Dragon's Final Second Heroics Pushes No. 13 Orange Past No. 3 Dartmouth, 11-10

Monday, February 27

Carrier Dome

3:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

10 (ot)

Dartmouth

Caitlyn Dragon scored the game-winner with one second left in overtime.

Dragon's Final Second Heroics Pushes No. 13 Orange Past No. 3 Dartmouth, 11-10

2/27/2006 8:01:35 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Senior Caitlyn Dragon (Jackson, N.J.) scored with one second remaining on the clock in overtime to lead No. 13 Syracuse to an 11-10 victory against No. 3 Dartmouth on Feb. 27 at the Carrier Dome. The Big Green scored with 17 seconds left in overtime to tie the game before Dragon tallied the game winner.

Junior Chelsea Strodel (Skaneateles, N.Y.) secured the draw control with just six seconds left. Strodel then found classmate Jill DePetris (Radnor, Pa.) who found an open Dragon right in front of the net. Dragon turned and fired a shot past the Dartmouth goalkeeper to push SU to the win.

Dragon finished the game with three goals and freshman Megan Mosenson (Malvern, Pa.) also tallied a hat trick and assisted on another goal. Freshman Kathryn Rowan (Delmar, N.Y.) notched two goals for the Orange. DePetris’ game-winning assist gave her three in the game. Senior goalkeeper Jen Kasel (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) saved 10 shots for SU in the win.

It was Syracuse’s first overtime win since March 1, 2003, when the Orange beat Virginia 12-11. The only other triumph that came in overtime was against Boston University on May 8, 1999, when SU won 9-8.

In the first half, Whitney Douthett started the scoring as she put the Big Green up, 1-0, with a goal five minutes in. Mosenson cashed in on a free position shot two minutes later to tie the game. SU went on to score four more unanswered goals, including two more from Mosenson and a tally from Rowan. Sophomore Bridget Looney (Silver Spring, Md.) scored the final goal of the run at the 9:38 mark in the half. DePetris assisted on both of Mosenson’s goals, while Mosenson set up Looney. Dartmouth scored the final two goals of the half to cut the deficit to 5-3 heading into the break. Jen Pittman and Douthett were responsible for the Big Green goals.

SU came out firing in the second half and upped its lead to 7-3 with the first two goals of the half. Junior Gaddy Fortune (Long Branch, N.J.) scored her first goal of the game just a minute and a half in, and Dragon followed suit with her first goal two minutes later. Dartmouth responded by scoring the next three goals to pull within one, 7-6, with 18:41 left in the game. Sarah Szefi, Kristen Zimmer, and Douthett each recorded a goal during that stretch. The Orange began to pull away again as Fortune and Dragon connected on two more goals to extend SU’s lead to 9-6 with 16:02 left. Casey Hazel and Szefi responded and made the most of their free position shots to pull Dartmouth within one again, 9-8, with 5:30 on the clock. Syracuse cleared the ball out of the Big Green zone after sophomore Stephanie Bissett (Woodstock, Md.) forced a turnover at the 2:17 mark. SU tried to run out the clock, but Devon Wills forced an Orange turnover and was able to clear. With two seconds left on the clock, Szefi found a hole in the Orange defense and forced overtime by slipping a shot past the goalkeeper.

The first three minutes of overtime belonged to Syracuse as junior Melissa Pearsall (Cortland, N.Y.) gained the draw control. SU was patient on offense, then finally found an opportunity when Rowan tallied her second of the game. Looney secured the second draw of the overtime and SU ran out the clock.

After switching sides, Pittman controlled the draw for Dartmouth, and was then fouled, setting up a free position shot. Her attempt was turned away by Kasel, but the Big Green retained control. Fortune forced Hazel to lose the ball and Fortune picked it up herself. After Syracuse cleared, Douthett took possession back by forcing a turnover of her own, and then she deadlocked the game again, 10-10, with 17 ticks left, setting up Dragon’s game-winner.

For Dartmouth (0-1), Douthett had a game-high five points on four goals and an assist while picking up seven ground balls and four draw controls. Szefi registered three goals for the Big Green. Wills stopped eight shots in goal.

SU (2-0) looks to knock off its second-straight top-five opponent when it travels to Virginia to take on the No. 5 Cavaliers in a 12:00 p.m. contest.