Galloway, NJ – Stockton University (8-3) erased a pair of one-goal deficits and never led until Sarah Gawrysiak (Haddon Twp./Haddon Twp.) scored the game-winner with 36 seconds left in the first overtime to lift the Ospreys to a 3-2 victory over Gwynedd Mercy (8-3). The triumph was career win No. 100 for Stockton head coach Sarah Elleman.
 
Gawrysiak was stellar all night, scoring two goals and leading the Ospreys all over the field. Alexa Massa (Moorestown/Moorestown) contributed a goal and an assist. Stockton goalkeeper Emily Gilligan (West Deptford/West Deptford) was outstanding, earning the win with a career-high 16 saves.
 
Three yellow cards in overtime led to wide-open play and numerous scoring chances as the teams went six-on-six and later six-on-five. Gilligan made five saves in OT, including a couple of beauties to extend the game. Her counterpart Sarah Crane made two of her seven stops in overtime as well.
 
The third yellow card of the period went against Gwynedd Mercy and gave Stockton the man-advantage. The Ospreys capitalized as Gawrysiak received a feed from Massa, stickhandled to the right wing and fired a blast into the cage for the 3-2 victory.
 
Stockton was outshot 23-14 overall, including 9-3 in the first half, yet the game was tied 1-1 at the break. The Griffins' Brianna O'Connell opened the scoring just over 17 minutes in with the first of her two goals on the night.
 
Ten minutes later, Stockton tied the game on its only scoring chance of the half. On a penalty corner, Massa and Victoria Caiazzo (Manahawkin/Southern Regional) ran a nice give-and-go that resulted in Massa's team-leading eighth goal of the season and an assist for Caiazzo.
 
Gwynedd Mercy came on strong at the start of the second half and O'Connell put the Griffins on top for the second time with 12:42 gone. After surviving five penalty corners and four shots against, the Ospreys were opportunistic once again.
 
Britney Stein (Ocean City/Ocean City) inserted a penalty corner to Gawrysiak, who stickhandled right and sent a shot back left against the grain that went in off a defender's stick to draw Stockton into a 2-2 tie with 8:40 remaining in regulation. Neither team generated a shot or corner the rest of the way and the game continued in a very exciting overtime that ended with Gawrysiak's game-winner.
 
Elleman, in her second year at Stockton after seven seasons as the head coach at Utica College, improved her career record to 100-64 (.610 winning percentage) with the dramatic OT win.
 
Stockton will be back in action on Saturday with a non-conference game at Neumann that begins at noon.