Senior Tory Bensen helped Penn defeat Harvard with a four-goal performance, yet none of her goals were bigger than her last, which came in double overtime to give Penn a 10-9 victory.
While one overtime wasn't enough for Penn women's lacrosse, a second OT treated the Quakers just fine.
After sophomore Lely DeSimone tied the game, 9-9, with just over a minute to go in the first overtime, the Red and Blue completed their comeback against Harvard in the Ivy League Tournament semifinal as senior Tory Bensen scored in double overtime.
The 10-9 win for Penn (11-4, 7-1 Ivy) moves the Quakers into the finals of the Ivy League Tournament, where they will play either Princeton or Cornell depending on the outcome of Friday's second semifinal. Penn defeated Cornell last week, 10-8, up in Ithaca while the Red and Blue's only blemish on their Ivy record was a 9-5 defeat at Princeton on April 16.
Sunday's Ivy League Tournament final will be played at Princeton, which is the No. 1 overall seed this year.
Against Harvard, Penn came out of the gate well, scoring the first two goals of the contest. The tallies came from DeSimone and fellow sophomore Catherine Dickinson.
From there, the game became a back-and-forth affair, with neither team able to take a significant lead. The Crimson (9-7, 4-4) led, 5-3, at the half, out-shooting the Quakers, 12-6, while forcing four turnovers. The Red and Blue were held scoreless for the final 16:55 of the first half.
The second began similar to the first half, as Penn scored the first four goals of the half. The Quakers scored five of the first six goals in the final half of regulation, taking an 8-6 lead into the final five minutes.
But Harvard had a run in its bones. The Crimson scored the next three goals, tying the game before the end of regulation before putting the Red and Blue on the brink of defeat with a goal in the first OT period. Yet DeSimone and Bensen would come up clutch for the Quakers, scoring goals to put Penn on top.
Penn is now looking to repeat as Ivy League Tournament champions after taking down Dartmouth in last year's Tournament final.
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