NEW BRITAIN, Conn. - For the second straight game, sophomore Tori Shinkowitz led the LIU Brooklyn women's lacrosse team to victory in the last few seconds, as the Blackbirds topped Central Connecticut, 9-8, on Friday evening. LIU Brooklyn moves to 2-0 in Northeast Conference play, and 6-5 in 2015, tying a program record for wins in a single season.
Sophomore Jenn Peters and senior Brittany Rader combined for seven goals on the day, with Peters scoring the first four of the game for LIU to bring her total to 46 for the season. A close game for the entire 60 minutes, the Blue Devils lead with 23 shots to LIU's 20 and led 13-5 in draw controls, but 10 saves from junior goalkeeper Alexis Maldonado kept the Blue Devils to just eight goals.
Peters tied the score for the Blackbirds early on twice, letting CCSU only have a 2-1 lead for 35 seconds. The Blue Devils went on a quick 2-0 run, before Peters struck again on a free position attempt. Central Connecticut won the draw control and added its fifth goal of the game.
Neither team would score for the next nine minutes, until Peters cut CCSU's gap to one with just under eight to play. Sophomore Mary McQueen tied the game with 5:29 left on an assist from Sierra O'Connor. Maldonado made her sixth save of the half to with 4:15 left to keep the score at 5-5 heading into halftime.
A free position goal from Rader put LIU up 6-5 five minutes into the second half. Two straight goals from the Blue Devils gave them back the lead, before Rader struck again to even the score at 7-7 with 20:46 to go.
CCSU gained a one-goal advantage after the draw control, and managed two more shots before freshman Dale Cosgrave found Rader with at the 15:34 to tie the score again.
The next 10 minutes played out much like the first, with a standstill in scoring. Peters had a wide attempt with 8:16 to go, while Central's best shot was at 5:37 but Maldonado was able to make the save. With the clock winding down, the game looked to be heading into overtime.
But Shinkowitz came up clutch once again, scoring with just four seconds to go to give LIU its second NEC victory of the season.
In addition to her game-winner, Shinkowitz won three draw controls for the Blackbirds, while freshman Carlie Robinson picked up two ground balls and won two draw controls.
The Blackbirds return to action this Sunday, April 12 to face Bryant in Smithfield, R.I. Game time is et for 1:00 p.m.