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Women's Lacrosse Storms Back to Advance to Patriot League Final
Eagles top Villanova, 10-9 in overtime

April 27, 2002

Laura Repoli scored the game-winning goal in overtime to send the Eagles to the Patriot League Final.

EASTON, Pa.— American's women's lacrosse team used an incredible second half comeback to advance to the Patriot League Championship Game to be played tomorrow. The Eagles used seven second half goals to force overtime and Laura Repoli's goal 38 seconds into the second overtime session gave No. 2 American the 10-9 win over No. 3 Villanova.

The first half was dominated by Villanova (9-8), as the Wildcats quickly put the Eagles down 4-0. Meghan Carolan started the scoring at the 1:52 mark and Sarah DePeters scored three straight goals for Villanova. All-League second-team player Gina Riitano got American (10-6) on the board with a free position shot at 23:18, but DePeters answered with 15 seconds left in the half as Villanova took a 5-1 lead to the break.

The Eagles looked like a completely different squad to start the second half. Tara Michael scored just 3:32 into the half and Katy Zaweski scored on a free position shot just over 30 seconds later. Seniors Holly Deland and Adele Fenwick added free position shots over the next five minutes to knot the game at 5-5. Goalkeeper Laura Randisi had three critical saves during this stretch to keep American in the game.

Villanova stormed back as DePeters scored her fifth goal of the game at 14:34. Carolan scored two more goals as the Wildcats opened an 8-5 lead and forced American to take a timeout.

Just over a minute after the timeout, Courtney Bennett scored on a free position shot to cut the lead to two. Repoli added a free position shot at 27:19 to slice the lead in half. With time running down in the game, Deland took the ball towards the goal and was fouled. With only 53 seconds to play, she scored on her free position shot to tie the game at eight. American had a shot at the end of regulation, but the game was sent to overtime as the Eagles held Villanova scoreless for the final 8:20 of regulation.

In the first overtime, Riitano found Zaweski 1:05 into the session to give the Eagles their first lead of the game. Carolan answered with just under 15 seconds to play in the first overtime session to tie the game at nine. 38 seconds into the second overtime, All-Patriot League second-team player Nadia Harmsen found Repoli who made a nice bounce shot for the goal. American held the ball for almost all of the final two minutes of the game to seal the victory.

Randisi played an outstanding game in goal for the Eagles, saving 11 shots and keeping American in the game during the first half. She also had two ground balls and a critical caused turnover. All-League first-team players Nicole McCarthy and Robyn Mincher also had solid games, with three and two caused turnovers respectively. McCarthy also had five ground balls as did Repoli.

After only having one draw control in the first half, the Eagles dominated the draws in the second half and overtime with 12 while Villanova only had two. Riitano had five of these key draw controls and Harmsen had four. Harmsen also posted seven ground balls for the game.

"The girls showed that they were emotionally strong and mentally prepared today," Coach Maureen Dupcak said after the game. "I think we were a little nervous in the first half and were very poised in the second."

The win was the first this season for the Eagles after trailing in the first half. In addition, the victory gave American the first 10-win season in school history.

Second seed American, the regular season co-champions in the Patriot League, will now take on No. 1 seed Lafayette in the Patriot League Championship to be held tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. The game will be played on Rappolt Field at Lafayette.

Goals: AU - Deland 2, Repoli 2, Zaweski 2, Bennett, Fenwick, Michael, Riitano; VU - DePeters 5, Carolan 4.
Assists: AU - Harmsen, Riitano; VU - None.
Saves: AU - Randisi 11; VU - Grenier 11.
Shots: AU - 24; VU - 24.