A titanic struggle at Panzer Field, 13-12. The 13th ranked Michigan Lady Wolverines (3-4) trekked into Panzer Stadium to face the #7 Penn State Lady Nittany Lions (3-3) in a time capsule classic. A back and forth classic all day, it would take extra time to decide a winner.
Despite falling behind 4-0 on tallies from, Erin Garvey (1g,1a), Annabelle Burke (2g) with a pair and an advantage goal from the dynamic, Molly Garrett (7g, 1a) the Lady Lio s were able to keep battling to take an overtime win. Despite the deluge, Penn State said, “hold my beer” and promptly countered with a pair from Maria Auth (5G,3a), Auth setting up Kristin O’Neill (2g,1a), a third from Auth, followed by an Olivia Dirks (4g,2a) goal that saw Penn State take the lead, 5-4.
The smoke cleared and a cat and mouse game kicked off. Garrett knotted it up but Dirks scored her 10th of the season to keep Penn State up. Thirteen seconds later, Garrett struck again, and with :46 showing Claire Galvin (1g) boosted Michigan to a 7-6 halftime advantage. It would be more of the same in the second half.
Dirks and Garrett exchanged scores before Kara Nealon (1g,1a) and O’Neill flip flopped the Michigan lead. Garrett answered with her 16th and 17th before Auth had an answer. With 10:10 to play, the battle was in full force with a 10-10 score.
Maggie Kane (1g,1a) and Regan Nealon (1g) kept the back and forth going, and with 5:43 to play, it was getting tense. Then, the drama was in overdrive and Auth set up Dirks to give the home team a 12-11 lead. Just as it appeared PSU sealed the deal, Garrett got her 7th of the game and 18th of the season with just two seconds remaining!
Onto overtime they went and it seemed they would go to a second OT period but with :38 remaining, Auth became the hero when she scored a hockey type goal when she redirected a shot past Arielle Wasserman to set off a celebration.
More Schtuff
Auth scored her 200th Career point on her third goal. That puts her in 11th place in program history. Shots were 38-29 PSU with on goal also tilting the PSU way at 27-25. The Lions only committed 8 turnovers to Michigan’s 13. Ground balls were close with the Lions scooping 18 to Michigan’s 17. Arielle Wasserman had 14 saves in her 62:22 and PSU’s Taylor Suplee had 13. A titanic struggle at Panzer Field does not keep PSU down.
Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.
Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.
A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.
