The University of Redlands needed five extra periods to do it, but the second-seeded Bulldogs pulled out a 7-6 upset over top-seeded Occidental College in Sunday's Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Tournament Championship.
The title game provided an impressive bout between two talented teams with neither squad gaining much of an edge at any point of the extended match.
The score became knotted at every opportunity with regulation ending in a five-all stalemate.
Through two overtime periods, the teams traded goals again, leading to the initial golden-goal stanza.
Finally in the third bout of sudden-victory periods, junior driver Dianna Melancon (Riverside, CA) scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity with 1:19 remaining on the clock.
Melancon and sophomore driver Moana Tuipulotu (Lahaina, HI) each provided two scores, while junior center Jaime Nippert (Gresham, OR), junior center Joy Corona (Lake Bluff, IL) and sophomore center-defender Jill Stein (Palm Desert, CA) recorded one goal apiece.
Freshman goalkeeper Julie Lupfer (San Diego, CA) offered an impressive performance in the cage, garnering 12 saves in the thrilling victory.
Based on the combination of dual-game wins and the tournament finish, Redlands (22-10, 8-2 SCIAC) nabs a share of the conference championship with Occidental. However, by winning the tournament, the Bulldogs earn the SCIAC's automatic bid to the NCAA play-in game against Iona College (NY) on May 7 in Greenwich, CT. The winner of that match continues on to the NCAA Championships at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor on May 13-15.
