DENVER, Colo. – Overtime went from culprit to saving grace for UGF lacrosse as the Argos played in their second overtime game in two days, this time winning 10-9 over Johnson & Wales University. The team overcame a 6-1 deficit in the first half to win on a hectic goal scoring play with 18 second remaining in the first overtime. 

The win is the first of the 2016 season for UGF and first under first year head coach Fred Boekel. It also came one day after the Argos blew a 7-5 lead late to lose in overtime against the University of Wyoming.

"It was pretty amazing. We just kept chipping back," Boekel said. "Just for those guys to fight back after getting down and after that overtime loss which they were still tired from was great."

UGF got out to a sloppy start in the first quarter, giving away a handful of unforced turnovers and struggling to clear the ball after defensive stops. Those mistakes prompted Boekel to sit a number of his starters for the second quarter.

That strategy paid off as the team's bench players found a groove and reined the game back in to a 6-5 JWU lead at halftime. When the starters did get back in, the Argos were rolling.

"Once they got their composure and got a couple of goals in the back of the net, you could just see their confidence come up. From that point on, I think we kind of dominated," Boekel said. "I think that sent a message. Its all mental. They can do it."

UGF held the momentum for majority of the second half and a goal from junior attacker Jordan Daughery early in the fourth quarter gave the Argos an 8-7 lead. With twenty second remaining, that one goal lead remained for UGF and the team hoped to avoid a parallel fate to the previous day's game. A last second goal from Jamestown took a first step to repeating that fate but Boekel said the feel on the field was very different.

"I really wasn't worried because we had the momentum in that fourth quarter," Boekel said. "I really felt that the kids were feeling it from that comeback earlier."

The first overtime was dangerously close to a scoreless period when freshman middie Kobe Johnson received a pass from junior Josh Smith and scored a scrambling game winner with 18 seconds left.

While the game winning goal certainly deserves the glory, so did the Argos defense and goalkeeper. Outside of some issues with their clearing game, the Argos played a second straight game of solid defense led by junior goalkeeper Sal Principe.

"My though is if you hold a team under 10 goals then you're doing a good job defensively and we've done that in both games so far," Boekel said. "Sal is out of this world. He's really strong as a shot stopper and he's really coming along in directing the defense."

The Argos are now 1-1 on the season as well as 1-1 in overtime games. They will try and win the next one in regulation against Metropolitan State College of Denver at 7 p.m. in Denver, Colo.