King’s Fork’s field hockey team came up short in a one-goal match for the third time in the young season and for the second time in sudden-death overtime as visiting Northampton scored a goal four minutes into the second half to tie the game and the winning goal 12 minutes into 7-on-7 overtime for a 2-1 win on Monday.

King’s Fork goalkeeper Kayla Jones hung in there to make 11 saves and give her side chances to pull out the victory even as the guests from the Eastern Shore wound up with a 13-6 advantage in shots on goal.

The contest started perfectly for the Lady Bulldogs. KF put a shot on goal right away and kept the pressure on in the Northampton end of the field.

The Lady Bulldogs worked a penalty corner play expertly for a 1-0 lead in the sixth minute. Megan McNamara passed from the corner spot to Jen DeLucia. DeLucia sent a hard pass/shot toward the right post while McNamara was hustling into the right spot to tip the ball by the Yellow Jacket keeper into the cage.

The game started shifting midway through the first half with Northampton gaining most of the field position and scoring chances.

Jones helped turn away two Northampton corners with around 10 minutes left in the half. She saved one shot through lots of traffic and stopped another shot, taking the drive squarely off her chest padding, a few seconds later.

The Lady Bulldogs attacked for the first scoring threat of the second half. A KF corner actually turned into a Northampton rush to the opposite end of the field though.

The Lady Yellow Jackets moved in on the right side of the Lady Bulldog arc. Two shot attempts went for naught before the third found the goal.

KF’s best shot to regain the lead late in regulation came with Holly Wilson sprinting in from her right wing position and firing a hard shot on goal.

Northampton put two shots in on Jones in the last minute. Jones saved the first near the left post and slid across the goal line to deny the second shot just in time with a leg pad.

Northampton outshot the Lady Bulldogs 3-1 in overtime before getting the winning goal.

The Lady Bulldogs (1-3, 1-2) go from Monday’s non-district game to their most difficult test of the season. Defending state champion Lakeland, coming off a 3-2 loss to St. Catherine’s on Saturday in Virginia Beach, Lakeland’s first loss in 31 matches going back to its last match of the 2009 season, hosts King’s Fork on Wednesday at 4 p.m.