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Women’s lax rallies, beats
mcdaniel in ot ... again

The Muhlenberg women’s lacrosse team had played almost exclusively blowouts all season coming in to the day, its closest contest being decided by three and only one other by fewer than six.

But the Mules found that all they need to sprinkle some excitement into the season is a game against McDaniel.

Freshman Alexandra Franck tries to cause a turnover.

For the second straight year Muhlenberg and McDaniel went to overtime, with the Mules coming out victorious, 14-13, in a thrilling contest. The Mules (7-4, 2-3) scored the final three goals of regulation – the last two of which came in the final minute – and the lone goal in overtime in a game nearly identical to last season’s, when they won, 15-14.

“They’re a good team and we’re a good team, and we’re both in it to fight,” said senior Danielle Scarrone, who scored the game winner 26 seconds into the extra session. “It’s a tough conference, and on any day anything can happen.”

But what happened on this day was nearly the same as in last year’s meeting. Senior Amanda McGovern capped a four-goal Mule rally with the tying goal with 40 seconds left in regulation last season; this year, she capped a three-goal rally with 28.4 seconds to play.

“We knew we were still in it,” commented Scarrone on the late deficit. “We always have confidence in McGovern and [Danielle] Rosen to come through. We knew someone would make it happen.”

With 194 career points, McGovern needs just two more to move into second place all-time at Muhlenberg.

While McGovern, who also began the rally with a goal with 3:32 to play, was the likely someone to make it happen, Muhlenberg also got some offensive help from a surprising source. Junior Lauren DeCarle, a defender, cut the deficit to one with a remarkable play, causing a turnover near midfield, picking up the ground ball and racing the length of the field for her first goal of the season, which came with exactly 1:00 left on the clock.

Another great defensive play sparked the winning goal. Scarrone pressured the Green Terror’s goalie into a long pass, which was intercepted by Rosen. After a McDaniel foul McGovern fed a wide-open Scarrone in front, who managed to finish despite a defender getting a piece of her stick.

McDaniel took three shots over the remainder of overtime, two of which were saved by junior Allisyn Vachon – who made a career-high 18 saves in net – to allow the Mules to hold on for an important win that keeps their hopes for a third straight berth in the Centennial Conference playoffs alive.

“We never felt like we were out of it,” said Scarrone of the playoff picture. “It just wasn’t happening for us the last few games, but now our confidence is back up. We’ve been working on the little pieces and today we put it all together.”

The beginning of the game looked like things weren’t happening again for Muhlenberg, as the Green Terror jumped out to a 4-1 lead. But the Mules netted the final five goals of the half – three of which were scored by Rosen – and added another 26 seconds into the second period.

McDaniel (7-5, 1-4) climbed back, eventually tying the score at 8-all. Freshman Alex Bellini made a nice pass to sophomore Kelsey Elmer cutting in front to put Muhlenberg back up, 10-8, but the Green Terror scored the next five to take a 13-10 lead with fewer than eight minutes to play.

But the Mules went on their 3-0 run after that and were buoyed by their defense, which shut down McDaniel’s leading scorer, Brittany Baer, who entered having scored nine goals in the last two games. She finished with just one in this game.

“The defense did a great job. They worked hard, were communicating well and played scrappy,” noted Scarrone. “Maggie Sullivan did a great job faceguarding Baer and stayed on her tight.

“And DeCarle even scored a goal,” laughed Scarrone.

McGovern led all scorers with four goals and two assists. Rosen finished with three, and Scarrone and senior Alyssa Bascelli had two each. DeCarle and Rosen picked up four ground balls apiece.
Click here for box score.
Click here for complete stats.