GETTYSBURG, Pa. - The No. 4 Washington and Lee University women's lacrosse team rallied back from a three goal deficit in the fourth quarter and took down No. 7 Gettysburg College, 10-9 thanks to a Jenny Lisovicz (Glen Ridge, N.J. / Glen Ridge) game-winner.
Junior Julia Thomson (Larchmont, N.Y. / Hackley) and the Generals (5-0) marched back and scored four consecutive goals, two from Thomson, to defeat the Bullets (2-2) in overtime in the third top-10 matchup of the early season for W&L.
In a true game of runs, GC rattled off three straight goals in the fourth quarter to go up 9-6. The Blue and White responded with three straight goals with under two minutes left in regulation, the first from Hanna Bishop (Bronxville, N.Y. / Bronxville) followed by two Thomson scores, W&L's eighth and ninth goal at 0:30 and 0:19, respectively to send the game into overtime.
With just moments left in the first OT period, Thomson drew defenders in with a drive from 'x' then dumped the ball off to Lisovicz who cut into space and scored the game-winning goal with 14.5 seconds on the clock. The senior co-captain's goal gave the Generals their only lead of the contest, the only one that mattered.
The game was knotted up on four occasions: 2-2, 5-5, 6-6, and 9-9. After W&L tied up the game, GC always responded with the next goal forcing the Blue and White to play catch up during regulation. Gettysburg led by three goals on two occasions after 3-0 runs in the second and fourth quarters. Each time W&L responded with 3-0 runs of its own before tacking on the fourth goal in OT.
After the opening stanza, the two teams were at a 2-2 stalemate. GC scored on its opening possession then on an 8-meter attempt within the opening five minutes. The Generals defense then held the opponents scoreless for the remainder of the first quarter.
Thomson put the Blue and White on the scoreboard, she found a loose ball in front of the crease and buried a goal inside the left pipe. With 30 seconds remaining, Claire Horner (Richmond, Va. / St. Catherine's) teamed up with Sophie Edwards (San Francisco, Calif. / St. Ignatius College Prep) on a woman-up opportunity. Horner fed the ball into the middle of the '8' for Edwards who cut through the zone defense to tie up the game.
The home team opened the second quarter with its initial 3-0 run with a 1-on-1 goal after a failed W&L clear, 8-meter score and an assisted effort in front of the crease before Shannon Timoney (Mendham, N.J. / West Morris MEndham) broke the scoreless skid for the Generals. Timoney took on her defender from the left hanging hash to bring the Generals within a pair of goals before halftime; GC led 5-3 at the break.
The second half saw the Blue and White score first; Bishop forced a turnover in the ride and a give-and-go opportunity arose with Allie Schwab (Bryn Mawr, Pa. / Harriston). Schwab drew the defenders with a drive up the right side which left Bishop unguarded on the opposite side of the net for her first goal of the day. Bishop then tied up the game with the next score, an unassisted tally with a drive from the top of the fan to knot up the score 5-5.
GC snapped the three-goal run and took the lead back on an unassisted Emily Crane goal at 3:42. Up until that point, the Generals' defense kept the Bullets scoreless from the 6:52 mark in the second quarter, nearly 19 minutes of action.
First-year Edwards answered with a free-position goal, a bounce shot under the keeper's stick to tie up the game for the third time in the top-10 matchup. As time expired in the third stanza, the Bullets' offense was stonewalled by a point-blank Caroline Kranich (State College, Pa. / Mercersburg) save who held the ball in the crease as the clock hit zero.
W&L claimed the opening draw of the final quarter but was unable to convert on the possession and take its first lead of the game. Crane then scored the Bullet's seventh tally, an unassisted stick-side goal followed by a Katie Fullowan goal to force a W&L timeout. The Orange scored again at 6:05 before W&L rallied back with their four consecutive goals to finish on top.
Fullowan led the home team in scoring with three goals and an assist. Jordan Basso and Crane each added a pair of scores for the home team.
Thomson finished with four points off her hat trick and assist, Bishop also recorded a hat trick. Both attackers took just three shots each, all of which found the back of the net for the Blue and White. Edwards added a pair of goals to round out the multi-point scorers.
Eugenie Rovegno (Duxbury, Mass. / Duxbury) came away with four caused turnovers and draw controls, she added three ground balls. Senior Sam Van Belle (Lebanon, N.J. / North Hunterdon) played a key role in transition and forced three turnovers and collected a career best five ground balls. Timoney had a game-high six ground balls and added three caused turnovers to her goal. Sophomore middie, Cat Caples (Reistertown, Md. / St. Paul's School for Girls), found success on the draw, she grabbed three of her own attempts in the center and out of the air.
The two teams evenly split 44 shots and 12 saves. Both squads struggled with ball control, especially in transition, due to particularly windy conditions on Clark Field. Gettysburg had a distinct advantage on the draw circle with a 14-8 skid but had five more turnovers than the Generals 20-15.
Before today, the Blue and White had not defeated the Bullets in Gettysburg since 1992 and marked their first win on Clark Field; GC owns an 8-4 record over the Generals. W&L earned its first win over Gettysburg since March 8, 2020 after facing the Orange twice last season and marks Coach Coleman's first win over her alma mater as a head coach.
The Generals will travel to No. 18 Catholic (0-2) on Saturday March 11 for a non-conference matchup in Washington, D.C., first draw is slated for 1 p.m.
-Generalssports.com-
