McGarvie move carries Tigers to triple-OT win

BALTIMORE, MD. > Great competitors have a killer instinct. Time and again No. 10 Johns Hopkins (2-1) tried to slam the door on No. 4 Princeton (1-0), but time and again the Tigers got their foot in the way. In the end, the Blue Jays just couldn't land the coup de grace in Saturday's epic season opener for the women's lacrosse team against Johns Hopkins. The Tigers ultimately walked off Class of 1952 Field with an 11-10 (3OT) win.<p>

"We kept fighting all the way to the end; we were really scrappy, especially when they were trying to stall it, and we were able to get that ball back," head coach Chris Sailer said. "And then really towards the end, to get the equalizer. We just kept working."

All the hard work finally paid off in the third overtime period. Princeton fought its way across the field after a save and set up its offense. The ball found its way to sophomore midfielder Holly McGarvie — who scored the final goal of regulation to knot things at nine.

The Blue Jays made the unforgivable error of playing Holly McGarvie one-on-one, which resulted in a score for McGarvie, following a beautiful move to free herself for the shot. It was redemption for McGarvie, who received yellow card with two minutes, 19 seconds left in the second overtime.

Of course, McGarvie never would have had the chance if it weren't for previous heroics. Down 10-9 in the first overtime, sophomore attack Anne Murray intercepted a pass with less than a minute to go, and then the ball ended up exactly where it should be in that situation: in the netting of junior midfielder Katie Lewis-Lamonica's stick.

"We had already talked about doing that play, and we knew with time running down we really needed a goal," Lewis-Lamonica said. "My teammates know how to set me up, and that's kind of like my goto lefty challenge. I wasn't really nervous, but it was just awesome to see the ball go into the back corner of the net — it was an awesome feeling."

"I love that far-side post on my left, so it's almost like I hardly have to look for it. I've shot it so many times that I can just kind of put it there."

With only 23 seconds remaining in the game, Lewis-Lamonica's rocket of a shot visibly weakened Johns Hopkins' spirits. It was back to square one.

Neither team scored in the closing seconds, though Princeton had a shot, so the game moved to a third, sudden-victory overtime period.

The final events of the game developed quickly from there.

For just a moment, it appeared that all of the Tigers' heroics would be for naught, as the Blue Jays won possession of the ball after the opening draw. As it had the whole game, Johns Hopkins' speed overwhelmed the Princeton defense on the fast break. A foul was called on the Tigers, and All-American attack Mary Key — the thorn of all thorns on this afternoon for Princeton — was set up for the game-winner with a free-position shot.

"She was awesome. You can't stop her, she's going to get her points, but I felt we played some good team defense and forced them into some things that were difficult for them, and I thought our team played really well," Sailer said of Key's play.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

Key had eight points on the game, but freshman goalie Kaitlyn Perrelle ensured that she wouldn't get her ninth, making a spectacular game-saving stop on Key's shot. This gave giving the Tigers possession once more and a chance for the win, which McGarvie made sure didn't go to waste.

"I really thought Kaitlyn Perrelle was a hero for us, coming in off the bench, making saves, big saves, especially on that potential game-winner, that was just unbelievable," Sailer said.

It appeared as if the game winner would occur before the end of regulation, when junior attack Ashley Amo found the back of the net, but she was given a yellow card for her followthrough during the scuffle. Her goal was waved off.

It was a game that was neck-and-neck from wire to wire; no team led by more than two goals at any point. Draw controls, turnovers, shots — they were all even throughout the game. In the end, Princeton just had a slight edge.

"I think both teams wanted it. I think it was who was going to execute better on the end. I think that the plays we made on defense to get the ball back at the end of the regulation period was huge, and then we were patient offensively," Sailers said. "I mean all afternoon, our offense, we weren't clicking like we had been in practice."

The Tigers certainly looked like a team that was playing its first game of the season, whereas Johns Hopkins was already playing in its third.

"I think one of Hopkins' goals was to get up early so that they could give us kind of first-game jitters. It's harder because we haven't worked out kinks, and you know you come out against a strong team like Hopkins, a strong defense, a great attack, but I think that we in particular were just so excited to start again," Lewis-Lamonica said. "We ended our season last year playing so well and feeling like we had so much potential and we had a lot of returners next year, and I think it's kind of like we've been waiting eight months for this game, so we were totally ready for it."

Ultimately, Princeton scratched out a win while only scratching the surface of its potential.

"I think it's great for us in terms of confidence going into our next game, but we know we can play so much better on the offensive end," Sailer said. "I think we're so excited for the first game, we kind of had some tunnel vision, we just didn't execute offensively like we can and move the ball."

It's definitely a start, but the Tigers certainly don't intend for it to be the end.