Lady Mallards Win A Thriller For ESIAC Tourney Crown

BERLIN - The heated rivalry between the girls lacrosse
teams of Sts. Peter and Paul and Worcester Prep continued last Friday with the
Mallards winning in the final minute of overtime.

Kristin Chandler's goal with 29 seconds remaining in the
second three-minute overtime period lifted the Mallards to a thrilling win and
the conference tournament champion.

The Sabres and Lady Mallards are no strangers, having
split their previous two meetings during the regular season. In their last
meeting in Berlin, the Mallards also won in overtime, forcing a share of the
ESIAC regular season championship.

At the end of regulation in last Friday conference
championship game, the game was knotted up at 15. Conference rules dictate that
two, three-minute overtime periods decide the game. There was no scoring in the
first period and it remained at 15-15 until Chandler's free play goal gave the
Mallards the lead with 29 seconds remaining. The Sabres were unable to cleanly
win the draw, giving the Mallards the victory and a 10-5 season.

The game was a seesaw battle with the Lady Mallards coming
up strong and holding stake to a 7-4 lead at halftime. The Sabres came out
strong and scored often in the second half, lighting up the score with five unanswered
goals until Chandler stopped the bleeding with 20 minutes remaining in the
game. At the 10-minute mark, the Lady Mallards found themselves trailing 12-11
until Sophomore Sophie Townsend knotted it up with a gorgeous goal. Four
minutes later, Tory Dickerson fed Sophie Townsend to give Worcester Prep a
13-12 lead.

The Sabres scored the next two goals in quick fashion,
holding a 14-13 lead with 4:58 remaining in regulation. The Lady Mallards
gained control off the face and slowed the tempo with Jackie Wangel eventually
converting off a free play to tie it up at 14. At the 1:39 mark, the Sabres
scored, taking the lead momentarily until Townsend again converted off a great
feed from Meegan Smith with 1:14 remaining. Goalie Melanie Leiner had a couple big
saves at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime.

Leading
the Mallards' offensive charge was Townsend, who scored five goals and dished
out an assist. Wangel had three goals and an assist in the win, while Leiner
came up huge in the win with a double-digit save outing.