its first OT victory in program history 11-10. William Penn improves to 3-6 overall and 2-4 in Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference action.

The Vikings started the game with a strong push, getting two goals past Madison Reed (Fr., Shakopee, Minn., Secondary Education) in the span of two minutes and four seconds. However, the visitors forgot about Emma Lady (Sr., Richmond, Ind., Masters of Sports Management), which soon proved costly. After a successful clear, Lady drove and flicked in a goal from the top of the goal crease. Almost 40 seconds later, Jenna Donlan (Fr., Tampa, Fla., Business Management) found Lady open and made the pass, with Lady smacking in her second goal to tie the game.

WPU had a couple more chances, but Hallie Clark (Fr., Centerville, Utah) had her shot saved and Lady sent a free position shot wide. From there, momentum favored the Vikings, as they scored four goals from the 21:37 mark until there was 6:54 remaining in the half. MVC controlled the territorial advantage over that spell and got good work from their goalie when WPU did get a chance at the other end. Lady scrounged up something for the team on a free position shot with 3:53 to go, burying her hat trick goal to bring the deficit to 6-3.

Missouri Valley had a couple chances in the final minute but could not hit the net, as the guests took a 6-3 lead into halftime. The stats were close at the break, with MVC outshooting William Penn 16-14 along with winning 6-of-10 draws. Reed made five saves in the half and the defense for WPU made eight clears in 11 attempts.

The intermission sparked something in the navy and gold, though it took a few minutes to catch fire. The Vikings poured on three more goals in the first eight minutes, grabbing a 9-3 lead that looked destined to grow. But the flame soon took hold and the Statesmen assumed control of the game.

Clark started the comeback with an unassisted goal, as she wove through a couple defenders to post her first tally of the day. Down 9-4, Lady then took advantage of some fouls from MVC, making two free position goals within two minutes.

Down 9-6 with 15:12 to go, the tide kept rising as MacKenzie Petersen (Fr., Albertville, Minn., Public Accounting) was awarded a free position shot. Zapping in her first of the game, the home side trailed 9-7 with 14:30 to go. Three minutes later, Royal got a pass in the midfield and drove from just inside the halfway-line to inside the arcs, firing in her first goal of the game. Now down one, the team had 11:24 to work with and the Vikings pressed against the ropes.

A couple turnovers from each side made the next few minutes a scramble, as neither team could set up in the attacking end. The Vikings were even gifted an opportunity on a turnover by the Statesmen deep in their own end, but the squad covered it up and made a clear after a foul by Missouri Valley.

Mia Arnone (Fr., St. Louis, Mo., Digital Communication) got the next shot away for WPU but the Viking goalie made the stop. However, a foul gave the Statesmen another chance. Lady drew defenders and then slipped a pass to Clark, who punched in her second goal of the day to tie the game at 9-9. Clark then won the next draw and heaved it over to Royal. Letting the team get set up, Royal then returned the ball to Clark, who slotted in her third goal of the game, giving William Penn their first lead at 10-9 with 5:43 to go.

The Vikings, realizing they were on the chopping block, then hit the reset button themselves, scoring a goal with four minutes remaining to tie the game. MVC ended the half with four shots at goal, as William Penn fought tenaciously to hold on to the tie. Two free position shots missed wide and two shots from in close also missed the target. Finally relieving the pressure, a foul at the other end gave Lady a free position opportunity with two seconds left. However, it was from the outer arc and with too many bodies in the way and not enough time, a quick catch-and-shoot pass to Petersen was not enough to win it at the buzzer.

The first overtime game in program history did not take long to settle. A foul gave the draw to the navy and gold and eventually, Royal got fouled in the crease to give herself a free position shot. Cradling the ball, she took a couple steps and threw it as hard as she could, putting the shot into the net to the far side-netting to give WPU the 11-10 victory.

William Penn was outshot 30-27 for the game, but the team had a 13-12 ground ball edge and were 5-10 from free position shots, as the Vikings were only 2-6. They also committed only 11 fouls, while MVC had 29 in total, 18 alone in the second half.

Lady had five goals, one assist, and nine total shots (six on goal) in the game. Clark had all seven of her shots find the target, potting three goals. Royal had an assist to tag along with her two goals and three shots on goal. Arnone had five shots, four on target, for the game. Reed made a couple great saves, especially in the second half, finishing with a total of 10 for the contest.

“I am so proud of the girls and the way they played today,” said Head Coach Corrine Smeak. “This was a huge team win! They played the entire sixty minutes and came back from being down at halftime. They kept their composer and fought for every ball. I can’t wait to see how they do the rest of the season, using this win as their momentum.”

Next Up: The Spires of Saint Mary (Kan.) will come to Oskaloosa on Saturday, April 3, for a game that will start at noon.

Posted by on Apr 1 2021. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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