ERIE, Pa. – It turned out to be "déjà vu all over again". Not to be outdone by the men, the Mercyhurst University women's soccer team and California University of Pennsylvania played their own double overtime tilt Tuesday afternoon. This time, however, there was no stalemate. With overcast skies and darkness threatening, California's Kara Novotny scored her team-leading fourth goal of the season, with just 25 seconds left in the second OT, to give the Vulcans a 2-1 win. The Lakers are now 5-6-2 overall and 4-6-2 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). California is now 6-5-3 and 6-4-3 respectively.
Mercyhurst got on the board 12:21 into the contest when graduate student Rachel Fulton became the ninth different Laker to score a goal this season. Fulton one-timed a crossing pass from junior Nicole McAlpin into the Cal net – the Lakers' first shot of the game. Neither team scored in the half's final 32:39. Both teams had five shots at intermission with Mercyhurst having three of the four shots on goal. The Lakers also had the lone corner kick.
With time winding down, the Vulcans tied the match at 79:41 when Janelle McCann fired a shot that eluded Mercyhurst goalie Kristen Koch. Neither team could break the tie in the final 10:19 of regulation so, as their male counterparts did earlier, the two teams went to overtime –then to double overtime before Novotny decided things.
Mercyhurst outshot Cal 16-12 during the game, but the Vulcans had one more shot on goal (Novotny's game-decider), 6-5. Both teams had one corner kick and both goaltenders, the Lakers' Koch and the Vulcans' Meghan Jayes, registered four saves apiece.
Mercyhurst entered the match having lost its last two. California came to Erie with just one win in its last seven games, having snapped a 0-4-2 stretch with a 2-0 win at Millersville Saturday. The Vulcans are now 5-1-1 away from home while the Lakers dropped to 2-4-1 in Erie. This was the fourth overtime for the Lakers this season (1-1-2).
The Lakers will try to snap their losing streak Saturday when they continue conference play at Mansfield at 1:30.
