May 10, 2006
BEVERLY, MA - Colorado College overcame a 9-3 halftime deficit to beat Endicott College, 13-12, in the first round of the NCAA Division III Tournament Wednesday afternoon in Beverly, MA.
The Tigers (10-6) scored 10 goals in the second half, including the final five of the game. And it was all set up by sophomore Lisa McElroy (Hartland, VT), who stole a pass with just over a minute to play, setting up the last-minute heroics. McElroy dished the ball off to Alexa Dougherty (Lexington, MA), who made a perfect pass to Kate Fitzgerald (Sudbury, MA) for the game-tying goal. The Tigers controlled the ensuing draw and Helen Sneath (Wayne, PA) netted the game-winner with 30 seconds remaining in regulation to help Colorado College advance to a second round date at Cortland State Saturday.
The Gulls (17-3) dominated the first half of play, jumping out to the six-goal cushion. The two teams were even at 3-3 midway through the opening half when Endicott took control of the contest, netting six unanswered goals to close out the first half.
Sara Gunter (Kennebunk, ME) got the Gulls rolling with a free position goal 4:20 into the game. Endicott extended the lead to 2-0 on an Alex Pearce (Underhill, VT) tally that was set up by Heather Hatfield (Tyngsboro, MA) with 22:02 remaining in the first.
After Endicott took a 2-0 lead in the opening minutes, CC battled back to tie the contest at 2-2. Mallory Newton (Darien, CT) scored two unanswered goals, tying the game at 2-2 with 19:21 remaining in the first. Dougherty picked up the assist on the second Newton goal before Gunter answered with her second of the game less than two minutes later for a 3-2 EC advantage.
After Kerry O'Shaughnessy (Denver, CO) drew the Tigers even again at 3-3, the Gulls turned up the pressure to gain control. Gunter notched the hat trick with 13:37 remaining on another free position. Just over a minute later Kate Colley (Wells, ME) handed the Gulls a 5-3 cushion, Cathy Sharp (Rutland, VT) made it 6-3 with 10:40 remaining and Molly Moss (North Yarmouth, ME) increased the cushion to 7-3 with 7:42 to play in the opening half.
With less than two minutes remaining, Endicott's Emily Judd scored on a spin-o-rama for an 8-3 EC lead and Samantha Morin (Underhill, VT) closed out the first-half scoring with the 9-3 lead.
The Tigers retaliated in the second half, embarking on a four-goal rally that sliced into the EC lead. Sneath opened the second half scoring on a feed from O'Shaughnessy while Fitzgerald closed the gap to 9-5 a little over a minute later. Sneath lit the lamp again and O'Shaughnessy recorded her second assist of the game on a Dougherty goal that cut the Gulls' lead to 9-7.
Molly Moss (Yarmouth, ME) stopped the rally with her first goal of the game, but the momentum had clearly swung and Colorado used it to draw closer. Newton notched her third goal of the game with 21:06 to play before Susie Neikirk (Scotia, NY) and Sharp, who weaved through traffic for her goal, gave the hosts a 12-8 advantage with 14:42 to play.
Sneath brought the Tigers right back on a goal set up by Robin Harvey (Winchester, MA), who followed the Sneath tally up with a goal of her own. Newton then made it a one-goal game on a breakaway feed from Sneath at 10-minute mark.
