C. Milton Wright freshman Jordan Landsman scored a free position goal with 2.6 seconds left Tuesday night, lifting the Mustangs over the host Bel Air Bobcats, 10-9, in a key UCBAC Chesapeake Division girls lacrosse game.
"I was nervous definitely, I knew this was pretty much the last chance to make it count and it's all kind of a blur, but I just settled down and relaxed and once it went in, I was just really excited and happy," Landsman said.
The win pushed the Mustangs (4-0) to the top of the division standings ahead of the Bobcats (3-1). Both teams are 6-3 overall.
Sam Keesey's team-best third goal put Bel Air ahead, 9-6, with 12:25 to play. The three-goal lead was the biggest of the contest for either team.
Haley Alexander (one assist) scored her team-leading fourth goal for the Mustangs with 2:33 to play, cutting the deficit to 9-7. Kendall Little (two goals) scored at the 1:16 mark and Julia O'Mara tied the game with her only goal with 23.5 seconds left.
CMW, which had a 14-7 advantage in draw controls, needed and won the most important one of the night. The Mustangs called a timeout with 12 seconds left, setting up the final winning shot.
"At the end, it got a little sketchy," Mustangs coach Brent Ritz said. "I didn't think we were going to have four goals at that point."
The Mustangs' draw advantage was 7-1 in the first half. Despite that, Bel Air managed to take a 4-3 lead into the half. Much credit had to go to the Bobcats goalie, Sydney Matthews, who turned away eight shots in that first half and finished with 15 saves.
The Mustangs jumped to a 3-1 lead just six minutes into the game, but Bel Air scored three unanswered goals in the final 18 minutes of the half to get the lead.
It didn't take the Mustangs long to even things up in the second half. Alexander took possession on the draw and scored just 14 seconds into the half.
The teams' traded goals just 28 seconds apart, before Bel Air reeled off its second three-goal run to set up the final 12 minutes.
"You're going up against a great team in C. Milton Wright and you know that no matter how many goals you're up, the game isn't over until its over," Bobcats coach Kristen Barry said. "We knew they were going to battle us to the end. Our girls came up a little short today, but I'm absolutely proud of the way they played."
Haley Matthai scored two goals for the Mustangs, while Bekah Riley and Emily McQuay (one assist) scored two goals each for Bel Air. Shannon Williams added a goal and an assist and Anna Farley added one goal.
Mustangs keeper Katelyn Miller made seven saves.
Cougars beat Huskies
Fallston (1-2, 4-5) earned its first Chesapeake win Tuesday, beating visiting Patterson Mill (2-2, 3-8), 13-8. The Cougars led at halftime, 7-5.
Fallston scoring was led by Anna Dennison, who scored four goals and added one assist. Isabelle Dallam added three goals and an assist and Zoe Hurlburt finished with two goals and two assists. Meghan Muldoon also scored a pair of goals and Logan Gasior had a goal and two assists. Emily Solak also scored a goal for the Cougars.
Kaley Thompson tossed in four goals to lead the Huskies and Nina Urban scored twice. EJ Karwatka had a goal and three assists and Brianna Collins scored one goal.
Fallston goalie Erika Wright made five saves, as did Patterson Mill goalie Abby Smith.
Hawks beat Cobras
North Harford (2-2, 5-6) was also a winner in Chesapeake play Tuesday, knocking off visiting Harford Tech (1-2, 6-2), 21-13.
Maria Auth (three assists) and Maggie Galloway scored five goals each to lead the Hawks. Meghan O'Donnell (three assists) and Ashley Hedrick (one assist) added three goals apiece.
Tori Arcilesi led Tech's scoring with four goals.
North Harford goalie Jodi Enfield finished with five saves.
Indians beat Mariners
Joppatowne (1-4, 1-5) wasn't so fortunate in its Susquehanna Division game with visiting North East. Joppatowne fell, 19-5.
Sami Soul took care of more than half the scoring with three goals.
Julyann Marx contributed two ground balls and two caused turnovers and Kiley Hartsell had one ground ball and one draw control.
Mariners goalie Savannah Day made 12 saves.
Other scores
In Susquehanna play, Aberdeen (1-3, 1-7) lost 12-11 to visiting Bo Manor and in a non-league game, Edgewood (5-5) lost to visiting Reservoir, 17-6.