Great Escape! Weston Wins it in OT, 14-12

In a furious fight to the finish, the Weston and Belmont girls lacrosse teams had settled nothing after the usual 50 minutes of play during yesterday's Division 2 North quarterfinal game on the Weston turf.

But with the score tied at 12-12, the second-ranked Wildcats got the job done in overtime, scoring two goals in the extra frame to outlast the No. 7 Marauders, 14-12, and advance to the semifinals against No. 3 Winchester tomorrow at Weston.

"We didn't play our best game," Weston head coach Chrissy Swanson said. " I was a little disappointed the way we came out, but we stepped up when we needed to."

Less than a minute into the OT, seniors Dana White and Anna Duffey teamed up to give the the 'Cats the edge, as White finished the feed at the 2:05 mark. Duffey soon provided the dagger.

Weston overcame a tremendous effort by Belmont junior midfield star Caroline McCarthy, who led the Marauders with a whopping seven goals.

"[She] had a phenomenal game,"  Swanson said. "We didn't do a good job stopping her."

The last two Weston strikes ended an implausible afternoon, in which Belmont rallied three times in the second half to overcome two-goal deficits.

"Coming in against the No. 2 seed, we came out a little nervous, but it was an equally played game," Belmont head coach Jessica Smith said. "We gave it a shot at the end. We could've won it."

Indeed, they could have. Belmont junior midfielder Izzy Goldstein, who already had two tallies, matching teammate Erin O'Donovan, and freshman attack Cate Brams, who scored the last tying goal, fired shots that veered just wide of the net in the waning seconds of regulation to keep the game tied.

Those attempts came after a furious try by Weston to get the game-winner, only to be stopped by Belmont senior All-Star goalie Katy Ananian, who made 19 saves overall.

"She was voted the best goalie in Eastern Mass," Smith said. "She came up with some huge saves when she needed to."

At the other end, Weston junior Christina Warner was just as dazzling with a big stand-up save in overtime, among several other beauties of the same variety.

"She made some big saves," Swanson said, noting Weston's defense also shined with a shutout effort in the OT frame.

Offensively, junior superstar Emma Dagres led a balanced Weston attack with four goals. Duffey followed with three, while Julia Meehan, Bianca Brueckner, and Sarah Peters each added two apiece, before White stuck with the game-winner.