BROOKLYN, N.Y. - A goal in the last 13 seconds by sophomore Tori Shinkowitz helped the LIU Brooklyn women's lacrosse team to a 11-10 win in its Northeast Conference opener against Sacred Heart on Friday afternoon at LIU Field.
It was the first victory against the Pioneers in program history for the Blackbirds, in a game where no team led by more than two at any time. Six contributed in scoring for LIU, while goalkeeper Alexis Maldonado made 12 saves to help preserve the win, despite Sacred Heart leading in shots, 26-24.
"That was a great win," LIU Brooklyn head coach Allison Hanley said. "It wasn't a perfect game from us but the team played with heart, resiliency and confidence and they should be proud of themselves."
The Blackbirds got off to an early 2-0 lead with goals from sophomore Jenn Peters and freshman Carlie Robinson in the first two and a half minutes, but Sacred Heart responded with a pair in the next two minutes to even the score, before taking a short 3-2 lead with 21:30 to play.
A foul in eight-meter on freshman Carly Weiss gave her the tying goal at 3-3, before the Pioneers would go up by two .
Peters would score her second goal of the game with 13:34 in the first to cut the lead to one. A series of turnovers and fouls kept scoring stagnant for the next nine minutes until SHU broke through with 4:37 to go to push their lead to 6-4. Robinson found the back of the net with 2:32 to play.
Sacred Heart would take one more shot with 2:10 to go in the first, but a save from Maldonado helped LIU regain possession. Robinson attempted a shot with just seconds to go, but the shot was blocked. But senior Brittany Rader was able to guide the ball in to tie the score at 6-6 and put LIU on even ground headed into halftime.
A caused turnover sequence from sophomore Mary McQueen gave LIU the 7-6 lead early in the second half. Both teams traded goals back and forth, with McQueen scoring a second with 23:37 to play. The squads were tied at 8-8 until Weiss gave LIU the 9-8 edge with 12-10 to play. Shinkowitz helped LIU increase its lead to two with just under 10 to go, but a the Pioneers scored two quick goals to even the score at 10-10 with 7:07.
The game looked to be headed into overtime, until Shinkowitz was fouled with 18 seconds to play. Though her shot was wide, she was fouled again going to go the goal, giving her another chance on the hash. With 13 seconds left, Shinkowitz fired the game-winner into the net to help the Blackbirds move to 1-0 in NEC play.
Both teams were even on draw controls at 11, while LIU had the slight 12-11 edge in ground balls.
"We look forward to getting back to work next week as we continue to grow into the team we know we can be," said Hanley.
Up next, LIU starts a four-game road trip, beginning at Central Connecticut on Friday, April 10 at 7:00 p.m.