SELINSGROVE, PA - Susquehanna and Lebanon Valley staged perhaps one of the best women's lacrosse games of the early 2025 season on Tuesday at Sassafras Field, which was decided in overtime in favor of LVC by a 13-12 score. Each side carried considerable leads throughout regulation and rallied at key points to force the overtime period. Ultimately it was the nine-point effort by Flying Dutchmen Alyssa Wene that tipped the scales, using her eighth goal of the day to end the contest.

Despite Lebanon Valley winning the first few draw controls, it was Susquehanna that took the early 2-0 lead as Liv Owen connected with Abby Andrus for the first score, while Emma Kelleher followed up with a score nearly one minute later on a free position to lead 2-0 with 12:37 left in the first. Lebanon Valley got on a hot streak, burying the next three scores in an opening quarter that had eight combined goals. Molly Whisler got LVC on the board on a one-up goal from Kyla Hebert, while Wene followed up with her first two scores to lead 3-2. Owen answered for the River Hawks with an equalizer towards a four-point day as she had three goals and one assist to account for her afternoon. The Flying Dutchmen countered with four straight goals that covered the next two quarters, , with Wene again getting in on the action to regain the lead for LVC, along with one from Emily Beard and a one-up score from Katie DeWitt on a free position. Wene assisted the team's next score, giving it to Bethany Cohee who delivered Lebanon Valley a 7-3 lead. 

From there the goals started to come few and far between, though there was enough time in the half for the River Hawks to plan their counter attack. Behind the ten-save performance from goalie Aerin O'Brien, the offense scored two more before halftime as Allie Kutler cut the lead down to three, then after another Wene goal for LVC Makaela Larkin picked a great time to net her first career goal on an assist from Kelleher to make the score 8-5 at the half. The third quarter was silent for nearly the first nine minutes before Kutler offered SU a spark with an unassisted goal to cut the lead down to 8-6. This stood as the lone goal for the period until LVC made it a three-goal game once again as Beard scored on an assist from Cohee at 9-6. The silence became a mere afterthought once the fourth quarter got going, as the River Hawks ultimately hammered in six goals in the period to the Dutchmen's three to force OT. Andrus and Larkin each offered scores to make it a one-goal game at 9-8, though they would have to contend with LVC's Wene who scored all three of the team's goals in the fourth quarter.

Susquehanna worked around this as Owen offered up her two remaining goals back-to-back that tied the game at 10-10 with 6:49 to play. With Wene keeping LVC in front to make it 11-10, Kutler tied things up again with 1:39 to play on a free-position goal. The River Hawks won the ensuing draw control, but had a call go against them that turned the ball back over to Lebanon Valley, which Wene capitalized on for a 12-11 lead with 37 seconds to go. Kutler grabbed the draw control and hurried down the field, with Larkin eventually getting the ball and feeding it to Kelleher to tie things up at 12-12 with 15 seconds to go. The overtime draw control was grabbed again by Kutler, who rushed down the lane and fired a shot that was met by goalie Giuliana Ditsky. After a timeout, LVC regathered to make a move for the goal, but were given a free position shot with Wene taking. A few steps later Wene delivered the game-winning goal with 4:16 to play in overtime. 

Despite the defeat for the River Hawks the day lent itself to many highlights besides the actual game itself. Kelleher had four points with two goals and two assists, while reaching 100 career draw controls after earning six on the day for 102 for her career. Owen moved into ninth all-time with 174 points on 84 goals and 90 assists. Kutler, who recently reached 100 career points, now has 104 for her career after a three-goal day, while adding two draw controls for 232 on her career, good for third all-time. O'Brien approaches the 300 career save benchmark, now at 293. 

Susquehanna has a pair of Saturday road matches coming up, beginning at Allegheny this Saturday at 1 p.m. as the team embarks in a spring break trip to Pittsburgh. They then head to Rowan next Saturday for another 1 p.m. match with the Profs before opening their Landmark Conference season at home on Saturday, Mar. 22 against Moravian.