Women's Lacrosse: Late goals deliver Ohio State 14-13 overtime road loss to Massachusetts

OSU then-freshman goalie Jill Rizzo saves a shot against Vermont Credit: Walt Middleton – Courtesy of OSU Athletics

A career-high 23 saves from sophomore goalie Jillian Rizzo wasn’t enough for the Ohio State women’s lacrosse team to take down Massachusetts Sunday, with the team losing in overtime 14-13 after a late comeback from the Minutewomen.

The Buckeyes (2-4) led most of the game but could not hold on in overtime and fell to the Minutewomen (4-2) when redshirt senior attack Hannah Burnett scored off a pass from senior attack Holly Turner with 17 seconds left in the overtime period.

The game-winning goal was only possible because Massachusetts sophomore attacker Kaitlyn Cerasi tied the game at 13 with just a second remaining to send the teams into overtime.

Ohio State struck first less than a minute into the game with a goal by junior midfielder Baley Parrott. Junior attacker McKayla Conti and junior attack Sara Dickinson had two goals each in the first half to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 6-3 headed into halftime.

Ohio State freshman midfielder Lindsay Epstein scored less than three minutes into the second half, but the Minutewomen went on a 3-0 run early to close the Buckeyes’ lead to one.

Both teams traded points, but two back-to-back goals by Ohio State senior attacker Molly Wood pushed the Buckeyes lead to three. Massachusetts followed with a 3-0 run to tie the game at 12-12 with less than two minutes left in the half.

Conti scored her fourth goal of the game and took the lead on a free position shot with 20 seconds left in the game, but the defense could not hold off the Minutewomen long enough to secure the win.

Conti led the Buckeyes with four goals, while Dickinson set a career high with three goals. Dickinson also had a pair of assists. Wood finished the game with four draw controls and three goals, two of which were assisted by Dickinson.

The Buckeyes were out-shot by Massachusetts by 18 and had 25 turnovers compared to the Minutewomen’s 10.

Ohio State returns to Columbus to take on Connecticut at 7 p.m. Wednesday.