SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Penn's Lely DeSimone scored what proved to be the game-winning goal with 27 seconds left in the first half of overtime as Albany women's lacrosse dropped an, 11-10, OT thriller to the Quakers in the first round of the NCAA Championship.
Albany, which received its first ever at-large berth to the NCAA tournament, ends the season with a 14-5 record. Penn will meet No. 4 Syracuse Sunday in the NCAA second round.
Goalkeeper Courtney Henderson was tremendous for Albany, stopping nine shots on the day, while Rachel Bowles led the offensive charge with five points on three goals and two assists.
Playing in their third NCAA tournament, the Great Danes went back-and-forth with the Quakers all day. The first half alone featured five ties and five lead changes as the teams went into the locker room tied at six.
In the second half, Penn was able to build a two-goal lead on two different occassions, the latest coming after Tory Bensen found the net with 22:11 remaining.
Albany found ways to fight back all day, as Katherine Sweeney and Sarah Martin scored back-to-back goals to tie the game at nine with 13:58 to go.
After Penn reclaimed the lead, Martin once again was able to tie the game, this time converting a free position shot with 4:20 remaining.
Henderson managed to come up with big saves all day, and none were bigger than the stop she made on DeSimone with two seconds left in regulation to send the game to OT.
In overtime, Penn won the opening draw and held the ball for most of the first three minutes before DeSimone earned a free position shot and scored with 27 seconds left in the first half of overtime. The Quakers won the ensuing draw to take an, 11-10, lead into the second half of ovetime.
Penn won the opening draw of the second half of overtime and attempted to run the clock down until Martin forced a turnover with 1:51 left. Although Albany failed to clear the ball, the Great Danes got another chance with 36 seconds left following an errant Penn pass.
Albany was able to get off two shots in the final 36 seconds of the game, both coming from Martin, She had her first shot go high and then after Alie Jimerson picked up the ground ball, Maureen Keggins delivered a fantastic pass to Martin in front with seven seconds left, but Lucy Ferguson made the save for Penn that ended the game.
Stony Brook remains alive in the NCAA Championship representing the America East Conference. The Seawolves will host the winner of Fairfield/Princeton on Sunday at noon on AmericaEast.TV.