VIRGINIA BEACH -- The situation was demanding, the goal was simple ... keep an eye on the ball.

That's the only thought that was going through the mind of Virginia Wesleyan College sophomore goalie Kirsten Olson (Springfield, Va./Lorton South County) (left) on Friday as she stepped into the cage to begin a penalty stroke session against Washington & Lee University.

She locked in on what she had to do and got it done impressively, helping the Marlins to out-shoot the Generals 3-1 in penalty strokes en route to claiming a thrilling 2-1 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory at the U.S. National Training Center.

With jets flying overhead and the noise of a huge crowd next door at the Sportsplex watching a semipro football game, Olson concentrated on her task at hand.  The Generals (4-6, 1-3) hit on their first penalty shot, but Olson batted away the next three and was mobbed by her teammates when she knocked down W&L's fourth attempt.

"I just stayed with the team after the overtime," said Olson.  "Some goalies like to stand by themselves to think about it, but I wanted to be around my teammates.  When I stepped inot the goal I knew I just had to watch the ball."

Her showing in the penalty session followed two intense overtime periods of 7-on-7.  Washington & Lee produced several scoring threats in the final minutes of the second OT, but Olson emerged with four big saves to end the game in a 1-1 draw.  Overall, she recorded six of her game-high 11 saves in overtime play.

"I didn't want to let them win," said Olson. "We were working together and playing hard and I wanted to get it done for my team."

And, she did, helping Virginia Wesleyan to snap a streak of seven consecutive losses in the series with Washington & Lee.  It was VWC's first win over the Generals since 2005.

But, in addition to Olson's stellar effort, the Marlins came through with one of their best efforts in several seasons.  While VWC dominated the first half, Washington & Lee stepped in up in the second half. 

Both teams relied on alert  play, with Evan Bunting (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson), Tara White (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison), Jillian Gorman (Nassawadox, Va./Eastville Northampton), Valerie Nowlan (Virginia Beach/Salem), and Courtney Copeland (Yorktown, Va./Tabb) emerging to steer the VWC effort.  Riley Hampsch (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale), Victoria Van Natten (Towson, Md./Towson), Lindsey Purpura (Yarmouth, Maine/Yarmouth), and Lizz Dye (Houston, Texas/Episcopal) led W&L.

Virginia Wesleyan scored first however, when Taylor Lober (Wilmington, Del./Concord) shot the ball in from the middle from about five yards out in the 34th minute of play, off an assist from rookie Tanya Puccio (Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark).

The Marlins rode that lead for a little more than 14 minutes before Chelsea Stevenson (Lake Forest, Ill./Lake Forest) found the ball in a battle for possession in front of the goal and fired into the back of the cage to tie the game for W&L.

Washington & Lee out-shot the Marlins 7-0 in the second half, but VWC's defense, anchored by Olson, did not break.  Olson recorded four saves in the half.

The Generals finished with a 17-10 advantage in shots and an 11-3 lead in penalty corners.  Kirsten Kyne (Baltimore, Md./Loch Raven) and Caroline Sutherland (Huntingtown, N.Y./Cold Spring Harbor) played in goal for the Generals.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Sunday, Oct. 9, playing in Fredericksburg, Va., against the No. 18 ranked Eagles of host University of Mary Washington at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--