MANHEIM, PA – Sarah Lorusso (Lakeview/Frontier) and Alanna Herne (Tonowanda,NY/Tonowanda) each scored six goals, helping Buffalo State (1-0) secure an 18-16 come-from-behind overtime victory against Albright (2-1) on Friday night in the 2015 season opener and head coaching debut of Lindsay Abbott.
Lorusso and Herne led the Bengal offense, while Rebecca Galanti (Hamburg, NY/Frontier) tallied two points off a goal and an assist. Cassie Saint-Vil (Middletown, NY/Middletown), Kendra Thomas (Painted Post, NY/Corning West), Meghan Farrell (Endicott, NY/Union Endicott), Alexis Wilensky (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) and Courtney Lowd (Smithtown, NY/Smithtown West) each added one goal.
Albright jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in the first five minutes of play, but Buffalo State answered and tied the game at 11:52. The Lions once again jumped on a quick run and held onto an 11-6 lead heading into halftime.
Despite being down, the Bengals continued to slowly chip away at Albright's lead in the second half. Finding themselves down 15-10 with 13:43 remaining in the game, the Bengals turned things up on offense with a 5-0 run to bring the game back to a tie at 25:16. In the last seconds of regulation, the Lions got off a shot, but Elyse Stark (Lido Beach, NY/Long Beach) came up with the save to send things into overtime.
Herne gave Buffalo State its first lead of the game, 17-16, and the eventual game-winner at the three-minute mark. Just over a minute later she added her sixth goal and the last of the game to help the Bengals seal the 18-16 victory.
Stark was again key in the final minute of overtime, stopping two free position shots from the Lions. The sophomore goalkeeper recorded the win in net, playing all 66:00 and making 16 saves.
The Lions finished the game with a slight 20-18 advantage in draw controls, but the Bengals held a 20-17 advantage in ground balls and recorded only 12 turnovers to Albright's 18.
Buffalo State will play another non-conference game on Saturday afternoon at the University of Scranton at 3 p.m.
