SWARTHMORE, Pa.—For the second game in a row, Swarthmore Men's Lacrosse needed overtime to settle the score with its Centennial Conference opponent. On Saturday against McDaniel College, the Garnet needed just 41 seconds of extra time to score the golden goal, but in Wednesday night's game against the Washington College Shoremen, the Garnet needed even less time to tally the game-winner. Freshman Austin Chang provided the sudden victory eight seconds into overtime, flushing a close-range shot from left of the goal and giving Swarthmore the 11-10 win. Chang scored a team-high three goals and had them all in the final nine minutes of the game.
The win was crucial for the Garnet who are in the thick of the playoff hunt with one game remaining. The Garnet (4-3 Centennial) are tied for the fourth and final playoff spot with Ursinus College. For the Garnet to make the postseason, they need to beat Haverford on Saturday and have Ursinus lose to Dickinson.
Swarthmore jumped to a 5-0 lead with five different players scoring in the first quarter. However, the visitors strung together four consecutive goals and caught the Garnet with 1:55 remaining in the third quarter. The Garnet finally tallied a third-quarter goal with nine seconds remaining as Matt Johnson finished a beautiful pass through traffic from Cam Marsh.
The Garnet and Shoremen traded goals through the first 10-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter, but the Shoremen evened the score at 10-10 with just 38 seconds left in regulation.
Once overtime arrived, Swarthmore's Stephen Ducey won the faceoff cleanly, his 15th win in 20 attempts. He drove downfield and dumped off a pass to Johnson on the left wing. Johnson quickly zipped a pass to Chang who was waiting a few yards off the left post. Chang, who had scored with 8:52 and 4:46 left in regulation, cranked a low shot for the game-winner with 3:52 left in overtime.
In addition to Chang's hat trick, Johnson scored twice as did Marsh and Dylan Rittenhouse. Eric Levin and Zander Levitz also scored a goal.
In goal for the Garnet, Cole Fox recorded 10 saves.
Swarthmore looks to do its part to claim a postseason berth when it plays at Haverford on Saturday.
* Playoff Scenarios awaiting verfication from the Centennial Conference office. *
Playoff Scenarios (Gburg loses, Swat wins, Dickinson wins)
#1 F&M finishes 8-0 or 7-1
#2 Dickinson 6-2
#3 Swarthmore 5-3 (Head-to-head [win over Gettysburg])
#4 Gettysburg 5-3
(Out) Ursinus 4-4
Playoff Scenarios (Gburg wins, Swat wins, Dickinson wins)
#1 F&M finishes 8-0 or 7-1
#2 Gettysburg 6-2 (Head-to-head [win over Dickinson])
#3 Dickinson 6-2
#4 Swarthmore 5-3
(Out) Ursinus 4-4
Playoff Scenarios (Gburg wins, Swat wins, Ursinus wins)
#1 F&M finishes 8-0 or 7-1
#2 Gettysburg finishes 6-2
#3 Ursinus 5-3 (head-to-head [win over both Dickinson and Swarthmore])
#4 Dickinson 5-3 (head-to-head [win over Swarthmore])
(Out) Swarthmore 5-3
Playoff Scenarios (Gburg loses, Swat wins, Ursinus wins by 7 or more)
#1 F&M finishes 8-0 or 7-1
#2 Ursinus 5-3 (goal differential +4)
#3 Dickinson 5-3 (goal differential +3, goals allowed to top-seed F&M = 9)
#4 Gettysburg 5-3 (goal differential +3, goals allowed to F&M = 11)
(Out) Swarthmore 5-3 (goal differential -10)
Playoff Scenarios (Gburg loses, Swat wins, Ursinus wins by 6 goals or fewer)
#1 F&M finishes 8-0 or 7-1
#2 Dickinson 5-3 (goal diff. +4)
#3 Gettysburg 5-3 (goal diff +3, goals allowed to F&M = 11)
#4 Ursinus 5-3 (goal diff +3, goals allowed to F&M =17)
(Out) Swarthmore 5-3 (goal differential -10)
