FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 20, 2019
Passion Come Up Short In Thriller On Saturday Against D.C.
Fell 26-21 On Last Play Of Game
The D.C Divas opened up the scoring Saturday night, but the Passion answered right back on a 59 yard pass from Angela Baker to Devon Conner. The Divas added another touchdown right before the half to take the 12-7 lead into the locker room.
The Divas added a touchdown and recorded a safety to extend their lead after three quarters. But, the Passion never gave up and were rewarded for the fight they showed when Baker ran one in from 4 yards out to cut into the D.C. lead. That was followed by a huge defensive stop and a big punt return by Diamond Rodriguez that put the Passion in business to score late in the 4th. Baker found Conner on a 22 yard pass and the Passion took a 21-20 lead with 16 seconds left in the game.
The Passion looked to have a sack on D.C.’s final drive with time expiring, but their Quarterback somehow kept the play alive and completed the deep pass for a touchdown and D.C. won the game 26-21.
Angela Baker led the way on offense with 226 yards passing and 2 touchdowns. Baker also ran for 53 yards and a touchdown on the ground. Devon Conner had 127 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Krystal Cozzo and Ellie Mularski combined for 7 receptions and 92 yards.
Before the D.C. touchdown in the 2nd Quarter, the Passion defense had not allowed a point in 13 consecutive quarters, which was the second longest streak for a Passion defense in team history (14 consecutive quarters in 2006 is the longest shutout streak).
The pressure that the front seven of Hannah Daman, Diamond Rodriguez, Kim Zubovic, Amanda Coles, Chance Willis, Julie Ionta and Kaitlain Niedermeyer put on the D.C. offense along with outstanding play from Krystal Cozzo, Rebecca Ehrgood and Tenisha Spencer in the secondary allowed the Passion to stay in the game and take the lead late. Daman and Rodriguez combined for 15 tackles while Coles and Willis each had a fumble recovery.
Franki Kilmer was perfect on extra points Saturday night, including the go-ahead kick with 16 seconds left to put the Passion in front after D.C. tried to ice her by calling a timeout.
The Passion (4-2) close out the regular season with two road games as they travel to Detroit to take on the Dark Angels on Saturday May 25 and Toledo to take on the Reign on June 1.
Fans who can’t make it to the games can follow along with the action on the Passion Twitter page (@pghpassionFB) or on the ScoreStream App.
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