Tiffin University women's lacrosse (7-3, 3-0 G-MAC) had to survive an impressive comeback from Thomas More on Saturday in Kentucky but Caylin Kunze saved the day for the Dragons scoring the game-winning goal 19 seconds into the overtime period.
Tiffin looked to cruise in this one against the winless Saints (0-11, 0-2) as TU led 5-0 after one and 11-3 at halftime. The Dragons wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as Lauren Walsh scored the first goal of the game just 36 seconds in.
With 12:58 remaining in the third quarter, Lillian Graham gave Tiffin a 12-4 lead, and that's when the Thomas More offense erupted to tie the game. The Saints scored eight unanswered goals to tie the game at 12 with 10:43 remaining in the game.
The Dragons stayed poised and never allowed the Saints to have the lead. Less than two minutes after the Saints tied it, Graham gave the Dragons the lead again 13-12 and TU led 14-12 with 7:16 left following a goal by Kunze.
Thomas More held the Dragons scoreless for the remainder of regulation and two goals in 1:36 by the Saints' Gracey Robinson tied the game at 14 with 1:06 left. Following a TU draw control win, Katelyn Jarvis turned it over and the Saints had two attempts at a potential game-winning goal but came up empty as one shot went high and the other was saved by Sadie Wermuth.
In overtime, Kunze wasted no time as she won the draw control and scored 19 seconds into the extra period to give the Dragons a thrilling road victory.
Graham led the way offensively with four goals and also added one assist. Walsh had two goals and two assists. Kenna Wigginton and Guinevere Salas each scored one goal. Kunze had three goals and one assist and Jessa Zaheri scored two goals and added three assists. Jarvis scored two goals and Graham led the team in groundballs with seven and caused turnovers with four.
Sarah Hart got the start at goalkeeper, playing 45 minutes and making seven saves. Sadie Wermuth played the final 15:19 to get the win and made two saves.
Tiffin held a 32-28 advantage in shots, won the ground ball battle (27-26), and won 19 of the 32 draw controls.
