TOWSON, Md. — Brittany Read has catlike reflexes and possesses a similarly feline trait of survival. She might have used the last of her nine lacrosse lives Saturday.

The former Louisville and Oregon goalie whose career was resurrected last summer with the advent of Athletes Unlimited — only for her to go down with a torn ACL and meniscus — made 13 saves to lead England to an 8-7 triple-overtime victory against Australia in the World Lacrosse Women’s Championship bronze medal match Saturday at rainy Unitas Stadium.

Olivia Hompe scored on a free position with 54 seconds left in the third overtime to secure England’s second straight third-place finish.

It was reminiscent of the 2017 bronze medal match between the teams, which England won in double overtime also in pouring rain.

“Good for the crowd. Good for TV,” coach Phil Collier said. “Not good for my heart.”

A delirious, drenched crowd took in the best game of the tournament, as Australia erased a three-goal deficit in the second half and sent the game to overtime on Hannah Nielsen’s goal with 1:13 remaining in regulation.

Nielsen had two chances to win it for Australia, which outperformed expectations after its 17-2 blowout loss to the U.S. in the semifinals Thursday. But her free-position attempt with 18 seconds left sailed high and then she missed wide on a last-second shot at the end of the first overtime.

England’s Megan Whittle, the double-OT hero in 2017, also had two opportunities to seal the game. But she hit the outside of the net on one shot and was errant on a free position.

Read responded on the other end both times, saving a Rebecca Lane free position and then stopping Sarah Mollison before the second overtime buzzer.

Australia goalie Kahli Evans was nearly as clutch, denying Georgina Southern in double overtime and then stopping a bounce shot by Claire Faram on the first possession of the third overtime.

Theo Kwas had a golden opportunity to win it for Australia. Read dropped low but kept her stick high as Kwas’ shot sailed right into the mesh.

Finally, with 54 seconds left in triple overtime, converted a free position for the game-winning goal. Hompe used a low windup and release to beat Evans.

“Your big players step up in big spots,” said Collier, who said he nearly left Read off the team when she could not train in England due to the pandemic and her recovery from surgery. “We figured it was worth the risk — that she was going to come through.”

JAPAN CLAIMS FIFTH PLACE

Japan is back in the top five.

Kokora Nakazawa and Mio Takahashi scored three goals each and Chisa Kobayashi had two goals to go with her game-high eight draw controls to lead the Japanese to an impressive 13-4 win over Israel in the fifth-place match.

Japan’s suffocating defense limited Israel to just eight shots and rendered Israel’s Lindsey McKone (two goals, five draw controls) moot by face-guarding her in the second half.

Japan’s last top-five finish also came in the U.S. It placed fifth out of 10 teams in the 2005 world championship in Annapolis, Md.

After dropping to seventh (2009) and then ninth (2013 and 2017), the Japanese went unbeaten in pool play and finished 7-1. Its lone loss was to the U.S. in the championship quarterfinals.

SATURDAY SCORES

Czech Republic 12, Haudenosaunee 11 (7th place)
Japan 13, Israel 4 (5th place)
England 8, Australia 7 (3OT) (Bronze)
United States 11, Canada 8 (Gold)

FINAL STANDINGS

1. United States (8-0)
2. Canada (6-2)
3. England (5-3)
4. Australia (3-5)
5. Japan (7-1)
6. Israel (6-2)
7. Czech Republic (7-1)
8. Haudenosaunee (5-3)
9. Wales (5-2)
10. Scotland (2-6)
11. Puerto Rico (5-3)
12. New Zealand (5-3)
13. Ireland (5-3)
14. Germany (3-4)
15. Mexico (4-4)
16. Hong Kong (2-6)
17. Netherlands (5-2)
18. Italy (4-3)
19. China (4-3)
20. Latvia (3-4)
21. South Korea (3-5)
22. Norway (3-5)
23. Sweden (3-5)
24. Spain (1-7)
25. Austria (3-4)
26. Argentina (2-6)
27. Switzerland (2-5)
28. Jamaica (0-6)
29. Colombia (0-6)

WORLD TEAM

Aurora Cordingley, CAN
Taylor Cummings, USA
Dana Dobbie, CAN
Oliva Hompe, ENG
Marie McCool, USA
Alice Mercer, USA
Kaylin Morissette, CAN
Hannah Nielsen, AUS
Brittany Read, ENG
Kayla Treanor, USA

MVP: Taylor Cummings