SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - After a dominating performance against Rhode Island College yesterday, the Western Connecticut State University women's lacrosse team was edged in overtime at non-conference foe Springfield College, 15-14, on Sunday afternoon. Junior midfielder Vicky Gracy (Bethel, Conn.) netted five goals, while senior attacker Dominique DeMarsico (Danbury, Conn.) added four to go along with a pair of assists for the Wolves.

Graduate student midfielder Jade O'Connor (Baltimore, Md.) was red-hot, tallying a game-high eight goals including the game-winner for the Pride. Rookie midfielder Sarah Newton (Colchester, Conn.) chipped in with a hat trick.

WestConn opened the contest with three-straight goals. Gracy sparked the run off a feed from senior attacker Alexa Riggio (Massapequa, N.Y.) before DeMarsico rounded it out with an unassisted goal on the player advantage midway thru the first quarter.

The hosts responded in the second. O'Connor struck for three-straight scoring strikes and the Pride added another, seizing a 6-5 halftime lead.

Springfield widened the gap to 8-6 in the third before the Wolves countered. DeMarsico canned the equalizer to make it 8-8. She would fire home another shot with 20 seconds left in the stanza, giving WestConn a 12-9 advantage heading into the fourth.

However, the Pride reeled off five-straight tallies to regain a 14-12 lead. O'Connor and Newtown each scored a pair during the flurry. But WestConn would not go down easily as senior midfielder Colleen Foley (Kingston, Mass.) found the back of the net before Gracy added the game-tying marker with 5:29 remaining in regulation to make it 14-14. 

The Wolves won the opening draw of the extra session. But the hosts forced a turnover and then drew a foul. It set up O'Connor for the game-winning free position goal with 3:52 left in OT. 

WestConn senior goalkeeper Anna Schipf (Babylon, N.Y.) took the tough loss and finished with eight saves, while junior netminder Haley Moody (Wells, Me.) came on in relief to earn the win and stopped three shots. Starting senior Emily McDermott (Marshfield, Mass.) notched four saves.

With the loss, the Wolves dropped to 7-2 overall while the Pride improved to 6-4. WestConn returns to action at Little East Conference opponent Castleton University on Friday at 4 p.m.