The Allegheny Women’s Lacrosse team defeated conference rival Denison 11–10 in double overtime on Saturday afternoon.  Midfielder Abby Silvester, ’11, won it for the Gators with a shot that found the net 1:13 into the second overtime.

Saturday was Abby Silvester’s twenty-first birthday, but she was the one giving the presents.

The game-winner capped off Silvester’s best performance of the season.  She scored a game-high five goals for the Gators.  Silvester came up big twice in the game for the Gators.  She also scored with 38 seconds left to tie it up the game and send it into overtime.

Coach Paula Habel commented on her performance.

“Abby came up huge for us, it was her birthday and it turns out that she gave her team quite a present,” she said.

Also turning in a clutch performance was goalie Rebecca O’Shurak, ’11, who recorded 11 saves for the Gators.

Saturday’s win was the Gator’s second consecutive victory.  The win helped them helped them improve their record in the conference to above .500 (3–2).  This clinches a spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament at the end of the season.  Depending on the how the season ends, the Gators should be a second or third seed going into the postseason.

The Gators seem to be playing well at the right time.

“The team is playing great, everyone has been stepping up and contributing,” Silvester said.

The success of the Gators is quite impressive considering the plague of injuries they have experienced.  Most recently, they lost Sophomores Gabriella Tetelman and Rebecca Crissman for the season.  In addition, standout Kiah Voyer-Colbath, ’12, has missed a few games due to injury.

“We just try to be focused on what we can control,” Voyer-Colbath said. “What we can control is how we are going to react to having a low number of subs, besides that everything else is out of our control.”

The Gators return to action Friday at 5 p.m. when they go on the road to take on Oberlin. The game gives Allegheny a chance to improve their overall record to 7–7 and their conference mark to 4–2.

“It will be a battle, but if they play Allegheny Lacrosse, we should pick up another big win,” Habel said.