Ofalt’s OT goal completes Souderton’s comeback win over Gwynedd Mercy

FRANCONIA >> Juliana Ofalt’s role on the Souderton girls lacrosse team does not give her many goal-scoring opportunities. But there the senior was Friday night with the ball in her stick and chance to win the game on a free position shot.

“When I got that shooting space, I’m like this is unbelievable, cause I’m a defender,” Ofalt said. “So this is probably going to be one of the only times I’ll shoot in my senior year and it’s one of the most important shots of our season.”

It may not have been a position she is accustomed to, but Ofalt was ready for the moment.

“I knew what I was going to do right away,” she said. “Whether it worked or not that was just up to fate.”

Ofalt charged from the top of the 8-meter arc and let go an overhead shot that found the back of the net at 1:40 in the extra period as Souderton rallied from three goals down in the final minute to edge Gwynedd Mercy 9-8 for a non-league win.

“We made it out of this week alive and we did it in a bit of a dramatic fashion, but hey they turned it on when they needed to,” Souderton coach Lindsay Walbrandt said. “I am so proud of them for digging deep.”

The Indians (6-4, 5-0 Suburban One League National) trailed GMA 8-5 after a Hailey Durkin goal with 1:09 remaining in the second half, but Souderton scored three times in the last 46.2 seconds of regulation – Sarah Goodwin’s tally on a free position shot tying the game 8-8 at 2.0 seconds.

Ofalt capped the comeback as Souderton ended a four games in five days run with a third consecutive victory.

“In the last minute or two, we knew it’s now or never and we just kind of turned it on,” Ofalt said.

Durkin had a game-high four goals for Gwynedd Mercy (6-3, 4-2 Catholic Academies) while Bridget Beck and Lizzy Ferguson both scored twice.

““We did exactly what we wanted to do. We did not sub one time. We played with the same players from beginning to end because that’s what we came with,” Gwynedd Mercy coach Deborah Lawlor said. “And we didn’t have anybody that could fill any spots on that with the injuries and sicknesses that we have right now.”

Goodwin and Carlie Doughty each had two goals for the Indians, who had seven players score on Big Red’s Souderton Area Girls Lacrosse Association (SAGLA) Night.

“When we little it’s what we looked forward to all the time. I was so excited and nervous coming into tonight, it just being my last SAGLA Night to start off,” Ofalt said. “And to have a game like tonight is really special.

Souderton goalkeeper Hannah Schmidt finished with 14 saves, several early which kept GMA off the scoreboard until Durkin’s strike at 15:26 in the first half.

“Hannah Schmidt played out of her mind. She really did,” Walbrandt said. “Hannah, most people would never know looking at tonight’s game, she just started playing goalie in January. She played once when she was in like eighth grade. She’s a rock star soccer player. And so we recruit her out, we need another goalie and she played phenomenally. She kept us in this game. She 100 percent did.

“I told her at the end of the game you were the MVP today. You might not have scored the winning goal, but you were the MVP tonight.”

The Indians try to keep their momentum going 3:30 p.m. Tuesday when they visit Central Bucks South in a matchup of the final two SOL National unbeatens. South moved to 5-0 in conference play with a 9-8 win over Central Bucks West Thursday.

“I was a South-(CB) West game last night and they’re going to be a good team,” Lindsay Walbrandt said. We’re perfectly capable of hanging with them and beating them, but we really got to buckle down in practices leading up that and stick to our game plan.”

Wissahickon is back on the field 4 p.m. Monday hosting Wissahickon in a non-league contest.

“These girls did everything out there for themselves as a team, not as an individual and they didn’t need me to keep checking them,” Lawlor said. “We made a turn today. We are Gwynedd lacrosse.”

Durkin came around the net to give the Monarchs an 8-5 advantage with 69 seconds to go. After Souderton went more than 19 minutes without a goal, Goodwin scored at 46.2 while Kate Halteman’s pulled the Indians within 8-7 at 35.2 seconds.

“The draw control, which we struggled with earlier and that’s kind of why we could never find our groove,” Walbrandt said. “We made some changes and talked about it at halftime and that’s what won it for us, possession.”

Goodwin earned a free position shot with 4.6 seconds left and her overhand shot released among three GMA players hit twine at 2.0 seconds.

Souderton led just one in the first half – Leah Goodwin’s goal to make it 1-0 at 17:51. Durkin tied the game at 15:26 with Beck put in a rebound for a 2-1 GMA lead at 13:17.

Doughty’s goal made it 3-3 at 5:57, but Ferguson score on a free position shot at 5:28 and Durkin’s tally at 23.7 put the Monarchs up 5-3 at the break.

Another Durkin goal pushed GMA’s lead to 6-3 before Krista Schneider a Doughty had the Indians within 6-5 at 20:17. The next goal did not come until 5:30 when Ferguson extended the margin to two.