(box score)
In a battle of teams vying for a conference tournament spot, Widener came up just short in a 15-14 Middle Atlantic Conference overtime defeat to Lebanon Valley in Annville, PA.
Lindsey Buckman scored the only goal of the overtime period, her 50th of the year, with 3:45 left. Lebanon Valley earned all three draw controls in the extra frame.
Widener fell behind 5-2 with 12:15 left in the first half, thanks to three tallies by Hana Krechel. But the Pride reeled off five unanswered goals over the span of 1:45, including two from sophomore Laura Kalbach (Lancaster, PA) to take a 7-5 lead with 6:57 left in the period. The teams entered halftime deadlocked at 7-7 after Allison McGinniss tied the score with 46 seconds left in the first stanza.
The contest became a seesaw battle in the second half. McGinniss gave the Dutchmen an 8-7 lead just over five minutes into the period. It took Widener over 5 1/2 minutes to knot the score, but sophomore Julia Costello (Brookhaven, PA) did so on her second tally of the game. Junior Rachel Porter (Medford, NJ) gave Widener a 9-8 lead just over a minute later on a free-position shot for her third score of the day.
Lebanon Valley scored the next three, taking an 11-9 lead with 11:13 left. But senior Calina Walz (Medford, NJ) scored twice in just 26 seconds to get Widener even at 11-11 with 9:03 to play.
McGinniss completed the hat trick and put Lebanon Valley back in front with 7:12 to go, and Suzanne Sullivan gave the Dutchmen another two-goal lead just 11 seconds later.
The Pride were not done, however. Widener scored three straight in just 1:41, taking a 14-13 lead with 3:28 left on Walz' third in just over six minutes. But Buckman buried a free-position shot with just 49 seconds left to force overtime.
It was a very evenly-played contest. Widener edged Lebanon Valley 36-35 in shots and 17-16 in ground balls. The biggest difference came in free-position conversions with Lebanon Valley going 5-for-10 and Widener converting on just 2-of-11.
Krechel notched eight points for the Dutchmen (7-5, 6-3 MAC). Corrine Palombo made eight saves in the final 36 minutes for the win.
Porter finished with four goals for the Pride (6-8, 4-6). Costello totaled two goals and two assists.
Widener on Wednesday hosts Cabrini to close the non-conference slate at 7:00 pm.
