COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The No. 18 Ursinus Field Hockey team dropped a 2-1 heartbreaker to No. 25 Franklin & Marshall by way of a penalty shootout on Wednesday night in Centennial Conference action at the Snell Alumnae Field.
 
 
Franklin & Marshall had the first shot on net in the contest, but the Bears took control in the first quarter by getting three shots on net within a three-minute span. First-year Marie Brainard hit the pad of the Diplomats goalkeeper off a shot from a penalty corner in the ninth minute and the Bears held a 7-1 shot advantage after one. The Diplomats put immediate pressure on to start the second quarter and broke the scoreless tie with a goal in the 17th minute. Franklin & Marshall sent two shots on net from a penalty corner and eventually got the loose ball to Kat Study in front of an open net. Brainard had a sharp turnaround shot saved in the 24th minute for the lone Bears shot on goal in the second.
 
 
Junior Maeve Montgomery came up with her Division III leading 14th defensive save in the 37th minute that kept the deficit at one. After mostly midfield play for the remainder of the third, the Bears began generating sustained pressure in the fourth. Sophomore Remi Lloyd was stopped in front of the net after getting a pass forced inside and Montgomery rocketed a shot from a corner off the post. Sophomore Gigi Testa finally broke through for the Bears with 4:13 left in regulation after snatching the ball off an initial shot from a corner by Montgomery and lifting it high into the net. The Diplomats made a major push to win in regulation in the final minutes and nearly responded with just over a minute and a half left with sophomore Rachel Buono kept things tied with a defensive save. Two more shots were turned away by Bears sophomore goalkeeper Adriana Palladinetti to force overtime, the first for the Bears this season.
 
 
The teams traded various chances in two overtime periods with the Bears holding a slight 6-3 edge in shots. However, the two 10-minute periods were not enough as they went to a penalty shootout, the first for the Bears since their transition to Division III in 2002. The Diplomats shot first and scored before junior Mary Lauren Franz used a nifty spin move to knot things up at one in the shootout. Unfortunately for the Bears, that would be their only goal of the shootout as Franklin & Marshall went a perfect 4-for-4 to win it 4-1 to lock up the game.
 
 
Ursinus held a 24-17 advantage in shots for the game and a 16-9 edge in shots on goal. The Bears also held a slight 9-7 advantage in penalty corners as well. Palladinetti made six saves in the full 80 minutes and Meghan Dole made a valiant 15 saves during the full time to earn the win.
 
 
 
 
The Bears will return to action on Saturday, October 14th as they will travel to face Gettysburg in Centennial Conference action at 3:30 p.m.