Katie Neer Makes Last-Second Save in Lacrosse's 11-10 Victory Against St. Bonaventure

Courtesy: UAlbany Sports Information

Albany, N.Y. – Kayla Best scored the game-winning goal with three minutes and 51 seconds remaining to lift UAlbany past St. Bonaventure, 11-10, in non-conference women’s lacrosse play on Sunday, March 16 at John Fallon Field. The game moved to the Capital Region due to poor field conditions in western New York.

UAlbany (5-2) tied the contest at 10 apiece when Christine Grueniger faked a shot from the left and went low around a defender with 5:23 left. Best, who had two goals and one assist, put her team ahead as she drove into the middle and sent a blast inside the left post. St. Bonaventure (1-3) had an opportunity to draw even with 12 seconds on the clock, but goalkeeper Katie Neer stopped Brenna Houghton’s shot from right of the crease at point-blank range.

“I tried to hold my position and stay patient,” explained Neer when describing Houghton’s last-second shot. “I knew that they would be driving (to the net) in the last 20 seconds. My team has come through for me when I didn’t play as well, so I certainly wanted to pull through for them. This is both thrilling and intense and I didn’t want to lose.”

The Bonnies rallied from an 8-6 halftime deficit with three goals during a four-minute span of the final period. Houghton scored her second goal of the game off a rebound, before Stephanie Jordan got the equalizer 28 seconds later with a bounce shot from right of the crease. Kimberly Ross, a first-team All-Atlantic 10 Conference midfielder, then drove to the cage after a restart to give her team the lead with 13:02 remaining.

Freshman Tee Ladouceur tallied her third goal to the game at nine-all when she moved from left to right and fired a shot inside the right post. The Great Danes appeared to go ahead with 6:32 to play when Jane Bush converted a feed from Rory Redmond, but the goal was disallowed due to an illegal stick. The Bonnies took advantage by scoring 23 seconds later when junior midfielder Keri Vito connected from the right side off a pass from Catie Greene.

In the opening period, UAlbany led by as much as three on two separate occasions, including 7-4 after freshman Jodi Battaglia netted a pair of unassisted goals. But St. Bonaventure’s Ashley Fischer converted a free-position shot and Houghton found the cage following a turnover. UAlbany’s Bush scored in transition with less than three minutes left in the half to stake her team to a two-goal lead at the intermission.

Neer, a first-year starter in the cage, finished with a career-high 18 saves, including several key stops when her team went scoreless for 18-plus minutes to begin the final stanza. St. Bonaventure’s Vito had two goals and one assist, while goalkeeper Eboni Preston turned aside 11 shots.