Sunday, April 3

Philadelphia, PA

11 a.m.

Northwestern

4-6

Penn

7-3

Team	1	2	OT	Final F
Northwestern	4	9	0	13
Penn	7	6	1	14

Wildcats Storm Back, Fall in Overtime at Penn, 14-13

4/3/2016 1:58:00 PM | Women's Lacrosse

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — An 8-1 run in the second half helped the No. 8 Northwestern lacrosse squad storm back and send the game to overtime, but No. 16 Penn was able to score 58 seconds into the extra session to hand the Wildcats their second-straight loss, 14-13.

The Wildcats (4-6) trailed 7-4 at halftime and saw the Quakers (7-3) score a pair of goals in the first minute of the second half to push their lead to five, 9-4.

Senior Kaleigh Craig was able to end the 6-0 run by the Quakers with her 100th career goal at the 27:49 mark, but Penn promptly scored three more unanswered to build their largest lead of the game, 12-5.

The 3-0 run forced head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller to call a timeout and light a fire under her team.

And it worked.

Junior Christina Esposito, who had a hat trick in the first half, found Craig with 22:25 to play and then matched her career high with her fourth goal of the game just 1:13 later. A turnover by the Quakers allowed Craig to find sophomore Shelby Fredericks behind the defense for a 1-on-1 opportunity with the keeper that she calmly buried and Penn was forced to take a timeout of their own.

Fredericks scored her second-straight goal three minutes after the timeout and then junior Catie Ingrilli fired a left-handed shot past the goalie to extend the run to five and cut the deficit to two, 12-10. Craig completed her hat trick and capped a 6-0 NU run with 10:49 to cut the deficit to one, 12-11.

Penn finally responded with a goal by Lely DeSimone with 6:22 to go, but Craig matched her season high with her fourth goal of the game just over two minutes later to once again cut it to one. After Fredericks pulled in her 10th draw control of the game - matching her career high set against Colorado earlier this season - the 'Cats called a timeout to set up a play to tie the game.

Fredericks found a cutting Ingrilli, who once again buried a shot from the left side to cap the dramatic 8-1 run and tie the game, 13-13.

The Wildcats were able to win the opening draw of the overtime period, but a check in the circle that resulted with a NU player on the ground and no call from the referee led allowed the Quakers to take over. After assessing the defense, Nina Corcoran came around the back of the cage and found the back of the cage with 2:02 on the clock for the game-winning goal.

In the first half, Penn jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, but Chicago's Big Ten Team responded with three unanswered to take their only lead of the game, 4-3. Esposito scored her second goal of the game to start the run and then sophomore Selena Lasota found the redshirt junior to the left of the cage for the first half hat trick.

Sophomore Lindsay Darrell made a perfect pass across the middle to Danita Stroup and the junior calmy buried her eighth goal of the season to take the lead with 10:10 to go in the half.

Penn responded with four goals over the final 10 minutes however to take a 7-4 lead into halftime before extending their run to 6-0 with the first two goals of the second half.

Craig (4g/1a) and Esposito (4g/1a) led the Wildcats with five points apiece, while Craig also had a team-high three ground balls. Lasota had a season-high three caused turnovers in the contest.

The Wildcats return to action Thursday, April 7 to take on Michigan in front of a national audience on the Big Ten Network. Opening draw is scheduled for 6 p.m.