PHILADELPHIA - Saint Joseph's junior Lindsay Walder scored 46 seconds into the second overtime to give the Hawks a 3-2 double-overtime win over Villanova on Friday evening at Sweeney Field.
Looking to extend its winning streak to four games, Saint Joseph's (5-1-0) fell behind 2-0 at halftime, but fought back with a pair of second half goals to force extra time.
After a scoreless first overtime period, the Hawks struck quickly as they pushed the ball deep into the Villanova end. Off a pass from sophomore Dakota Mills, SJU senior Shannon Mulvey blasted a shot towards to left side of the Wildcats' goal, only to have the ball blocked.
Off the deflection, Walder found the ball deflect right to her and swiftly drilled a shot into the empty left side of the goal to give Saint Joseph's the come-from-behind victory.
In the first half, Villanova (2-4-0) opened the scoring at 19:25 as Kristin Barbour took a pass at the top of the box from teammate Ida DiClemente and drilled a shot to left side to make it 1-0.
The Wildcats would push their lead to 2-0 just before halftime as Mandi Wilson headed in a deflection off the crossbar at 39:10. Coming off a strike to the middle of the crossbar from the foot of Kayla Hughes, Wilson collected the ball as it bounced into the turf and headed a shot into the open net to extend the Villanova advantage.
The Hawks came out aggressive in the second half though and quickly cut their deficit to one. Off a free kick by sophomore Paige Bergman, SJU senior Emily Gingrich positioned herself in the Villanova box and perfectly timed a deflection to head in her fourth goal of the season to make it 2-1 at 52:55.
The match remained that way until the final minutes when the Hawks converted off a corner kick. Following a Bergman kick, Gingrich tracked the ball and headed it to the right side of the net where sophomore Taylor Ryan redirected it into the goal to knot the game at 2-2 at 83:07.
With the game knotted at 2-2, Villanova would outshoot the Hawks 3-0 in the first overtime period, but Saint Joseph's goalkeeper Cameron Perrott came up with two of her six saves on the day to keep the game moving before the thrilling game winner.
Saint Joseph's returns to action Sunday at Rider at 1 p.m.
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