EASTON, Pa. – The first 2018-19 installment of The Rivalry lived up to its billing on Friday evening at Rappolt Field as freshman Molly McAndrew of the Lafayette field hockey team found the game-winner 20 seconds into overtime to secure a thrilling 3-2 win over Lehigh.

"It was honestly probably the best moment of my hockey career so far," McAndrew said. "Hopefully, there will be a lot more to come though, so I know we have to build on it and keep the wins coming."

The overtime winner capped off a needed second-half rally, as two goals from Lehigh to open the second stanza gave the visitors a 2-1 lead with less than 20 minutes to play. Junior co-captain Lisa van der Geest teamed up with senior Theresa Delahanty (playing her first game of the season after missing the opening five games with a broken hand) and junior Cameron Costello for a goal off a penalty corner, ripping a shot into the right-side netting to knot the game at 2-2 in the 52^nd minute. McAndrew did the rest in extra time.

Beginning the extra frame with possession, the Leopards played it back from center and immediately moved it out wide to the left side through the midfield. The ball found its way up front to McAndrew, who side-stepped a pair of defenders and slid a shot around the out-stretched pad of Lehigh goalie Paige Innarella and into the far side, erupting the Lafayette sideline and sounding the buzzer on a thrilling performance.

"I thought our team played really well. Lehigh is a good opponent and they do a lot of things well. They made it extremely difficult for us to attack in certain areas of the field," head coach Jennifer Stone added. "With that said, I thought our team played a really good game today. We felt like the breakthrough was coming. To get a win against Lehigh is always a good thing and to get a league win is obviously important."

The victory is the first for the Maroon and White in the 2018 campaign and moves the Leopards to 1-5 on the season, but 1-0 in Patriot League action. Lehigh drops to 1-5 as well and 0-1 in conference play.

Senior Kristen Taylor connected with sophomore Grace Angelella for the Leopards' first goal of the contest as Taylor sent a cross into the circle from the right side, finding Angelella, who settled and finished back against the grain past Innarella into the lower right corner. Lehigh's tallies were scored by Lenke Havas and Anna Lehman.

Lafayette junior goalie Sarah Park made just one save on the night but had a number of key plays, including an impressive contest a significant distance from her goal in the second half to thwart a Lehigh transition opportunity. Park has been the goalie of record in all six contests, sitting at 1-5 this season, while Lehigh's Innarella drops to 1-5 despite a fantastic performance with eight saves on the opposite end.

Lafayette was able to control possession throughout the night, winning the shot battle by a 19-6 margin and consistently able to sustain pressure in its offensive zone. The Leopards induced 12 penalty corners, with one resulting in van der Geest's game-tying goal, while Lehigh managed just two corners, converting on the first of those chances.

The Maroon and White will enjoy the victory for just a short period of time as they return to Rappolt Field on Sunday for their next contest, a battle with Albany beginning at 1 p.m.