Women’s Soccer Captures Double Overtime Thriller

BROCKTON, Mass. ---- Shauna Fitzpatrick (Braintree/Whitman-Hanson HS) buried a penalty kick in the 103^rd minute to help the Massasoit women's soccer team claim a thrilling  2-1 double-overtime victory against Mercer County CC.

In the win, Massasoit (8-3-1) received stellar play from sophomore keeper Laura Ellis (Raynham/Bristol-Plymouth HS), who finished with a career-high 27 saves in net as the Warriors defeated their second NJCAA Division I team of the season.

"That maybe one of the best performances I've seen here at Massasoit," head coach Jim Stapleton said. "It was a huge win for us against a quality (NJCAA) D1 opponent. Laura (Ellis) was superb in goal for us all day and our defensive unit was up to the challenge."

Mercer County (7-5) rifled off 43 total shots, 28 on goal, compared to just nine shots by Massasoit (six on goal). But Ellis was a stonewall in net, allowing just one shot to sneak past her.

For the first 30-plus minutes of action, the match was deadlocked in a scoreless tie. That was the case until, Carly Cavalier knocked in a pass from Dana Davies to give the Vikings the 1-0 lead in the 35^th minute.

The Warriors would respond quickly, as Shelby Sprague (Stoughton) ripped a shot from 35 yards out for her 22^nd goal of the season to tie up the score with just four minutes remaining in the opening stanza.

Neither team would score in the second half, or the first overtime period, setting up a thrilling finish.

A foul was called in the box against Mercer County, allowing Massasoit to attempt a penalty kick. Fitzpatrick had the honors and fired one to the back of the net for the game winner in the 103^rd minute of action.