Men’s lacrosse, softball

women’s lacrosse wins ot slugfest

Sara Hiller scored her 100th career goal on an open net after the goalie was called for a penalty. If only the rest of the game had been that easy.

In a game with seven lead changes, the Muhlenberg women’s lacrosse team improved to 5-1 on the season with a thrilling 19-18 overtime win at Drew.

The Mules overcame

McGovern leads the Mules with 21 goals this season.

an early two-goal deficit to take a four-goal lead in the first half, only to have the Rangers (3-4) go up four goals midway through the second half. Trailing 16-12, Muhlenberg scored five of the last six goals in regulation, then the first two in overtime. Drew got back to within one, but the Mules held on over the final 1:05.

“It was a very high-intensity, emotional game for us,” said Hiller. “It was good for the team. Now we have that experience on our backs, and we got the win.”

Muhlenberg led 9-5 late in the first half and 9-6 at halftime, but Drew netted the first four goals of the second half in a span of less than three minutes. Later in the half, a quick five-goal run in 3:30 gave the Rangers their biggest lead.

“We were having a tough time with the draw controls,” explained Hiller. “We all just lifted each other and said, We need to fight hard and get momentum on our side.”

The Mules did just that thanks to senior Ruth Morrongiello, who out-drew Drew in the second half. Morrongiello set a school record with 10 draw controls and started the comeback by scoring her fifth goal of the game with 14 minutes to play, making the score 16-13.

After an exchange of goals, Hiller’s milestone empty-netter with 8:54 to play left Muhlenberg down 17-15. Sophomore Danielle Rosen, who finished with eight points, assisted junior Amanda McGovern, then scored the tying goal on a free-position shot with 1:22 on the clock.

Even after the comeback, it took an extraordinary effort by sophomore Allisyn Vachon to get the game into overtime. Vachon made two saves on free-position shots in the last 10 seconds.

“She came up huge – she basically won the game for us,” said Hiller of her goalie. “Her saves gave the offense – and the entire team – the confidence we needed.”

She wasn’t done. After Rosen scored with 1:53 left in the first overtime period, Vachon stopped consecutive one-on-one shots to keep the Mules ahead.

McGovern scored her fifth goal of the game in the second overtime period to put Muhlenberg up 19-17. Drew put one in and controlled the draw, but a forced turnover by sophomore Lauren DeCarle allowed the Mules to run off all but 10 seconds of the remaining time.

The win extended Muhlenberg’s winning streak in non-conference games to 26. The Mules have only Centennial Conference games remaining on their 2009 schedule.
Click here for box score.
Click here for complete stats.