MORGANTOWN — The University girls’ lacrosse team has two losses on the year and they’ve both come to in-state powerhouse Fairmont Senior High School by one single goal. The first was a 13-12 victory for the Polar Bears earlier in the season. The latest was an overtime thriller in which the Hawks were downed 8-7. at home Friday night
“Fairmont Senior hasn’t lost a game in nearly four years for a reason,” UHS coach Kevin Armstrong said after the game. “They’re coached well and they have really nice talent. Their goalie, Liz, was MVP. She stuffed a lot of our shots and kept them in the game at times.”
Fairmont Senior won the opening faceoff and scored just 25 seconds into the first half to take an early 1-0 lead. But the Hawks responded with four unanswered goals and found themselves leading 4-1 with 11 minutes to play until halftime.
Minutes later, Fairmont found its second and third goals in rapid succession. A penalty by UHS gave the Polar Bears a good look at an open net that they took advantage of for their second goal, before scoring their third on another fastbreak on a faceoff.
A 4-4 halftime lead resulted from the explosive first half between two of the state’s top teams.
The second half saw goals being traded through the first ten minutes played. FS held a 6-5 advantage, but with 9:02 to play Anna Nichols found the back of the net to tie the game at six after UHS was denied multiple times on close shots.
The Hawks would find the back of the net again with 7:36 to play as Kelsie Kyle slotted home. But with just under five minutes to go, the Polar Bears equalized and forced the game into overtime.
“We told our girls all week that the game was going to go back and forth,” Armstrong said. “And we said that the team who was stronger mentally would come out on top. We didn’t come out on top, but I’m really proud of the way they kept their heads in the game and responded and worked as a team when they needed to the most.”
After a back-and-forth affair, the Polar Bears earned a breakthrough goal after a crucial penalty call late into the overtime period giving the visitors a free look at the net. They took advantage of the opportunity and ended the game in overtime 8-7.
The Hawks will return home tomorrow for their senior day against George Washington. Next Thursday will be another home game against crosstown rival UHS in the Lauren’s Wish night game, raising awareness for addiction recovery.
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