Penn men’s lacrosse is no stranger to overtime.
Entering Saturday’s matchup with Harvard, the Quakers had played five extra periods this season. They had not, however, picked up a win on the road.
Saturday in Boston, the clock struck zero with the No. 15 Red and Blue and Crimson knotted at six. After more than five minutes of scoreless sudden-death action, freshman Drew Belinsky once again answered the call for the Quakers when he took the ball from behind the net, shook one defender, pivoted past another and beat Harvard goaltender Harry Krieger to give Penn a double-overtime win.
“It’s an awesome feeling,” Belinsky said. “All throughout my high-school career I never scored an overtime goal.”
Saturday was his second sudden-victory winner in as many weeks.
Similar to the Quakers’ most recent overtime match — a win over Yale two weeks ago — the Red and Blue (6-4, 3-2 Ivy) held a 6-4 goal advantage over the Crimson late in the fourth quarter. Harvard (7-5, 1-3) duplicated the Bulldogs’ comeback and tied the match off goals from Kevin Vaughan and Ryan Stevens.
Both teams had quality final chances in regulation, but overtime was once again in the cards for Penn. The Quakers were frustrated to have allowed another opponent to erase their late lead but they maintained their cool heading into extra play.
“Those two goals were just great plays by Harvard,” coach Mike Murphy said.
“Guys just kept saying, ‘Make the next play,’” Belinsky added.
The first overtime saw plenty of action and opportunity for both teams to put away the game.
Penn held the ball in the offensive zone for three minutes before Krieger saved a shot from senior Corey Winkoff. Harvard then had a chance to win, but sent the shot wide. Belinsky’s goal in the second overtime completed the Quakers’ resilient effort.
“It’s kind of ironic because that goal wasn’t on a designed play,” Murphy said. “It was a great composed effort.”
The Red and Blue never trailed in the match and held a slim 32-30 shot advantage, mostly due to their work in the first quarter when they outshot the Crimson 9-3.
Penn also held separate 2-1 and 4-2 leads, and Harvard fought back to tie on each occasion. Senior Morgan Griff thought he had the game won with two fourth-period goals, which put the Quakers up, 6-4.
“I thought we were in control of this game the whole time — it was unlike some of our other [overtime] games,” Murphy said.
Though the Quakers’ propensity for overtime thrillers might be turning some hairs gray, Belinsky sees some positives.
“We’ve become really comfortable,” he said of the overtime games. “It’s great practice for the Ivy League tournament.”
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