WISE, VA. – It took almost 66 minutes, but the LMU women's lacrosse team came away victorious in their South Atlantic Conference opener over UVA Wise 14-13. Avery Van Der Ziel scored the golden goal in double overtime to win it for the Lady Railsplitters.
 
"This was an absolute team win and the way perfect way to start conference play," commented head coach Alyssa shaver. "I am so proud of every single person on this team and the way they came together to pull out a win."
 
The Van Der Ziel sisters got the scoring early in the first quarter as Avery scored the first goal of the game off an assist from her sister Ali, then Avery returned the favor, as she assisted on Ali's first goal of the game. The Cavaliers got one back, but Ali answered right back with another goal, this one off a pass from Jaedyn Ryba. Ryba followed up another Wise goal with one of her own to give LMU a 4-2 lead. The Cavaliers scored the final four goals of the period to head into the second quarter up 6-4.
 
LMU tied it up less than five minutes into the second period, as Sydnee Saksa scored off an assist from Jolee Davis, then Avery scored on a power play opportunity again off an assist from her sister. Wise got one back before the half and led 7-6 after 30 minutes of play.
 
UVA Wise started the third quarter strong, scoring two straight to push their lead up to three goals, but once again LMU was up for the challenge. The Van Der Ziels again team up for a goal, as Ali assisted Avery once more, then Chandler Bell netted a goal to cut the deficit to one. The Cavaliers would score two late goals and hold a three-goal lead after three quarters of play.
 
The fourth quarter belonged to the Lady Railsplitters, as they outscored Wise 5-2 in the period. Chandler Bell tallied her second goal of the game to open the scoring, this one off an assist from Ali Van Der Ziel. Wise scored again, but LMU responded with four straight goals, starting with Avery Van Der Ziel would score again, this goal off a pass from Davis, followed by Ali Van Der Ziel scoring an unassisted goal, then Kelly Csenar got in the scoring column off a pass from Ali, and finally Ali scored another unassisted goal to give LMU their first lead since early in the game. Wise got one past the keeper with two minutes left to send the game to overtime.
 
Neither team was able to score in the first overtime, so they would put three more minutes on the clock. With 1:13 left in the second overtime, Avery Van Der Ziel scored her fifth and final goal of the game off an assist from Jolee Davis to clinch the victory.
 
Avery would finish the game with six points, five goals and one assist, while Ali had nine points, off four goals and five assists. Bell scored twice, while Saksa, Csenar, and Ryba all tallied one. Jolee Davis dished out three assits and Ryba added one.
 
Defensively, Keegan Gillman saved nine shots in net, while Elle Miller saved four. Avery Van Der Ziel picked up four ground balls and caused four turnovers. Ali Van Der Ziel also picked up four ground balls, while Delaney Duck fielded two and secured three draw controls.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Railsplitters return home for a nonconference matchup versus Lake Erie on Monday at 4pm, before playing the SAC home opener against Catawba on Saturday.
 
How to Follow
Stay tuned to LMURailsplitters.com, as well as LMU's social media platforms - @LMURailsplitter on Twitter, @LMURailsplitters on Facebook and @lmurailsplitters on Instagram, for complete coverage of Lady Railsplitter lacrosse throughout the 2021-22 season.