MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. - In just their second season of competition, the Lander Field Hockey team scored two unanswered goals to take down the Limestone Saints, 2-1, in overtime to capture their first South Atlantic Conference title in program history.
Lander finishes the season at 13-6 while Limestone finishes at 12-5.
Although the Bearcats had the shot advantage, 6-2, in the first half, the game was a fairly even affair with Limestone having several chances on the breakaway to crack the scoreboard but the Lander defense which had stood strong all year denied them each time. After 30 minutes, neither team was able to find the back of the cage and went into halftime scoreless.
The Saints would be the first to crack the scoreboard just three minutes into the second half and took a 1-0 lead into the final frame of action.
Lander was awarded back to back penalty corners to start the fourth quarter, the second of which found the stick of Aniek Vreeken (Utrecht, Netherlands) who unleashed a shot from the top of the circle to tie the game at one a piece.
The Bearcats would quickly find themselves on the man advantage shortly after with a green card shown to Limestone but could find the back of the cage.
Each team would get one more shot on target but neither was able to solve the other's keeper and Lander and Limestone went to overtime for the second time this season.
In the overtime period, Limestone was quickly awarded a penalty corner which was thwarted by the Bearcats. That would be the last time that the Saints would be in the offensive half as Lander immediately came down and put two shots on target and was awarded a corner of their own.
After the corner was inserted, a penalty stroke was called and the Bearcats had a chance to end the game from the spot.
Victoria Hulst (Maarssen, Netherlands) stepped up to take the shot and inserted it into the left side of the goal to give Lander the win and the conference title. Hulst was named the SAC Tournament MVP after the game.
The sophomore was joined on the All-Tournament team by Gwen Vendrig (Harderwijk, Netherlands), Isabel Elenga (Hillegom, Netherlands), and Leira Van Tilburg (Nieuw-Vennep, Netherlands).
