Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Otterbein University women's lacrosse team split a pair of contests during its spring break trip down south, falling to Millsaps College (Miss.) on Tuesday before rallying for a double overtime victory against host Birmingham-Southern College come Wednesday night.

The Cardinals, now 2-1 on the season, will return to Westerville and host their home opener Friday evening against Hope College. Start time is slated for 6 p.m.

Otterbein fell behind early against Millsaps on day one, with both sides trading 3-0 scoring spurts to start before the Majors strung together a 5-0 run and open an 8-3 advantage.

Millsaps took an 11-6 lead into halftime, but the Cardinals opened strong in the second half with back-to-back goals from Tory Blatt and Katy Williams. Unfortunately, that would be as close as Otterbein got the remainder of the way as the Majors eventually prevailed for a neutral-site victory.

Blatt carried Otterbein on the offensive end again, posting six goals for the second game in a row to lead all scorers. Freshman Ali Kula, making her collegiate debut, and classmate Nicole Coccagno each tallied two goals and one assist.

Otterbein responded the following day against the host Panthers, building a 4-2 lead after 11 minutes before settling for a 5-5 tie entering the break. Both sides traded scores throughout the entire second half, with the game entering the final minutes locked at 10-10.

Drama ensued during the final 60 seconds as Birmingham-Southern scored with 22 seconds remaining, only to see Williams net the equalizing goal for Otterbein, with under 10 seconds to play, and force overtime.

Both teams scored once in the first overtime session before Cardinal senior Courtney Hilfinger had the last laugh, hounding the Birmingham goalie on a clear attempt early in the second session, picking up the ensuing loose ball and finishing strong to give her team a 13-12 victory.

"Our continuous effort is what kept us in that game tonight," Hilfinger said shortly after the win. "I fell to the ground and started crying after that last goal, because I was so happy that we did it as a team. I took the last shot, but we all emerged together with a tremendous group performance."

Blatt led all scorers again with seven total points while Hilfinger finished with five of her own. Ariel Petroval had seven saves in goal and the Cardinals were a solid 12 of 16 on clear attempts.

"We are young and still figuring some things out," head coach Stephani Schmidt said. "With that said, we fought pretty hard today through torrential rain and really nasty conditions, and simply found a way to stay together and get the job done."

Schmidt is pleased with the initial progression of her team, which played without dynamic midfielder Annie Kelly for most of the trip due to an injury.

"I thought we kept emotions under control and were able to maintain possession in critical moments," Schmidt added. "We missed a couple of opportunities during the first overtime, but Courtney just made a great play in that second overtime. I think our newcomers are beginning to mesh well with upperclassmen and develop trust in one another. We will continue piecing this together."