Manchester, N.H. (April 20) -- On Sunday afternoon, the Saint Anselm women's lacrosse team came up just short in an 18-17 overtime loss to No. 8 ranked New Haven in non-conference play at Melucci Field.

Saint Anselm charged out to an early 5-1 lead as Beth Millian (Arlington, Mass.) had a hat trick in the opening 5:15 of play in the first half. Brigid Brady got New Haven to within one at 6-5 with 8:24 left in the first half before the Hawks stretched the lead back out to 11-7 off a goal from Michaela Rocha (Rye, N.H.) that was assisted on by Millian. The two teams traded goals in the final minutes of the period and the Hawks took a 12-9 lead into the halftime break.

In the second half, the Chargers answered with three quick goals in the opening 3:30 of the second half and tied things up at 12-12, the first tie since the opening draw. Courtney Ford (Concord, Mass.) scored two goals to get the hosts back out in front at 14-12 before three straight Brady goals gave the Chargers their first lead of the game at 15-14 with 15:14 left in regulation. Tia Karon (Medford, Mass.) tied things up again just 41 seconds later before New Haven took its first two-goal lead of the game at 17-15 with 7:23 left on the clock. Ford scored two outstanding goals though and had a chance in the final seconds to win the game and the two teams headed into the extra periods knotted at 17-17.

Ashley Ferrandiz scored with 51 seconds left in the first three-minute overtime period and the Chargers held the Hawks offense idle for the last 3:51 of extra time for the win.

Katherine O'Hara (Norwell, Mass.) made nine saves in the loss, while Shannon Greenwood made 11 saves for the victory.

Saint Anselm falls to 5-9 overall, while New Haven is now 13-2 overall on the season. The Hawks wrap up the regular season on Tuesday night as the team takes on Bryant at 7 p.m. in Smithfield, R.I.