Lacrosse Finally Slays Farmingdale in 10-9 Double OT Victory

Farmingdale, N.Y. - The Lady Golden Eagles made history today, defeating the rival Farmingdale State Rams for the first time since the team's inception in the 2012 season, after junior midfielder Heather Ferchland (Selden, N.Y./ Centereach) scored a double overtime goal to seal the victory.

SJC ended a 27-game winning streak for Farmingdale in the Skyline Conference regular season - they last lost in 2011.  Farmingdale finished 8-0 in 2012, 10-0 in 2013, 7-0 in 2014, and were 2-0 this year.   It was the Golden Eagles first win over their rivals out of their five all-time meetings.

With the victory, SJC remains perfect in Skyline Conference play, improving to 7-3 overall with a 3-0 conference record, while the Rams fell to 4-4 overall, dropping to 2-1 in the Skyline standings.

Sophomore Meaghan Haber (East Northport, N.Y./ John Glenn) paved the way for the Golden Eagle offense tallying a game-high in goals after scoring a hat-trick.  SJC also had multi-goal performances from Ferchland, Ela Igdeler (Islip, N.Y./ Islip), and Caitlynn Webber (Eastport, N.Y./ Eastport-South Manor), while Jessica Cordano (Oakdale, N.Y./ Connetquot) assisted the Eagle scorers by dishing a game-high three helpers.

To begin the match, St. Joseph's jumped to a quick 3-0 lead after scores from Haber (2) and Igdeler (1).  The Golden Eagles and Rams offense exchanged two goals apiece to finish the first period, 5-2.

The first half defense for St. Joseph's was "the best we have ever played defensively in the four year history of the program," according to head coach Bob Vlahakis.  

The two goals scored by Farmingdale matched the lowest they have  scored in the first half since 2011, when they scored one against Wesleyan.

St. Joseph's opened the second half with another three-goal burst, until Farmingdale responded with a 5-0 run to send the contest into overtime.

Farmingdale called time out with fifty seconds left in regulation, tied at 8-8, after they had held possession of the ball for over a minute. They set up a specific play, but the Golden Eagles defense buckled up and did not allow the Rams to even get off a shot before the buzzer sounded, and the game went to overtime.

In the first overtime, Webber was the first to find the back of the net at 5:08 off a Cordano pass to give SJC a 9-8 lead. Moments later, the home team answered with a game-tying goal to send the game into another extra period of play.

At the end of the six minute overtime, with the game now tied 9-9, Webber scooped a ground ball by the side of the cage with one second left and drilled a goal between the goalies legs as the horn sounded, which would have won the game.  But after the officials consulted each other, they determined that the shot left her hand one second too late and so it was on to sudden victory overtime.

Webber won the critical draw in the second overtime, but St. Joseph's lost the ball on offense without a shot. Farmingdale cleared it downfield, and set up to score the winning goal, but freshman Kristin Carroll put defensive pressure on Farmingdale's Alyssa Handel, forcing a critical turnover, and the Golden Eagles ran downfield in transition, ending up with the winning free position shot for Ferchland at 4:15. 

Senior defender Nicole Lyman (West Babylon, N.Y./West Babylon) had a great game, causing six turnovers, including several interceptions, and added four ground balls and three draw controls. 

Golden Eagle goalie Courtney Wickline (Medford, N.Y./ Bellport) centered the visiting defense, stopping six shots.

St. Joseph's College outshot the Rams, 27-20, and dominated the draw circle, 14-9.

The next opponent for SJC will be against Skyline-foe Maritime (2-6, 0-3 Skyline) on Senior Day this Saturday at 1:00 p.m.