HICKORY, N.C. – What's better than a win in a three-overtime thriller? Well for LMU women's lacrosse, how about a three-overtime win that sends you to the SAC semi-finals and gives you the first win in program history over Lenoir-Rhyne. Chandler Bell netted the golden goal in the third overtime to give the Lady Railsplitters the 12-11 victory.
 
"This team continues to amaze me. I cannot take any credit for today's win. All of the credit goes to the players who show up every day and work hard to help us prepare for these games, but don't always get the minutes, my coaching staff for being able to help at each end of the field so I can focus on the game, and our athletic trainer for keeping the girls healthy and on the field," commented head coach Alyssa Shaver. " I'm so excited that I get to coach this team again in a game this season and that we don't have to say good bye to our seniors just yet."
 
Freshman Breanna Booth opened up the scoring less than two minutes into the game off a pass from Melanie Cascio. The Bears responded with four straight goals to take the lead. Avery Van Der Ziel put LMU right back in the game, scoring two goals to end the first period, the first one in a woman-up opportunity off a pass from Ali Van Der Ziel, and the second with just four seconds left on the clock, this one coming off a pass from Jaedyn Ryba.
 
LR opened the second quarter with two goals to push their lead up to three. Ali Van Der Ziel ended the run with an unassisted goal. After another Bear goal, Melanie Cascio netted her first goal of the game to end the first half, with the Bears leading 7-5 after thirty minutes of play.
 
The third quarter opened with Lenoir-Rhyne scoring once more to again go up by three goals. LMU answered right back, as Chandler Bell scored an unassisted goal and then Cascio scored a free position attempt goal to bring it back down to a one-goal game. After the Bears put a goal on the board, Cascio tallied her third goal of the game to end the third quarter with LR up 9-8.
 
Lenoir-Rhyne put two more on the board, and once again led by three goals. But that was all they would get, as the Lady Railsplitter defense shut them down the rest of the way, led by Keegan Gillman stonewalling the Bears for the final 16:37 in net. The LMU offense found their groove the rest of way, started by Breanna Booth scoring off a pass from Chandler Bell. Ryba followed that up with her second goal of the contest, this one on a free position attempt, before Sydnee Saksa tied the game on a power play opportunity with 3:14 left in the quarter, the goal coming off a pass from Ali Van Der Ziel. Gillman stopped five shots to close out the quarter and send the game into overtime.
 
The defense kept up their strong play into the three overtime periods, allowing only one LR shot, controlling the ball for most of the extra time. Finally, 49 seconds into the third overtime, Chandler Bell got past her defender, and scored the golden goal as Ali Van Der Ziel found Bell in front of the net to send the Lady Railsplitters into the semi-finals on Friday.
 
Cascio tallied her second hat trick of the season in today's win. Booth, Avery Van Der Ziel, and Bell all scored twice, while Ali Van Der Ziel, Saksa, and Ryba all tallied one goal. Ali dished out three assists and Cascio, Ryba, and Bell all recorded one apiece.
 
On defense, Gillman tallied nine saves in just over 46 minutes in net, picking up the win. Cascio fielded three groundballs, while Saksa, Kelly Csenar, Delaney Duck, Avery Van Der Ziel, and Gillman all fielded two. Duck caused three turnovers and Cascio caused two. The Lady Railsplitters dominated the draw controls, beating the Bears 20-8 in the circle. Samantha Billingsley got seven draw controls, Ryba had six, and Duck got five.
 
UP NEXT
The Lady Railsplitters return to Hickory on Friday for the SAC semi-finals, as they will take on Queens. Opening draw control is scheduled for 11 am.
 
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.