MILLERSVILLE, Pa. –
Jessica Traynor (Pennsburg, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) won back possession for her team, played the ball up field onto the path of junior
Erin Gonzalez (East Earl, Pa./Garden Spot), who returned the favor and found an open Traynor in front of cage and the sophomore tapped in the game-winning goal 3:20 into the first overtime period to send second-ranked Kutztown to the 2-1 victory over Millersville Wednesday night in a non-conference game on the road.
Traynor's third goal of the season came at an important time for the Golden Bears (6-1 overall), who just had to stave off back-to-back penalty corners by the Marauders (3-3) a little over a minute prior. Her and Gonzalez connected immediately at midfield after Traynor won back the ball for KU and the duo eventually had a two-on-one right in front of cage.
The Maroon and Gold offense needed a spark after going almost 54 minutes of game action without a goal.
Megan Doyle (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) opened up the scoring in the game with her third of the season, 9:25 after the opening whistle.
Mia Simpson (Wildwood, Mo./Lafayette) assisted Doyle's tally.
The teams would go into halftime with KU in front 1-0, but Millersville tied it up with a goal from Emily Baum off a penalty corner 7:20 into the third quarter.
Each team had its chances in the offensive zone the remainder of regulation, but could not net the go-ahead goal.
Mia Kepler (Wall Township, N.J./Wall) finished with three saves, including a pivotal stop on a penalty stroke late in the first quarter after Kutztown's opening goal. The Golden Bears had a 17-7 shots advantage (7-4 on cage) and 8-7 edge in corners.
Kutztown returns home and opens up play in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference as it hosts nationally-ranked East Stroudsburg in a rematch of last year's NCAA Division II championship game.
