SELINSGROVE, Pa. (8/29/14) – Sophomore Bridgette Bottinelli scored three goals in the final 10 minutes – including one to force overtime with 0:00 on the clock - as the Kean University field hockey team erased a two-goal deficit to win its season opener 5-4 against St. John Fisher College on Friday.

With Kean trailing 4-2 after a goal by Fisher's Elizabeth Cusack with just four minutes remaining in regulation time, the Cougars seemed destined for the Connie Harnum Classic Consolation Game.

But 55 seconds later, Bottinelli's unassisted shot beat the goalkeeper to get Kean back in striking distance, albeit with three minutes to go.

The Cougars earned their 16th penalty corner of the game as time expired, giving them one last chance to score the equalizer until the Cardinals gained possession. And they never did. Bottinelli got a pass from Marissa Robinson and fired the ball into the cage to knot up the game and improbably send it to overtime.

Five minutes into the sudden-death extra period, Robinson and Bottinelli hooked up again for the game-winner, as the Cougars completed the epic comeback to win their season opener in fantastic fashion.

Earlier in the game, after Fisher had taken a 2-0 lead at halftime, Robinson scored Kean's first goal of the season unassisted three minutes into the second half. Freshman Shauna LaMaina (pictured left) also scored in the second half; her unassisted tally sparked a volley of five goals in the final 10 minutes, of which the Cougars scored four.

Other newcomers who made their Kean debuts on Friday were Jayme DiDomenico, Chelsea Mann, Teresa Carr, Raykena Brown, Courtney Richard and Shauna's twin sister Krista LaMaina. Goalkeeper Katie DiCarlo earned the win in the cage for the Cougars.

Kean will advance to the finals of the Connie Harnum Classic on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. against the hosts from Susquehanna University.