Box Score

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. – After 98 minutes of grueling play in 80-degree heat, senior Spencer Larson (Edgewater, Md./South River) turned her head into the ball and sent it careening into the left corner of the net past the diving Susquehanna University keeper, lifting the Lycoming College women's soccer team to a 2-1 overtime win in the seventh annual River Derby on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at the Shangraw Athletic Complex.
 
The winning play was set up on a Susquehanna foul 30 yards out from the goal. Sophomore Kaitlyn Gulotta (Mt. Airy, Md./South Carrol) delivered a beautiful strike inside the 12, where Larson met the ball and headed it into the net, sending the team to its first overtime win against Susquehanna in school history.
 
The Warriors (1-2 overall) and Crusaders (0-3 overall) have gone to overtime three times in the seven-year history of the River Derby, with the Crusaders winning once and the teams' tying once.
 
Lycoming got on the board in the first half, as senior Julia Norton (Hackettstown, N.J./Hackettstown) delivered a ball into the box, where Larson headed it over to freshman Olivia Mendler (Williamsport, Pa./Williamsport), who fired it into the right corner.
 
The Warriors held control for most of the first half, as both teams took five shots. In the second half, Susquehanna began to push the pace, scoring an equalizer in the 47^th minute when Angela Amato scored off a corner kick. The Crusaders took 11 shots in the half while holding the Warriors to two.
 
However, five saves in the period by Lycoming, including a save by a defender off the goalline, helped send it into overtime. Susquehanna took two shots in the extra period, but Lycoming countered late in the first 10-minute extra period to set up the winning score.
 
Larson led the Warriors with a goal and an assist, helping the team to its first home-opening win since a 4-2 win over Lancaster Bible in 2010.
 
Senior Caitlin Dougherty (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone) earned the win in net for the Warriors, as she made seven stops in the win. Rachel Norbuts stopped four shots for Susquehanna.
 
The senior class of Dougherty, Olivia Hanner (Montoursville, Pa./Montoursville), Larson, Norton and Stephanie Watters (Oxford, N.J./Warren Hills Regional) are the first group in school history to beat Susquehanna twice in their careers, as the 2010 team also won the River Derby, 4-0.
 
The Warriors get back on the field on Sunday, Sept. 8, when they face Pitt-Bradford at 3 p.m. at the Shangraw Athletic Complex.