SHEPHERDSTOWN, W.Va. – The Golden Bears can finally exhale. Kutztown women's lacrosse overcame a five-goal deficit in the final 15:10 of regulation and stunned host Shepherd on Shannon Lake's (Medford, N.Y./Patchogue-Medford) goal with three seconds left in overtime to escape Ram Stadium with a 10-9 PSAC East victory Wednesday afternoon.
 
Emma Meakim (Hatboro, Pa./Upper Moreland) increased her program single-season record with five assists –now two shy of 50—and moved within two points of tying Kutztown's single-season points record (67) with game-highs of five assists and six points. Lake and Lailah ElBouazzaoui (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater-Raritan) provided three goals and an assist each.
 
Kutztown's win was important on several fronts. The Bears maintained a two-game advantage over Millersville for the Eastern Division's third and final playoff spot. It also taught Kristen Nicholson's squad a valuable lesson that there are no freebies during the journey of a season, even against teams trying to fight uphill from the bottom of the league standings like Shepherd was.
 
The Rams fell to 5-8 overall and 1-7 in the PSAC East, but emptied the tank trying to upset the Golden Bears in the process. Shepherd scored the final three goals of the first half and opened the scoring in the second to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 6-3 lead.
 
ElBouazzaoui scored off a pass from Meakim at 9:27 of the third to temporarily halt Shepherd's momentum, but the Rams gained it right back as Paige Stoner (free-position), Holly Poe and Kaiya Edwards recorded successive goals to make it 9-4 late in the period.
 
Once again, it was the Meakim-to-ElBouazzaoui connection working to perfection, this time with 10 seconds left in the third, to help the Bears (9-3, 6-2 PSAC East) begin their climb back.
 
The fourth belonged to the Golden Bears. They kept possession for most of the quarter and scored on four of their six shots –including three player-up goals.
 
Lake's second goal of the game came just 20 seconds into the final stanza off a pass from none other than Meakim. In fact, Meakim would set up four straight KU goals. The Hatboro, Pa., native found Sam Graf (Wayne, N.J./Wayne Hills) for a player-up goal at 8:36 and Morgan Hurd (Schnecksville, Pa./Parkland) for another player-up marker at 6:53 to pull KU within 9-8.
 
Katie Yocum (Hanover, Pa./South Western) darted to the front of the cage and beat Ram goalie Hailey Bennett with a shot in close to even the game at nine with 5:05 left in regulation. Both teams had chances in the final minutes, but surprisingly, neither side broke through.
 
Graf hit the post with a shot at 3:43 and Jenna Blesson (Sparta, N.J./Lenape Valley Regional) came up with her biggest of four saves on a Poe free-position attempt with just over a minute left.
 
The result was Kutztown's first overtime affair in 68 games, dating back to April 9, 2018, against Slippery Rock. Cyrose Conteh (Elizabethtown, Pa./Elizabethtown) grabbed the draw control and the Bears got a pair of early shots off in the extra session.
 
Shepherd took over off a turnover and looked to threaten in the last minute, but Sydnie Bisesi (Denton, Md./North Caroline) smothered Poe into a turnover, giving Kutztown a final possession. The Bears quickly transitioned on attack and Lake made it count, receiving a pass from ElBouazzaoui on the run and firing a point blank shot by Bennett for the win with three seconds to go.
 
With the win, Kutztown swept the season series against the Rams and won back-to-back games against Shepherd for the first time in nine all-time meetings. It's also KU's first overtime win since defeating Millersville, 13-12, on April 12, 2017.
 
Conteh, Summer Davis (Beach Haven, N.J./Southern Regional), Graf and Robin Spector (Northfield, N.J./Mainland Regional) each caused a pair of turnovers, with Davis picking up a team-high four ground balls. The Rams did a solid job on Graf, keeping her from multiple points for just the second time in 12 games, but it created opportunities for the sophomore's teammates, and they came through. Graf did record a game-high six draws, moving into fourth place among KU's career leaders with 122, one back of Lauren Schmidt for third.
 
Stoner had a hat trick and paced Shepherd with five points. Edwards and Poe each scored twice, and Rebekah Forney had a goal and an assist. Bennett finished with 12 saves.
 
Kutztown will go for its 10th win of the season when Bloomsburg visits Keystone Field next Tuesday, April 18, at 3 p.m.
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