PHILADELPHIA – The 12th-ranked University of Pennsylvania men's lacrosse team led just twice in Tuesday night's game with No. 20 Saint Joseph's at Penn Park.
 
Sam Handley scored the first goal of the night to give Penn a 1-0 lead. James Shipley scored the last goal of the game to complete a stirring comeback and give the Quakers a 13-12 victory in overtime. Penn was down 10-5 early in the fourth quarter and down two with less than four minutes left before pulling out the victory.
 
Penn improved to 7-4 with the win, while the Hawks—who entered the game on a seven-game win streak and have already clinched the NEC regular-season title—fell to 11-3.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*This was Penn's fourth overtime game this season, the Quakers moving to 2-2 in such games.
 
*This was the second straight 13-12 game in the series between the city rivals, and the fifth of the last seven to be decided by a goal. (Three of those have needed overtime to settle things.)
 
*Shipley's winner was his second goal of the night, his fourth multi-goal game this season.
 
*Gabe Furey was the offensive stalwart on Tuesday night, as he collected his first collegiate hat trick and added two assists for five points.
 
*All five of Furey's points came in a 14:03 span bridging the third and fourth quarters, his final goal getting Penn within 12-11.
 
*Ben Smith also had his first collegiate hat trick on Tuesday night, and has five goals across Penn's last two games after entering the Dartmouth contest with just two on the season.
 
*Dylan Gergar did his part, two goals and an assist. He has scored at least twice in all but one game this season.
 
*Tynan Walsh entered Tuesday night with two goals this season—one of them coming Saturday at Dartmouth—but he doubled his output with two more against the Hawks.
 
*Facing the No. 1 faceoff man in the country by winning percentage (.733 entering the game), Jamie Zusi had a tremendous performance as he went 14-for-29 with 10 ground balls on the X.
 
*Penn had 10 caused turnovers on the night, giving them 33 across the last three games (10 vs. Harvard, 13 at Dartmouth).
 
*Patrick Burkinshaw made eight saves on the night.
 
How It Happened
Penn got on the board first, Handley scoring unassisted, but the Hawks knotted it up with an unassisted goal midway through the period and then scored late in the stanza to take a 2-1 lead after one.
 
SJU scored quickly to open the second quarter. Gergar finally got Penn back on the board, ending a scoreless streak of 15:40, but the Hawks needed just 12 seconds to respond and then scored again to make it 5-2. Penn got one of them back in an extra-man opportunity, Smith finishing a feed from Handley, and then Walsh was left open after Gergar drew defenders and the freshman sniped one home from the right side. However, the Hawks scored with just 13 seconds left in the period and held a 6-4 lead at halftime.
 
Saint Joseph's continued to take advantage of Penn's offensive woes in the second half, scoring the first three goals of the third quarter and taking an 9-4 lead until Furey ended another lengthy drought with an unassisted goal. It was 9-5 Hawks heading into the final 15.
 
SJU opened the fourth-quarter scoring, as well, but Penn got three of them back when Gergar and Shipley scored a pair of goals just 10 seconds apart and then Smith finished a nice feed through traffic from Furey. However, the Hawks were able to go back up three when their face-off specialist, Zach Cole, won the faceoff and went straight down Broadway to score.
 
Furey netted his second of the night with 5:41 to play, sending the teams to the final media timeout, and then fed Smith for the freshman's first collegiate hat trick on the other side of the break to make it a one-goal game. However, the Quakers were flagged for a penalty and the Hawks took advantage in the man-up situation to go ahead, 12-10, with 3:50 to play.
 
Furey quickly got one of those back, making it a one-goal game again just 29 seconds after SJU's tally, and then Walsh tied things up in the final minute when he rebounded Handley's saved shot and one-timed it home. Saint Joseph's nearly won it at the end of regulation, but Austin Strazzulla's shot with just four seconds left rang the crossbar.
 
Penn won the OT faceoff but both teams turned it over before the Quakers' winning possession. Gergar had the first crack, rolling down the middle but having his shot turned aside by SJU keeper Robbie Seeley (13 saves). Penn kept the ball, though, and Shipley gained enough separation to rifle home the winner from about 15 yards out.
 
Up Next
Penn closes out the regular season on Saturday, traveling to New York to face the University at Albany. The Quakers and Great Danes are scheduled to face off at noon.