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The best two words to describe the field hockey rivalry between Good Counsel and Holy Cross would be "extended time."

Nearly every time the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference heavyweights square off, more than the normal 60 minutes is needed to decide the outcome. That was the case yet again Saturday night in College Park with the WCAC title on the line, as the teams were scoreless after two halves of play.

In sudden death overtime, Holy Cross senior co-captain Katie Slater slammed in an open shot during a penalty corner to give the Tartans their second straight championship.

Slater's score, her 11th goal of the season, came during a shift in penalty corner strategy for the Tartans (16-1-1), who had to make the change in part because of the personnel in during the overtime period and in part to trick the Falcons on Halloween night.

Hannah Suttle started the corner with a pass to Katie Cecere, who then fed an open Slater for the goal about a minute and half into overtime. It was only her team's fourth shot of the hotly contested match.

"I knew if we scored, it would be over," said Slater, who will play lacrosse at the University of Virginia next year. "Normally, I wouldn't take that shot. We had to switch up. It was exciting. I was pretty wide open because on penalty corners in overtime, the defense can only have three players, so it's five on three. All their players were to my left and that gave me space to take the shot."

Before Slater's shot, the contest was largely played between the circles with neither team able to get much going offensively. The two teams combined for seven shots for the match according to Holy Cross coach Candy Thurman, whose program split the first two WCAC field hockey crowns with Good Counsel in 2003 and '04 through penalty strokes and defeated those same Falcons in 2006 on a penalty corner after time expired.

"It's very exciting," Thurman said. "I'm not talking my team down but I thought starting out the season that we'd struggle a little bit. We lost nine or 10 seniors and a lot of them were starters. I thought it would be a rebuilding year and it might be tough to get the title. We were 16-1-1."

First-year Good Counsel coach Theda Bagdon said her squad nearly earned itself a penalty stroke during regulation when it appeared the ball got stuck under Holy Cross goalkeeper Jill Genovese during a breakaway, but the stroke was not awarded.

"The goalie was down and we were pressuring her," Bagdon said. "It was debatable. I just think it was an evenly matched game. They are so talented and my girls are so talented. It was amazing. There was only one corner the whole first half. Both teams left their hearts on the field. It was a great shot by them. If you're going to lose, you might as well lose on a tough play. I was hoping to bring that trophy to Good Counsel. Maybe next year."

Both squads will return next fall without numerous key players, especially the Falcons, who lose 11 seniors from this year's 11-6-1 squad, including defender Rachel Forman.

"It's always so intense with any sport," Forman said. "It's just so intense. We had a lot of opportunities in regulation but we just couldn't finish. I knew Katie Slater would nail it in. It's hard in overtime. They had two quick passes and we didn't have enough players to get that far over."