Dalbec Nets Overtime Game Winner against Lasell in 3-2 Thriller

PAXTON, Mass.—Junior Kylie Dalbec (Portland, Maine) netted her 20^th goal of the season in overtime to lead the Anna Maria College field hockey team to a 3-2 win against the Lasers of Lasell College on Saturday afternoon in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.

With the win, the AMCATS improve to 11-8 overall and 3-3 entering the GNAC postseason. The Lasers fall to 6-10 overall and 2-4 in GNAC play, but will also qualify for the six-team league tournament.

Three minutes and 49 seconds into overtime, Dalbec found herself with the ball on a one-on-one situation with a Lasell defender. She carried the ball around the defender and shot low to the opposite post to seal the win for the AMCATS.

After almost a full first half of scoreless action that saw the AMCATS hold a 15-7 shots advantage, senior Nichole Lowe (Saugus, Mass.) finally stuffed home the first goal of the game on a pass from Kayla Lapierre (Worcester, Mass.). Lapierre got the rebound off a shot by Dalbec and quickly fed it over to Lowe, who one-touched it into the near post on the left side of the field.

In the 46^th minute, Lowe was awarded a penalty stroke, which she shot high inside the left post to put the AMCATS up 2-0.

The AMCATS looked like they had sealed the win until the Lasers responded with back-to-back goals less than a minute apart at the 67:48 and 68:36 marks to even the score at 2-2.

Leah Sullivan (Mansfield, Mass.) scored the Lasers first goal on a textbook play, collecting the ball through traffic on a pass from teammate Ashley Gleason (Suffield, Mass.) and shooting to the near post. Less than a minute later, teammate Courtney Brayman (Gardner, Mass.) stuffed in a shot following a cluster off offensive and defensive players. Gleason was credited with her second assist of the day.

The Lasers two goals forced overtime, where the Lasers were unable to get a shot in the extra period while Anna Maria managed three, including Dalbec's game-winner.

Anna Maria outshot Lasell 28-12 on the afternoon. AMCATS' netminder Mary Kate Breen (Londonderry, N.H.) totaled four saves in the win, while Lasers goalkeeper Taylor Sheehan (Brewster, Mass.) posted 14 saves.

Both teams will meet again next week in the first round of the GNAC tournament. Fourth-seeded Anna Maria will host No. 5 Lasell. Game time will be determined in the coming week.