By: Liam Hoffmann
BROCKPORT, NY-- The No. 4 Brockport Golden Eagles advanced to the SUNYAC semifinals with an 11-10 come-from-behind overtime victory atop the No. 5 Oswego State Lakers. It was the first time all year either team saw an opponent for a second time and they minimized one another's strengths. Sarah Kilburn won it for Brockport in overtime with a step-down free position shot that sent the Lakers packing.
"I just knew that we needed the win," Kilburn said. "The energy was high and we wanted it."
Alayna Foos had four goals plus an assist to be Brockport's leading scorer on the day. Cassidy Burnash had three points (1+2), while Kilburn and Paige Thowe had two goals each as the only other multipoint scorers for the Golden Eagles. Goalie Arianna Reed made 10 saves en route to the freshman's first playoff win in net.
Kilburn scored the first and last goals of the day for Brockport, less than 60 seconds in she ripped a powerful shot from within the 8-meter line for the early advantage. Oswego's Sela Wiley answered back 40 seconds later with a strong rip of her own. After a Thowe goal, Oswego went on the first run of the game with Bella Lembo scoring the last three goals of the first quarter which left Oswego ahead 4-2 after 15 minutes.
Foos scored her first soon into quarter two with a skipping shot cutting the deficit to one. After an empty Brockport woman-up chance enabled by a green card on Cassidy Croce, head coach Bryana Glasser called timeout.
Within a minute of returning from the break, Tristan Davis, who saw little offensive action against Buffalo State earlier in the week but returned to typical form Saturday, scored her lone goal on the day with an overhead shot and brought the game back to a tie. Lembo assisted Madison Davis for another Oswego goal to take back their lead but Brockport didn't let that kill any momentum. The Golden Eagles and the Lakers were trading momentum throughout the second. After a tough shot clock violation against Brockport they fought right bacck on the ride and set up Foos for another tying goal in the last two minutes of the half.
The first half ended with an unbelievable buzzer-beating goal by Madison Davis. She received a pass with the clock reading two seconds but miraculously sailed a goal in and past Reed which broke the tie just before halftime for a 6-5 Lakers lead.
The third quarter drew the game's largest deficit. After Wiley and Thowe traded goals for each of their second's, Oswego received goals from Croce and Sophie Ruschin leaving the Lakers ahead 9-6 with a quarter left in regulation.
Foos completed her hat trick for the first goal of the fourth, dodging her defender out of her cleats on the crease. Burnash made it a run minutes later. Wiley finished her hatty and also scored Oswego's final goal of the game with seven and a half minutes to go in regulation But the Lakers could not stop Foos. Her fourth goal was the most impressive of all, dodging past five different Oswego defenders before scoring at the goalmouth.
Reed collected two essential saves in the final two and a half minutes on Lembo free position shots and thus forced overtime.
Kilburn won the draw that began overtime and Brockport never gave the ball back to the Lakers. Hailey Lewkovich had an open shot from by the crease early in the period but it cracked the top bar of the goal. An eventual foul on Maria Buscaglia ensured the Lakers wouldn't possess the ball again. Kilburn, who had ten free position goals in the regular season, sent her team to the next round with the step-down game winner.
"It's a little nerve wracking with it being the last shot, but we practice it all the time, we do them every practice, so I was pretty confident in that," Kilburn said.
The Golden Eagles advance to play the No. 1 seed Cortland Red Dragons on Wednesday. First draw is set for 3 p.m. and 89.1 the Point will carry that game with the pregame show beginning at 2:45 p.m.