PRINCETON, N.J. – Leaving Old Nassau on a high! The University of Pennsylvania women's lacrosse team opened its three-game road trip on Wednesday night, topping rival Princeton in double-overtime 10-9.
 
Lela Greene led Penn to victory over #21 Princeton, netting the double-overtime winner to help the Red and Blue move to 4-0 in Ivy League play, while the Tigers fell to 2-2.
 
Quaker Notemeal
*The win marked the 300th of Lois S. Leitner Head Coach Karin Brower's career.
 
*Patricia Columbia-Walsh was an offensive force in the ranked outing, tallying a field-high five points led by a career-high four goals. Sophomore Greene trailed Columbia-Walsh with her third hat trick of the year.
 
*Eden Welch found the back of the net twice while Catherine Berkery did once to round out Penn's goal scorers.
 
*Defender Natasha Yajadda was a problem on the defensive side of the ball, causing a team-high four turnovers. Overall, the Red and Blue caused 13 turnovers, and the Tigers caused eight.
 
*Goalkeeper Orly Sedransk recorded her sixth double-digit save performance of the season, stopping ten of the Princeton's shots.
 
How It Happened
Both teams exchanged goals early, with Merrill Watson getting Princeton on the board during the opening minute of action, followed quickly by the equalizer from senior Columbia-Walsh. The Tigers took their lead back with 7:53 remaining in the first, holding momentum for a good chunk of time, keeper Amelia Hughes stopping a shot from Berkery a few minutes later, but the Quakers found their footing to end the first. An eight-meter shot from attacker Columbia-Walsh with 4:19 left quickly followed by a tally from junior Welch to give Penn a 3-2 lead after 15 minutes.
 
The Tigers opened the second with a point to prove, attempting one at keeper Sedransk 30 seconds in to make the sophomore work fast to stop the shot. Not even two minutes later, Abigail Roberts and Grace Farrell netted two straight goals to push Princeton ahead again. Meg Morrisroe kept the run going for the Tigers, extending the lead to 5-3 with 11:03 on the clock.
 
The Red and Blue cut the run less than 20 seconds later off a tally from sophomore Green to score the Quakers' first of the quarter. Columbia-Walsh scored her third of the half quickly to even the battle at five with 9:31 left of the half. Both defenses worked hard with time running off the clock in the second, but the first card in the game on Regan O'Brien allowed Colette Quinn to score a player-up free position goal to put the score at 6-5 after the first 30 minutes.
 
The second half started with both keepers making saves to keep the deficit at one, but senior Columbia-Walsh was able to break the goal-scoring drought a little over five minutes in to even the battle, followed by a player-up tally from attacker Berkery to give Penn a 7-6 lead with 6:16 left of the third.
 
Princeton was able to strike back off a green card on the Quakers, with Sedransk stopping a free position shot, but Grace Mulham was able to even the battle again on the power play. The Red and Blue tried to gain the lead back during the final two minutes as Mary Sack tried two shots and Columbia-Walsh tallied one, but the Tigers' keeper stood tall to keep the matchup tied at seven heading into the final 15 of regulation.
 
The fourth opened in Princeton's favor, as the offense netted back-to-back goals to push the game to 9-7 with 12:20 on the clock. The Quakers responded two minutes later as freshman Olvia Nicoll dished a beautiful pass to Greene, who rocketed the ball at the back of the net to cut the hole to one. With time dwindling, Columbia-Walsh tallied her fifth point of the night, tossing the ball up to Welch to tie the bout at nine with 4:49 left in the fourth. Penn tried to slash the tie in the final few minutes, off two-straight green cards on Princeton, but goalie Hughes was able to make a save right as time expired to force overtime.
 
Sophomore Sedransk opened overtime with a huge save less than two minutes in to keep Meg Morrisroe off the board. There were only two other shots in the first overtime period, with both coming from Princeton, followed by three turnovers between the two teams to force another overtime period.
 
The Quakers had a point to prove heading into the second overtime, as Maggie Bankowski was quick to win the draw, helping set the offense up, allowing midfielder Greene to find the back of the net to push Penn to a 10-9 double-overtime victory.
 
Up Next
The Quakers (6-5, 4-0 Ivy League) stay on the road this weekend, heading to #5 Yale on Saturday, April 11, for a noon outing.