McTiernan lifts Garden City in double OT

The game provided enough of its own, so we'll skip the suspense: Garden City defeated host St. Anthony's, 11-10, in double overtime Saturday.

Alexandra Bruno drew a double team as she came across inside the 10, which was Catherine McTiernan's cue. The attack curled from behind the right of the goal, received the short pass and dumped it into the near corner with 51.6 seconds left in the non-league contest.

"My mind was blank," said McTiernan, whom teammates rushed to hug. "Just took one step, fired, then bam!"

And just like that, Garden City made its, "Ahem, don't forget about us" statement. St. Anthony's entered ranked No. 1 nationally in ESPN Rise's girls lacrosse preseason poll; the Trojans were 10th.

"I actually had some jitters before this one," said Garden City's Mikaela Rix, who had three goals. "It's a huge game . . . Preseason rankings don't really tell a whole lot, but they're great. It's really gratifying to beat them."

Difficult, too. Caroline Tarzian (two goals, three assists) had given Garden City a 9-8 lead with 3:07 left in regulation, but Kerrin Maurer answered with one of her four goals -- while falling down -- to knot it with 1:46 remaining.

The Trojans (3-0) took the lead in the first overtime when Barbara Sullivan split two defenders to score with 51 seconds left. In the second overtime, Lauren Schwalje (two goals) scored off a flip from Anne Heagerty a couple of yards out with 1:05 left.

SEE PHOTOSGarden City 11, St. Anthony's 10 (2 OT)

"Garden City is an awesome team, but we hate losing," Friars coach Corinne Broesler said. The Trojans won the last meeting, 12-7, in 2009. "But the mistakes we made are fixable and we'll be better for this."

St. Anthony's (1-1) led 2-0, and their "attacking" defense and strong play in the net by Tori Holland (nine saves) gave the Trojans fits.

Garden City eventually broke through and had a threescore barrage in the final 2:06 of the first half. Goals by Catherine Dickinson, Bruno and Tarzian gave them a 4-2 lead.

In the second half, Rix put them up 8-7 on a breakaway, then Darcy Messina tied it with 5:14 left. And the back-and-forth continued.

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"It's nerve-racking," Kelly Weis said. The Trojans goalie made nine saves, one on a point-blank shot in overtime. "These are the games we live for."