EWING, N.J. – The TCNJ field hockey team saved its best work for last.
The 20
th-ranked Lions waited out a 45-minute lightning delay at halftime, scored the tying goal with 15 seconds remaining in regulation, and slogged through more than 10 minutes of overtime on a sodden field to hand visiting Swarthmore a 4-3 defeat in a double-OT epic on Wednesday afternoon.
Isabel Maher punched home the golden goal 41 seconds into the second extra session, and
Ali Simmons got the home side there with the tying goal in the dying moments of regulation.
TCNJ did not lead for a single second of game time and needed an unexpected heroine to prevent a second consecutive home loss. That came in the form of rookie
Lindsey Hoffman, who had played a grand total of two minutes all season before Wednesday.
Inserted at halftime after the lengthy wait for lightning to vacate the area, Hoffman made an instant impact, wreaking havoc on the right side and creating several dangerous chances. Still, it looked like it might all be for naught when the Garnet (2-5) took a 3-2 lead on a penalty stroke just 29 seconds into the fourth quarter. Swarthmore had a litany of chances to put the game away, but
Brigitte Racey made four saves to keep the Lions alive long enough for Hoffman to work her magic.
Hoffman took a pass and worked her way up the right side of the field, getting loose with an ankle-breaking maneuver along the back line and sending a pass across the circle. Her cross found
Emma McElroy, who slid a pass just out of the reach of the Garnet goaltender for Simmons to punch into an empty cage and send the game to overtime.
The first extra session passed with little in the way of chances, and Hoffman made her mark again in the second stanza. She again got loose along the back line and threaded a pass toward the cage, the ball bouncing off a defender's stick and right to the waiting stick of Maher, who shuffled home the game-winner.
TCNJ overcame three one-goal deficits on the day, going down 1-0 about five minutes after first touch before
Jadyn Huff equalized with a brilliant move around the keeper on a pass from
Mackenzie Hart.
The Garnet went up 2-1 midway through the second quarter and took that lead to the break. Swarthmore looked set to carry the advantage into the final frame, only for
Prisha Dhruve to punch home a rebound after a scrum in front of the cage with 14 seconds remaining in the stanza. That set up the game's wild finish.
STANDOUT LIONS
- Huff accounted for two-thirds of the Lions' shots (six of nine), putting four of them on cage
- Avery Vacca had a defensive save late in the second quarter, sliding through driving rain to break up a Swarthmore chance at the right post
- Racey finished with six saves, all but two of them coming in the fourth quarter with TCNJ trailing by a goal
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- The Garnet outdid the Lions everywhere but on the scoreboard, playing to a 17-9 advantage in shots and an 8-5 edge in corners
- TCNJ put seven of its nine shots on cage, while Swarthmore had 10 shots on goal
- Swarthmore outshot the Lions, 7-1, in the fourth quarter, but TCNJ's lone shot was the last-gasp equalizer by Simmons
NOTES
- Racey moved into eighth in program history in career saves (174)
- Hoffman registered her first collegiate point with the assist on Maher's game-winner
- Huff continued her streak of at least a point in every game and tied Kara Wilson for the team lead with her fifth goal
- McElroy handed out her second career assist
UP NEXT
- The Lions conclude their lengthy five-game homestand against 11th-ranked Ursinus on Saturday
