SALISBURY, N.C. – The Gannon University women's lacrosse team ended its three-game season-opening road trip with a dramatic victory at Catawba, 13-12, after a Rachel Tufts (Erie, Pa./McDowell) overtime goal improved the Golden Knights' record to 2-1 in 2022. The team dominated the draw control margin in the game to the tune of a 23-6 advantage over Catawba, leading to Knights' advantages in shots (40-25) and ground balls (23-19.)
 
Sophomore McKenna Woodworth (Horseheads, N.Y./Horseheads) put home four goals in the game on 11 shots, with none more important than the game-tying effort with 27 seconds left in the fourth quarter to force the overtime period. She has scored 10 goals with 3 assists this season, and both are team-high totals. Macy Hepditch (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) was a force offensively with three goals, an assist, 10 shots (eight on goal), and eight draw controls. Freshman Caroline Stevens (Syracuse, N.Y./Liverpool) led the way on the draw, earning 11 controls and scoring the team's second goal of the game. Tufts scored a pair of goals, including the critical game-winner, and increases her season total to six, the second-most on the team.
 
For the second straight game, Gannon goalies Kendra Delissio (Export, Pa./Franklin Regional) and Cheyenne Jess (Stratford, N.J./Sterling) each played a full half, with Delissio starting the game and Jess coming on at halftime. Delissio made three saves on 10 shots faced while Jess made three saves on 15 shots faced.
 
Gannon zoomed out to a 3-0 lead in the game, getting on the board first thanks to a Macy Hepditch (Waterloo, Ontario/Resurrection Catholic) goal. Woodworth assisted on Stevens' goal to make it 2-0, and Christina Zeher (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) assisted Woodworth on the third goal of the contest. Catawba scored three unanswered to tie the game, but Hepditch put one in the goal from the free position to give Gannon the lead heading into the second quarter.
 
Lauren Squires (Big Flats, N.Y./Horseheads) scored her first goal of the season to begin the quarter and give Gannon a 5-3 lead, and both defenses played well throughout the second quarter, limiting scoring, although Catawba was able to find a pair of goals to tie the game, 5-5, heading into halftime.
 
The third quarter belonged to Gannon, scoring six goals to Catawba's two. The team again scored three consecutive goals thanks to Woodworth, Hepditch, and freshman Grace Cunningham's (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas) first goal of 2022. After a Catawba goal to make it 8-6, the Knights again went on a three-goal scoring spree (Tufts, Woodworth, and another from Grace Cunningham (Webster, N.Y./Webster Thomas)) to push the lead to 11-6.
 
The fourth quarter, however, belonged to the home team. Catawba outscored Gannon 5-1 in the quarter, with the Knights' only goal the Woodworth game-tying strike that stopped Catawba's streak of five unanswered goals and sent the game to overtime tied 12-12. Alli Jacobs (Eden, N.Y./Eden) won the draw for Gannon in the extra period, and the Knights' offense went to work. Woodworth fired a shot wide just 35 seconds later, and then Tufts came through with the game-winner 1:04 into the overtime period.
 
Gannon now returns to McConnell Family Stadium for a two-game homestand, beginning with a matchup versus Bloomsburg University on Friday, March 11 at 4:00 p.m.