STONY BROOK, N.Y. – Welcome To The NCAA Tournament!
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In a game for the ages, Penn outlasted Penn State in a 15-14 game on a goal by freshman
Zoe Belodeau with 1.8 seconds remaining in overtime.
Belodeau's fifth goal of the game advances the Quakers to play No. 5 seed Stony Brook on Sunday at noon in the second round.
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Belodeau's final goal was the most important, but it was not her most spectacular. The highlight goal everyone will be talking about came with 4:23 remaining in regulation. She circled out in front of the goal, and caught a
Caroline Cummings pass and in one motion quickly spun a shot behind her back to score top corner and give Penn a 14-13 lead.
The Quakers didn't lead until a
Zoe Kraus goal gave Penn a 5-4 lead with 10:48 remaining in the first half. More importantly, after Kraus' goal, the Quakers never trailed again. Penn would build a pair of four-goal leads, leading 10-6 in the first half and 11-7 early in the second.
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Penn State would rally to tie the game three times in the final 9:36 of regulation, but the Nittany Lions could never find the go-ahead goal thanks to the work of
Mikaila Cheeseman.
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The "Cheese" stood alone in goal all game long, making 13 saves – and it felt like she made 20 – to stymie Penn State each time they thought they were about to take the lead.
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She was at her best in overtime, twice making point-blank saves after Penn had turned the ball over. Her final save came with 0:46 left in overtime to keep her team alive. The Quakers would make the clear, and called timeout with 14.3 seconds remaining. Out of the timeout,
Caroline Cummings had the ball along the left side and she slipped a pass to Belodeau sneaking around the cage. One flick of the wrists later, Penn had advanced.
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Notes To Know…
- Penn is now 4-2 all-time in overtime during the NCAA Tournament
- The Quakers are 4-3 all-time in one-goal games in the NCAA Tournament
- Cheeseman's 13 saves were one shy of tying her career high and give her seven games with 10+ saves this season. They were the most in a NCAA Tournament game by a Quaker since Emily Szelest had 18 against Boston University in 2010
- Belodeau tied her career high with five goals – most in a NCAA Tournament game since Ali DeLuca had five against Boston University in 2010
- Freshman Abby Bosco won six draw controls after entering the game with nine over her previous 17 games.
- Caroline Cummings had five points, tying her season high with three assists
- Rosenzweig's four assists give her 82 points for the season – three away from tying Nina Corcoran (2016) for most in a season by a Penn player.
- Belodeau has 76 points this season, tied for No. 3 all-time in a season by a Quaker.
- Erin Barry had three goals in the game, giving her 51 for her career which ranks No. 3 in a season by a Quaker.
- Belodeau's eight draw controls wins are the most in a NCAA Tournament game by a Quaker all-time.Â
How It Happened…
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Penn conceded the first two goals of the game, spotting the Nittany Lions a 2-0 lead 4:08 into the game. The Red and Blue were reliant on
Mikaila Cheeseman to keep the game a close one so early as she made two saves in those first four minutes – two of six in the first half.
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After Madison Carter scored to give Penn State a 2-0 lead, the Red and Blue began to claw back into the game.
Erin Barry scored 1:12 after Carter for Penn's first goal, and each team would trade two goals to result in a 4-2 Penn State lead with 17:21 remaining in the opening period.
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The Quakers would score the next four,
Caroline Cummings scoring twice sandwiched around goals from freshmen
Elyse Decker and
Zoe Kraus. Penn State's Carter would score with 6:43 remaining in the first half to cut the Red and Blue's lead to 6-5, but Penn would counter with a 3-0 run to take a 9-5 lead.
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Zoe Belodeau had the first of those three goals, finishing a transition play started by a Cheeseman free position save. Just 16 seconds later,
Emily Rogers-Healion would connect on a give-and-go with
Gabby Rosenzweig to add to Penn's lead. Decker would add her second of the game with 3:22 left in the first half to extend Penn's lead to 9-5.
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The Nittany Lions scored twice in the final 2:00, but Belodeau added a goal for Penn to result in a 10-7 Quakers lead at halftime.
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Erin Barry gave Penn a four-goal lead 0:59 into the second half, connecting on a free position. Penn State would score five of the next six goal, however, tying the game at 12-12 on a Madison Carter free position goal with 9:39 to play.
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Penn had multiple chances to extend its lead during that run, none better than a pair of shots which hit the pipe with under 14:00 to play. After the second post shot, the Nittany Lions would go down the field and score a Kelly Daggett goal to make the game 12-11.
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Barry would score again less than a minute after Penn State tied the game at 12-12, working a dodge at the top of the fan and firing low to give Penn a 13-12 lead. The lead was short-lived as Katie O'Donnell scored 22 seconds later to tie the game, 13-13.
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Belodeau's highlight goal with 4:23 to play seemed to give Penn the lead for good, especially when Cheeseman made a save on a Penn State free position with 1:02 remaining. The Quakers could not run out the clock, turning the ball over at midfield which led to a pair of Penn State eight-meter attempts. On the second, O'Donnell scored with 0:22 remaining to force overtime.
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In the first overtime period, a Cummings shot in close range was blocked to allow Penn State to transition. Cheeseman came up big with a cross-body save on Maria Auth with 1:16 remaining in the first three minutes. The teams traded turnovers in the midfield before Belodeau had her first chance at the game-winner denied by Madison Cunningham with 0:39 left.
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Belodeau had another chance to win early in the second three-minute portion of overtime, but her shot went wide. Down the other end, Cheeseman stopped O'Donnell with 0:46 to play. The Quakers made the clear, and the rest is history.
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