The Bears defeated the Menlo Knights, 6-5, in a nail-biting overtime match on Friday night.
Coming into the game, the Bears were doubtful about the match-up. “We were definitely the underdogs. Menlo was expected to win tonight,” sophomore Sarah Coolican said.
The Knights took charge of the first quarter after winning the sprint. Senior goalkeeper Lexi Nelson batted down any attempts to score by the Knights. Weathering the storm, M-A gained their footing, and with 4:21 left in the quarter, a fierce assist by Coolican to junior Sabine Polly brought the first goal of the evening.
M-A continued to put the Knights on defense, but scoring attempts were repeatedly blocked by the Menlo goalie. As the Knights gained momentum, Nelson was able to thwart multiple saves, but Menlo ultimately snuck in a score with 15 seconds left, concluding the first quarter 1-1.
In the beginning of the second quarter, Menlo was heating up fast with multiple scoring attempts that were expertly blocked by both Nelson and the goal post. However, M-A quickly countered, and junior Scarlett Shenk was able to swing one past the Knights, giving the Bears a 2-1 lead.
The Bears started the second half with excitement, winning the sprint and immediately putting Menlo on defense. With six scoring attempts during the first half of the quarter, the Bears looked comfortable. But as none of the shots made it into the cage, Menlo regained their composure and scored with two minutes left to play.
Right before the third quarter came to a close, Shenk scored with a miraculous shot from the six-meter mark, giving the Bears a 3-2 advantage at the break.
The fourth quarter started slow with both teams taking shots that ultimately accumulated to nothing. A contentious foul call on a Menlo player led to a tense couple of minutes after the Menlo coach got into an altercation with the referees. Still, a few minutes later, Menlo quickly snuck a shot into the goal, leveling the game 3-3.
The Bears responded quickly, with junior Molly Gray scoring and putting M-A up 4-3 with two minutes remaining. This lead didn’t last long, as Menlo quickly scored with 1:35 left in the game. A couple saves from both goalies sent the enthralling matchup into overtime.
Going into overtime, the Bears knew how hard it would be to overcome the power of the Knights. “We knew it would be a close game or a loss,” sophomore Harper Williams said.
In the first three minute period of overtime, Menlo started with possession but was stunted by M-A’s aggressive defense. A couple of tight calls from the referee’s sparked outrage with the M-A crowd, but the Bears used them as motivation, turning the game in their favor after an attempt to score from Williams. Though the shot was blocked by Menlo, the rebound found Shenk, who easily scored with one minute left in the period, giving M-A the lead at the break.
M-A won the final sprint, securing possession as the second overtime period began. The Bears quickly took advantage, with Williams rocketing a shot past the net with 2:30 left, establishing M-A’s 6-4 lead.
Menlo did not give up, and a minute later they got past Nelson to close in on the Bears’ lead. The Bears remained calm, and with some expert defense, held on to their 6-5 lead to defeat the Knights in overtime.
“My favorite part of the game is when we came together as a team and really believed we had it in the bag,” Williams said.
The Bears will face the Carlmont Scots at home on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m.
