Tiffin University (8-3, 2-0 GLIAC) battled throughout the game in a narrow contest with conference rival Grand Valley State, coming from behind to post a 16-14 win over the closing minutes.
The battle lived up to the pre-game hype, as both teams expected a close contest. Tiffin fell behind 1-0 to start the game but hung close and finally took the lead 4-3 with 13:37 left in the first half on a goal by Elle Hamilton. Morgan Sherley carried the Dragons over the first 20 minutes, scoring TU's first 3 goals to keep them in it.
Goals from Elle MacMillan, Amanda Flotteron, and Tori Nelson pushed TU's lead to 7-4. While the Lakers continued to chip away, the Dragons maintained a two-goal lead, finishing the half with an 8-6 margin.
The Lakers made a strong run over the first 15 minutes of the second half, using a string of draw control wins and TU turnovers to blast five consecutive goals into the net and take a 13-11 lead with 14:35 to play.
The Dragons took a timeout and regrouped. Elle Hamilton tallied 2 goals to get TU back to even 13-13 with 7:00 to play.
Then Morgan Sherley took over.
Sherley, who carried TU over the opening 10 minutes offensively, gave the Dragons a powerhouse weapon, as she blasted a goal on a free position shot to put TU back up 14-13 witih 6:27 left.
After GVSU equalized, she nailed another free position goal with 4:04 to play to put TU up 15-14.
After winning the final draw, the Dragons continued to wear down the clock, pulling the defense out and giving Sherley enough room to put the game away with an unassisted goal with 44 seconds left.
The Dragons were outshot overall 29-23 but held a 19-13 ground ball advantage. The Dragons won the draws 17-14, with Grand Valley getting back in the game by controlling the draws over most of the second half. TU also cut their turnovers down in the second half, cutting them from 11 to 6.
Sherley had her best game of the season, totaling 6 goals and an assist. Elle Hamilton had 3 goals and an assist and 11 draw controls, while Amanda Flotteron and Tori Nelson had 2 goals each. MacMillan, Gina Abulone, and Kayla Ropos also had goals, while Randi Castner had 3 caused turnovers.
Kat Schneeberger got the win in goal, making 8 saves over 60 minutes.