Santiago tallies midway through second overtime to lift Royals over McDaniel

WESTMINSTER, Md. – Adriana Santiago score with 7:56 remaining in the second overtime to give Eastern Mennonite a 5-4 non-conference field hockey victory over McDaniel on Saturday.

Katie Corson (Ocean View, N.J./Ocean City) scored twice for the Green Terror (2-5), who dropped its second straight overtime game.

Linda Cimini led the Royals (5-2) with a pair of goals while Hailee Rittle added a goal and two assists.

After a scoreless first extra 15-minute session, McDaniel had its opportunities through the first six minutes of the second session but could not convert.

Off a corner in the 93rd minute, Santiago finished from short range off Rittle's second assist to give Eastern Mennonite the victory in a back-and-forth battle.

Sarah Meszler (Herkimer, N.Y./Herkimer) knocked home a rebound off a saved shot 13 minutes into the game to stake the hosts to a 1-0 lead.

Rittle responded with 3:56 remaining in the first half, knocking one in from the top of the arc to even the game at the break.

Jessica Blanks tapped home a rebound 4:46 into the second half to give the Royals a 2-1 advantage.

Off a corner in the 53rd minute, Paige Messersmith (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) finished from Kaitlin Boerman (Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) to once again tie the game.

Just 2:10 later, Corson gave McDaniel the lead off a scramble in front of the cage.

Back-to-back Cimini tallies gave the Royals a 4-3 lead with 8:39 to play but Corson finished on the backside post off a second Boerman feed in the 66th minute to force overtime.

The Green Terror finished with a 19-11 advantage in shots and 15-9 edge in penalty corners.

McDaniel returns to action at York (Pa.) on Thursday. Game time is 4:30 p.m.

Score by Period                                    1            2            OT            2OT            -            F
Eastern Mennonite (5-2)                        1            3            0            1            -            5
McDaniel (2-5)                                                1            3            0            0            -            4

Scoring Summary:
M – Sarah Meszler, 13:00
E – Hailee Rittle, 31:04
E – Jessica Blanks, 39:46
M – Paige Messersmith (Kaitlin Boerman), 52:41
M – Katie Corson, 54:51
E – Linda Cimini, 56:33
E – Cimini (Rittle), 61:21
M – Corson (Boerman), 65:50
E – Adriana Santiago (Rittle), 92:04

Shots: E 11, M 19. Penalty Corners: E 9, M 15. Saves: E 7 (Becky Nolt), M 2 (Stephanie Thomson).

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