Smithfield, R.I (April 26, 2015) – Down by as many as four goals in the first half, the Mount St. Mary's University women's lacrosse team stormed all the way back to defeat defending Northeast Conference Champion Bryant, 9-8, in overtime in Sunday's regular season finale at the Bryant Turf Complex. Sophomore Sammie Knapp (Cub Hill, Md.) delivered the game-winning tally on a free position goal in overtime.

The Mountaineers (6-10, 5-2 NEC), which tied for second in the final NEC regular season standings and are the third seed in the upcoming NEC Tournament, scored the final three goals of the second half to force overtime. Knapp's goal 1:01 into the overtime session gave the Mount its first victory over Bryant (12-4, 6-1 NEC) since 2011.

The Bulldogs had won 14-consecutive NEC regular season games dating back to 2013 and are the 2015 NEC regular season champions.

"We battled really hard today," Mount St. Mary's Head Coach Lauren Schwarzmann said. "The momentum went back and forth throughout the entire game, and we never gave up. I'm extremely proud of our defense. They stepped up big today on Bryant's top players. I'm just so proud of this team and all of their hard work."

On the offensive end for the Mount, Marley Heller (Baltimore, Md.), Nicole Lantuh (Bethesda, Md.) and Erin Seipp (Towson, Md.) registered two goals apiece. On the other end, goalkeeper Steph Rurkowski (Manlius, N.Y.) picked up 12 saves, including two in the final 15 seconds of regulation and three in overtime.

The Mount jumped on Bryant early in the game to take a 2-1 lead in the opening 10 minutes. Heller began the scoring 2:17 into the game with an unassisted goal to give the Mount a 1-0 lead. After Bryant evened the score at 1-1 on the first of Emily Columbus' two goals, Kelly Maloney (Ellicott City, Md.) put the visitors back on top, 2-1, with a strike with 21:20 remaining in the opening half.

The Bulldogs took over from there, keeping the Mount off the scoreboard for more than 20 minutes while scoring five-consecutive goals to build up a 6-2 advantage.

With the first-half clock winding down, Heller drew an early slide but quickly maneuvered past the double team, canning a shot from point-blank range with six seconds left to cut the Mount's deficit to 6-3.  

The Mountaineers carried momentum over to the second half when Maloney found the back of the net on a free position in the first five minutes of the second half to put the score at 6-4.

Lantuh nearly added to the Mount's goal total five minutes later, but her shot caromed off the post with 20:41 left in the half. The Mountaineers were able to secure the loose ball and score when Lantuh set up Seipp to cut the deficit down to 6-5.

The Mount clamped down on the defensive end, holding the Bulldogs without a goal for the first 14:34 of the second half until Caitlin Brown broke through for a tally followed by another from Lauren Descalzo for an 8-5 Bryant advantage. Descalzo led all scorers with four goals on the day.

Off a Bryant foul just inside the Mount's half, Seipp found Maloney, who raced down the field setting up a 3-on-2 situation. After a Bryant defender stepped in, Maloney fed Lantuh on the door step to trim Bryant's edge down to 8-6 with 12:40 to play in the half.

Less than a minute later, Knapp cut through the defense from up top and found Seipp in front of the crease to put the score at 8-7 with just under 12 minutes to go. On the game-tying goal, Lantuh scored off a Seipp feed to even the score at 8-8 with 5:37 to play.

In the six-minute overtime session, Knapp's free position goal turned out to be the Mount's only shot. The Bulldogs put three of their six overtime shots on target, but Rurkowski answered the call with three saves.

For Bryant, which held a 26-19 edge on shots, Samantha Santeramo made seven saves in the loss.

Next up, the Mount heads to the Northeast Conference Semifinals to face second-seeded Wagner on Friday, May 1. Bryant, which won the NEC regular season title, will host the entire tournament. 

-- Mount St. Mary's University Athletics --