PISCATAWAY, N.J. –  It was only fitting the career night for Paige Paratore ended with an exclamation point, as the senior buried her game-winning shot in overtime to lift Rutgers women's lacrosse (7-8, 1-3) to a 9-8 victory over Michigan (5-10, 1-4) on Thursday at High Point Solutions Stadium.
 
With just four seconds left on the shot clock in the first overtime period, Paratore rolled to her right, beat a host of Wolverine defenders and zipped her shot past UM's Alli Kothari to secure the Scarlet Knights' first Big Ten win of the season. The victory also kept alive a chance to qualify for the conference tournament next month in Ann Arbor.
 
"I was really calling for the ball on that last play and I really wanted it," said Paratore, who secured a career-high four goals in the win. "I wanted to help my team win, but it wasn't just about me. It was a whole team effort. We just moved the ball well, went with the game plan and executed."
 
Paratore also played hero in regulation, tying the score late in the second period. With Rutgers down 8-7, the West Deptford, New Jersey native sprinted to the left side of the cage, spun back in with a nifty move and drilled a unassisted goal with 9:10 left in the second half. Both teams would hold steady in the final nine minutes to head to overtime.
 
With the Wolverines winning the draw control battle 12-6 up to that point, head coach Laura Brand Sias knew it was imperative for RU to make a statement at the start of sudden victory.
 
"The draw control was the biggest emphasis [to start overtime] because we hadn't really been getting them," Brand Sias said.
 
The Scarlet Knights responded to Brand Sias, winning the draw after Michigan fouled Paratore on the restart. The Wolverines then fouled again inside the RU eight-meter, setting up redshirt senior Nicole Kopyta for a free-position attempt. Her shot went wide, but junior Abbey Brooks was there to back up the attempt. With the shot clock not restarting, Brooks passed to Paratore at the top of the zone, and Paratore took care of the rest.
 
"After the timeout, coach drew up a game plan and it was really important that everyone followed that," Paratore said. "I was supposed to dodge and draw the double to hit someone else, but the dodge just presented it to me, so I felt like I could take it and the result felt amazing."
 
RU secured its signature win of the season by outshooting Michigan, 35-22, as senior Joanna Reilly added her third multi-goal outing of 2018 with two goals. Senior Kerri Puckhaber, sophomore Samantha Budd and freshman Taralyn Naslonski also contributed scores for Rutgers.
 
On defense, the Scarlet Knights forced the Wolverines into 16 turnovers with junior Regina Sharp causing a game-high three turnovers to go along with three ground balls. In cage, classmate Devon Kearns stopped eight UM shots for another strong performance.
 
Michigan was the first to strike before Budd found Reilly at the 26:21 mark in the opening period to tie the score at 1-1. The back and forth game continued, as RU earned its first lead of the night after Paratore scored on the unassisted strike to make it a 4-3 game with just under three minutes to go in the half. However, Michigan added a goal in the final 30 seconds of the period to make it a 4-4 contest at halftime.
 
Reilly returned the favor with her assist to Budd to give the Scarlet Knights a 5-4 lead to start the second half, and Rutgers muscled a 3-1 scoring run out of the locker room to secure the biggest lead for either teams in the game. After an errant pass from Naslonski made it out in front of the Michigan keeper, Puckhaber scooped up the ball and scored for a 7-5 lead with 24:41 left.
 
However, Michigan would not go away. The Maize and Blue scored three unanswered points, as Bianca Brueckner gave the visitor an 8-7 lead with 12:48 left on the clock. But with a media timeout giving Rutgers a chance to regroup after the lead change, Paratore stepped in and provided the heroics the program needed this late in the regular season.
 
"This win means a lot," Brand Sias said. "It puts us in the running for the Big Ten Tournament, which is ultimately our goal. To gut out a gritty win like that is huge and will help us moving forward for sure."
 
The Scarlet Knight have some time off before their next game, heading to Evanston, Illinois to take on No. 7 Northwestern on Saturday, April 21.
 
Knight Notes
• Rutgers moved to 4-0 against Michigan in the all-time series, with all four wins coming in Big Ten Conference action.
• The win marked the first for the program in overtime since it defeated Drexel by an identical 9-8 score on March 4, 2017 in Philadelphia. Paratore had the game-winning goal in that win.
• Rutgers is now 5-2 at home this season.
• Senior Alana Navaroli collected her 100^th-career draw control in the win, becoming just the sixth player in program history to reach that milestone.
• Paratore's four goals marked a single-game career high, as the senior now has three or more goals in five games this season.
• Paratore also earned her 11^th game with multiple goals and has scored two or more goals in seven of her last eight games.
• Paratore is now the team's leader in goals this season with 30.
• Kearns as stopped eight or more shots in eight of her last nine outings.
 
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