Yale had to go the extra mile to win in front of its home crowd in the Ivy League semifinals.
There are few things in sports more exhilarating than a period of sudden-death overtime in a single-elimination tournament.
Four periods of sudden-death overtime is certainly one of those things.
That's what it took for Yale to earn a 13-12 victory over Penn in the Ivy League semifinals on Friday. After Bulldogs junior Ben Reeves tied the game with 55 seconds remianing in regulation, Joseph Sessa won it just over 14 minutes later.
Joey Sessa wins it in overtime for @YaleLacrosse. 13-12 Final. Yale moves on to the Ivy Final vs Brown. pic.twitter.com/7sxlSQhbXx
— Dan Aburn (@danaburn2423) May 6, 2017
The game was amazingly close from start to finish, with neither team ever leading by more than two goals. After witnessing a first quarter that saw 11 goals scored in a 6-5 Quaker advantage, it would be hard to believe the teams could go so long in extra time without a score.
But things really calmed down from there offensively, with just 13 goals scored over the remaining three periods of regulation.
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Penn was led by Reilly Hupfeldt with three goals, including one in the fourth quarter that looked to be the game-winner until Reeves' equalizer. Reeves joined teammate Eric Scott with a hat trick, while Sessa's winner was his first goal of the evening.
GOAL. SESSA WITH THE GAME WINNER, AND YALE IS HEADED TO THE IVY LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP.
— Yale Lacrosse (@YaleLacrosse) May 6, 2017
Yale gets a day off to rest up from the extra mileage before a noon ET battle with Brown on Sunday for the automatic spot in the NCAA tournament. That game will be aired on ESPNU.
