SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Freshman Mikayla Demanche (Rochester, Mass.) collected a pair of goals including the game-winner in overtime to help propel American International College to an 11-10 victory over no. 20 nationally ranked Saint Anselm College in Northeast-10 Conference women's lacrosse action this evening from Ronald J. Abdow Field.
AIC improves to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play while the Hawks fall to 1-1 on the year and 0-1 in the NE-10. For the Yellow Jackets this marks their best start to a season in six years after opening the 2010 campaign 7-1.
Clinging to a one-goal lead at halftime Saint A's scored three straight to open the second half prompting a timeout from AIC. Senior Caitlin Villareal (Portsmouth, R.I.) scored one before classmate Erin Marshall (Woburn, Mass.) netted a pair just 11 ticks apart for the 9-5 edge at the 23:56 mark.
The Jackets came out of the timeout fired up and senior Cheyenne Carden (Branford, Conn.) sandwiched an unassisted tally between a pair of free-position shots for the one-goal deficit midway through the half.
Demanche then tied the contest off a free-position shot of her own for the 9-9 score with 12:08 to play in regulation. After winning the ensuing draw AIC managed to run six minutes off the clock before senior Kelly Reilly (Corning, N.Y.) found junior Jessica Lawler (Mexico, N.Y.) for the go-ahead tally at the 6:10 mark for the 10-9 advantage.
Sophomore Erica Mattila (Westford, Mass.) potted the equalizer for the Hawks just over a minute and a half later for the 10-10 score. Jacket junior goalie Alexis Torosian (Hopkinton, Mass.) then made her biggest save of the contest just 19 seconds later and collected the ensuing groundball to preserve the tie contest.
The visitors then held the ball for the final three minutes looking for the final shot, but it was Carden forcing a turnover and holding the ball until the final horn sending things into extra time.
With the adrenaline pumping the teams traded turnovers to open the three-minute bonus session before senior Sydney DeArmond (Westborough, Mass.) caused a turnover and scooped the groundball racing into the offensive zone.
After passing the ball around the circle and waiting for the right moment it was Demanche who darted toward the net and was awarded with the free-position shot and she did not miss collecting the Golden Goal with just 13 seconds on the clock in overtime.
The win marks the first in program history for AIC against a nationally ranked opponent.
Torosian stopped nine shots to improve to 5-1 on the year while her counterpart, senior Jane Bunn (St. John's, Fla.) collected seven saves and is now 1-1 on the season.
The visitors outshot the hosts 26-21 while holding the slim 19-18 edge in groundballs. The Jackets held the 12-11 margin in draws while converting 13-of-15 clears and went 6-for-10 on their free-position attempts.
Carden finished the game with five goals and three groundballs while Dufresne added two assists to her one goal and five draws.
The Hawks opened the scoring just 1:15 into the contest as sophomore Marta Versprille (Franklin, Mass.) collected a rebound out front and found the back of the cage for the 1-0 edge. St. A's added two more goals to grab the three-goal advantage before the Jackets got on the board midway through the opening half.
Carden and freshman Mary Bates (East Longmeadow, Mass.) potted the goals to cut the deficit to a single goal before Saint Anselm responded to push the lead back to three with goals from Marshall and Villareal at the 9:53 and 7:43 mark, respectively.
Villareal then sandwiched another goal between a score from junior Stefanie Dufresne (Belchertown, Mass.) and Lawler with Carden capping the first-half with a marker at the 18 second mark for the 6-5 deficit heading into the intermission.
The road doesn't get any easier as AIC returns to action on Tuesday when they face No. 2 Le Moyne at 4 p.m. from the friendly confines of Ronald J. Abdow Field.
