EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa.- The Lock Haven University women’s soccer team (4-7-1, 1-4-1 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference) fought hard all day, but eventually fell to the Lady Warriors of East Stroudsburg University (5-4, 4-2 PSAC) 4-3 in double overtime.

The Lady Eagles struggled early on, as East Stroudsburg controlled the tempo in the first 15 minutes, as junior forward Tara Takac scored the first goal of the game, putting a shot past the diving Emily Wagner.

Lock Haven answered back quickly however, as Kyleigh Roth (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) sent in a left footed cross that was mishandled by ESU defender Kaitlin Anders, and resulted in an own goal against East Stroudsburg, evening the score at 1-1.

Shortly after the goal, the momentum started to shift in favor of Lock Haven, as Heidi Weller (Mifflinburg, Pa/Mifflinburg) and Colleen Kafka (Candor, N.Y./Candor) narrowly missed an opportunity 20 minutes into the first half.

The score remained deadlocked at 1-1 until Lock Haven answered with another goal, this time with Roth assisting freshman Arielle Gordon (Epharta, Pa./Epharta) with a great thru-ball that Gordon buried past the diving ESU goalkeeper Janine Turcio.

With the score 2-1 Lock Haven, the Lady Eagle defense sputtered, and allowing two goals within 10 minutes, bringing the score to 3-2 in favor of the Lady Warriors.

It looked bleak for the Lady Eagles after giving up two unanswered goals, until reserve junior midfielder Sam Engard (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Mechanicsburg) picked up a loose ball just outside the 18 yard box with less than six minutes left, and ripped a shot bottom right corner past the goalkeeper Turcio, knotting the game up at three.

The first overtime was uneventful, with neither team being presented with any significant scoring opportunities.

The second overtime was a different story, as freshman midfielder Kailyn Buckley fired a shot from nearly 25 yards over, which went over the head of the diving LHU goalkeeper Emily Wagner (Brick, N.J./Brick Township) for the game winner. Wagner, Lock Haven’s starting goalkeeper for the past four seasons, was spectacular on the day, taking away several quality chances from the Lady Warriors, and made 10 saves on the day, putting her only seven saves away from the school record.

“I was definitely pleased with our performance on offense. That was definitely the silver lining on the day,” said coach Heather Davis. “Emily played fantastic in goal, but we just couldn’t overcome some of the errors we had on defense,” said Davis of her team’s performance.

The Lady Eagles are next in action Wednesday, Sept. 26 against Mansfield University. Kick-off is scheduled for 4 p.m.