Tough Loss

-By Jeffrey Kruczynski, 9/30/2003

As the sun began to slowly disappear from sight and the temperature dropped, Holy Family and Shippensburg continued their intense battle. The game seemed to go on forever, as the teams remained deadlocked after regulation and a first overtime period. Unfortunately, as the clock was winding down in the second overtime, Shippensburg capitalized on a Holy Family mistake and beat the Lady Tigers 4-3.

At the onset, Holy Family pressured Shippensburg and scored less than two minutes into the contest. The visiting goaltender made the initial save but was unable to control the rebound. The fans were not even settled into their seats and Holy Family was already on the board. As the period progressed, both teams played good defense; allowing few scoring chances. Holy Family controlled the tempo of the game but everything changed over a six-minute span. With about thirteen minutes remaining Shippensburg grabbed the momentum by tying the score (1-1) and then captured the lead (2-1) with 6:57 left in the first frame.

In the second period, Shippensburg added to their lead by scoring a goal (3-1) with 33:01 remaining on the clock. Holy Family seemed to be done as the goalie for Shippensburg made save after save. The Lady Tigers refused to quit and continued to battle hoping Shippensburg would make a mistake. Guess what? They did. With 19:33 left in regulation Holy Family scored to cut Shippensburg's lead in half (3-2). But, time was running out on the Lady Tigers. The game was entering the final minutes and Holy Family needed to find a way to tie the score and force overtime. Then, with 2:49 remaining Holy Family kicked in the tying goal and completed a miraculous comeback (3-3). The girls showed tremendous heart by battling back from a 3-1 deficit.

After an uneventful first overtime session, the game entered a second overtime. The fans were on the edge of their seats because the next goal would determine the outcome. Shippensburg scored with 2:15 left and were able to save face because they won despite blowing a two-goal lead. With the loss Holy Family's record fell to 5-3-2 and 1-2-1 at home.