WINCHESTER, Va. – Division II Shepherd University rallied Saturday afternoon for a 16-15 double overtime women's lacrosse victory over host Shenandoah.
The Rams (1-0) earned the win with 11 seconds remaining in the first sudden victory overtime as Shannon Carta took a feed from Jenny Cavey and beat Hornets keeper Ashley Cross high for the game-winner.
Carta's goal, her third of the game, completed a two-goal comeback for Shepherd in extra time.
Shenandoah (0-1), which led by one goal in the final minute of regulation and then by two goals with 47 seconds to go in the first OT session, could only watch as its Shenandoah Valley neighbor put together three rallies to earn the win.
Krista Tippett had the regulation equalizer, with 36 seconds remaining, before Nicole Ruane and Tippett scored to tie it in the overtime.
SU freshman Samantha Sisson, who led all scorers with seven goals, had given the Hornets a two-goal advantage in the overtime with goals at 2:14 and :47 of the initial, three-minute OT.
Ruane cut that deficit in half with her fifth goal three seconds before the first OT period horn and then Tippett tied it 32 seconds into the second OT.
Carta then gave Shepherd the lead with an unassisted goal 24 seconds after Tipplett's equalizer, but Hornets sophomore Corrinne Kosmowski tied it off of a Sara Mucciaro assist at :39.
Each team then had possession at least twice in the sudden-victory OT – Shenandoah turned the ball over at midfield to set up Shepherd's game winner.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Hornets score three of the first four goals of the game before Shepherd reeled off four straight to take a 5-3 lead by the 13:37 mark.
From this point, the two teams traded the final seven goals of the period with Sisson tallying two of her half-high four goals in this span.
Three of Sisson's four goals came via free position.
Sisson brought the game back to level, converting a Sydney Anderson feed at 25:45 of the second to make the score 8-8.
The two teams were never separated by more than two goals the rest of the way, setting up the sudden-victory finish.
Shepherd outshot SU 31-25 but Shenandoah held a 42-25 advantage in groundballs.
The Rams won 20 of 34 draws.
The Hornets have a battle of hornets on Wednesday with a 4 p.m. non-league game with Lynchburg.
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