BROOKVILLE, N.Y. (Apr. 23, 2017) - On Saturday, the No. 5/6 LIU Post women's lacrosse team won the East Coast Conference regular-season title with a thrilling 12-11 overtime victory against No. 12/5 New York Institute of Technology at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.

The win secures the No. 1 seed for the green and gold in next week's East Coast Conference Championship. The Pioneers, who improved to 13-2 overall and 8-0 against league opposition, will host No. 4 seed Roberts Wesleyan College on Thursday (May 4) in a tournament semifinal at 3 p.m.

Though NYIT (15-2, 7-1 ECC) rallied from a five-goal second-half deficit to force overtime, LIU Post won the draw to open the extra session and called timeout to set up a potential game-winning play.

Following the re-start, senior attacker Connor Bird (Syosset, N.Y.) fed a pass to fellow senior attacker Brianna LeCompte (Highlands Ranch, Colo.), who buried the goal to send the Pioneers to the victory.

In the first half, the two teams were tied at 2-2, until LIU Post closed out the period on a 6-1 run to bring an 8-3 edge into the intermission.

Sophomore midfielder Ryan McKinney (Downingtown, N.Y.) led the Pioneers with three goals in the burst. Red-shirt senior attacker Alexis Newman (Medford Lakes, N.J.) and freshman midfielder Alyssa Mallery (Wantagh, N.Y.) each added an unassisted tally, while Bird scored a free-position goal.

McKinney and Newman each finished with three goals in the effort. Bird registered three points (2 G, 1 A) and scooped up a game-high five draw controls. LeCompte pitched in a pair of goals.

Between the pipes, junior goalie Olivia Kirk (Farmingdale, N.Y.) made seven saves for LIU Post. Senior cageminder Lauren Young (Centereach, N.Y.) stopped 11 shots for NYIT.

The green and gold owned a 28-22 edge in shots and a 16-9 advantage in the contest. They were also 4-of-8 (50.0 percent) on clears and a stellar 5-of-9 (55.6 percent) on free-position attempts.

In their regular-season match-up with Roberts Wesleyan on Apr. 9, the Pioneers cruised to a 17-3 victory at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium. Bird and Mallery both netted four goals in the win.