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HARRISONBURG, Va. -- The No. 9 Nittany Lion women's lacrosse team rallied from four down to defeat James Madison, 18-17, on the road. Madison Carter (Davidsonville, Md.) scored six goals and Madison Cyr (Westminster, Md.) tallied six points on four goals and two assists to pace the Nittany Lions.
"It was a hard fought game," said head coach Missy Doherty. "We showed our grit and really did a great job fighting for 60-plus minutes."
Penn State (5-1) won its third straight game by never leading for a second of active game time as Katie O'Donnell (West Chester, Pa.) tallied her first goal of the day just 1:18 into sudden-victory overtime. The Nittany Lions trailed James Madison (2-5) 11-7 at halftime and needed a late three-goal rally in the final 6:50 just to force OT.
Down 17-14, which was Penn State's fifth three-goal deficit of the game, the quick striking Nittany Lions found the net three times in a stretch of 2:21. Carter scored from a Cyr dish with 7:07 remaining before Cyr scored 17 seconds later on a Steph Lazo (Stevensville, Md.) assist. Lazo knotted the score a minute later at 17 setting up a frantic final set of minutes.
Lazo was issued a yellow card with 3:30 left and reserve netminder Cat Rainone (Newtown Square, Pa.) made a save during the disadvantage as Penn State cleared and set up a slew of PSU scoring opportunities that either went wide or were saved by JMU goalie Danielle Harmeyer (11 saves). Rainone made two saves in her 10:48 of action without conceding a goal.
Carter won the ensuing draw in overtime and O'Donnell scored with 4:42 left in the extra session for Penn State's first overtime win since March 18, 2012 at Vanderbilt.
Helping to lead Penn State's offense were Abby Smucker (Bel Air, Md.) and Kelly Daggett (Bainbridge, Pa.) who registered three points each. Smucker had a hat trick and Daggett had two goals and an assist for a career day.
Lazo's day ended with three points as well on a goal and two assists, while Delaney Muldoon (Silver Spring, Md.) scored an dished an assist for a two-point afternoon.
Penn State out-shot James Madison 38-25 for the game including a 29-22 advantage in shots on goal. The Nittany Lions won the draw control battle, 21-16, including 12-5 in the second half. PSU also won the ground ball battle, 11-8. Jenna Mosketti (Fallston, Md.) had six draws and an assist.
PSU broke a two-game skid vs. JMU in the series and now leads 19-11 all-time against the Dukes.
Penn State returns to action on Saturday for a 12:30 p.m. ET matchup at former ALC foe Vanderbilt.