HAVERFORD, Pa. – First-year forward Marie Brainard scored twice lifting the No. 25 Ursinus College Field Hockey to a 3-1 road victory over Haverford on Wednesday evening.
 

With the victory, Ursinus moves to 8-6 on the season, 4-4 in Centennial Conference action, and currently sit in fifth place in the conference standings. Meanwhile, the Fords fall to 6-8 overall and 1-6 in conference play.

 
The Bears opened with the first scoring opportunity near the five-minute mark as during a penalty corner sophomore Gigi Testa was credited with a shot on goal that was turned away by the Fords defense. Haverford responded with back-to-back shots midway through the opening period, but sophomore goalkeeper Adriana Palladinetti and the Bears defense denied both opportunities. Ursinus was awarded a penalty corner with under a minute remaining in the first period, but a shot from junior Mary Lauren Franz deflected off a stick and wide of the net. During the second quarter, the Bears were awarded seven penalty corners before finally breaking through and recording the opening goal of the contest at the 29:46-mark. With under 30 seconds remaining in the half, the Fords failed on a clear attempt leading to an Ursinus counterattack. After the initial shot was saved by the Fords, senior Regan Horting snuck her shot past the Fords defense giving the Bears a 1-0 halftime lead. Horting's goal was her first of her career and gave Ursinus a 9-3 lead in shots at the break.

 
During the opening minutes of the second half, Haverford responded with a trio of shots, but each were blocked from the Bears defense to keep the lead at one. Moments later, the Bears offense answered on a penalty corner as Brainard tallied her first goal of the contest to increase the Ursinus lead to two at the 35:28-mark. During the corner, junior defender Maeve Montgomery received the inserted pass and swung a pass to her right, finding Brainard whose shot soared through the Fords defense and into the back of the cage for a goal. Haverford responded in the opening minutes of the final stanza as during a penalty corner, Holly Vincent cut the Bears lead to one with her second goal of the season. The Bears quickly answered as Brainard scored her second goal of the contest just thirty seconds later to increase the Ursinus lead to 3-1. After a Bears' shot was deflected and sent towards the top of the circle, Brainard corralled the rebound and sent her shot into the back of the cage for her seventh goal of the season. The Bears continued the offensive pressure firing four more shots throughout the remainder of the contest resulting in the 3-1 Centennial Conference victory.

 
The Bears held a 16-14 advantage in shots while edging the Fords 7-5 in shots on goal, and 14-8 in penalty corners. Palladinetti earned the victory in goal behind four saves, while Haverford's Lindsey Darby was dealt the loss collecting four saves as well.

 
The Bears return to action on Saturday as they host Dickinson College for a noon start from Snell Field.