BLOOMSBURG, Pa. - No. 3 Millersville fought its way through 60 scoreless minutes with Bloomsburg, but just 28 seconds into overtime,
Hannah Brown buried the game-winner to lift Millersville to a 1-0 PSAC road win.
On paper, the game looked like a certain mismatch with Millersville (12-2, 5-2 PSAC) ranked No. 3 in the nation and Bloomsburg in the midst of a four-game skid and standing 1-5 in PSAC play. But history repeated itself as the two teams played a one-goal game for the 12th time in the last 15 meetings--seven of which have now gone to overtime.
Brown scored her second game-winner of the season, and it was her second-effort on the play that made the difference as her initial shot was saved by Bloomsburg's Abby Shaffer. The rebound return directly to Brown's stick, and in one motion, she hit a rocket low and to the left of the recovering Shaffer.
Millersville improved to 2-0 in overtime games this season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
•
Bri Harsh took matters into her own hands as overtime opened, receiving the opening pass back and then aggressively weaving her way through defenders to earn a penalty corner. The first corner try resulted in a Bloomsburg foul. On the follow-up corner, the ball made its way from Harsh to Brown, whose second shot resulted in the game-winner.
• Bloomsburg had five shots and five corners in the third and fourth quarters, but the Millersville defense and goalkeeper
Kerstin Koons proved resolute. Koons made all three of her saves in the second half. Late in the third quarter, a Bloomsburg shot trickled past Koons, but
Qhayiya Nogoduka cleared the ball away from danger. Bloomsburg also earned a corner with 33 seconds to play in regulation, but the Marauder defense closed quickly on the shooter and stuffed the Huskies' last chance.
• It looked as if Brown had scored mid-way through the first quarter, but the goal was waved off because of a foul.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• Millersville held an 12-6 edge in shots and put eight shots on goal. Those 12 shots were Millersville's third fewest of the season.
• Brown led Millersville with four shots, three of which were put on goal.
REACTION FROM COACH SHELLY BEHRENS
• On the game-winning goal: "Go as long as you can and far as you can is what we told Bri. Just go. We want to be the aggressor. That paid off. Getting the second corner, the players changed the corner. We did a lot of nice things in the circle today but we needed to be stronger and finish. The plan was to get shots and follow up. Hannah did a nice job of that on the goal."
• On tough games with Bloomsburg: "We always have tough games with Bloomsburg. This is a tough place to play. I had my overtime lineup ready. We expected it. This was a PSAC game, and that's what I love about the PSAC. Not every game is a 5-0 game.
• On what went well: "We saw some good performances from players off the bench, and the goalkeeping was good again. We are good with overtime. I'd like to see us play with more composure and better hockey IQ at times, but we keep learning and getting better keep working through it. I honestly think we played well today. Credit to Bloomsburg. They had some chances, we had some chances."
NOTES
• Tuesday's game was the third consecutive 1-0 game played between Millersville and Bloomsburg, and the second-straight game to go to overtime. Bloomsburg won the previous match-up in double overtime.
• Brown's goal was her fifth of the season.
• Millersville has recorded seven shutouts.
UP NEXT
• Millersville returns home on Saturday, Oct. 23 for a 12 p.m. start against Mansfield.
