ALLENTOWN, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's soccer team found the equalizer in the 71^st minute, but eventually fell to Muhlenberg College by a score of 2-1 on Wednesday evening.
 

With the loss, Ursinus moves to 5-8-3 on the season and 1-6-2 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, the Mules improved to 3-10-3 overall and 1-7-1 in conference action.
 
 
Ursinus opened with the first scoring chance of the contest, as first-year forward Madison Bjorndahl had back-to-back shots blocked by the Mules defense. During the 10^th minute, the Bears received consecutive corner kick opportunities, but were unable to come away with a shot. During the 21^st minute after a Bears corner kick, junior Grace Senese sent an arching pass into the box finding senior Zoe Moosbrugger near the inside post. Moosbrugger's header missed just high of the right post to keep the game scoreless. Two minutes later, Muhlenberg quickly responded with the opening score as Paige Addis sent a bouncing shot off the far post and into the back of the net for a 1-0 lead. Ursinus nearly tied the game at the 34:13-mark as first-year Gwyn Krystkiewicz one-timer shot was denied by a diving save from Muhlenberg's Sara Pecorelli. Each team fired one more shot prior to halftime with both goalies turning away the scoring chances to keep the Bears deficit at one during the break.
 
 
During the opening minutes of the second half, both offenses were clicking tallying three shots a piece, but senior goalkeeper Maddie Nau and Muhlenberg's Pecorelli denied each opportunity. During the 71^st minute, the Ursinus offense broke through as Adriana Careless collected her fourth goal of the season to make the score 1-1. During a Bears counterattack, junior Teyha Harvey quickly threw a pass back into the field of play finding Careless, whose long arching shot found the back of the net for the goal. Just two minutes later, Muhlenberg responded with a goal of their own as Casie Burke made the score 2-1, Mules. The Bears nearly found the equalizer during the 81^st minute as Careless fired a shot on goal, but it was saved by the Mules defense. Ursinus was unable to create another scoring opportunity as the Mules collected the 2-1 Centennial Conference decision.
 
 
The Bears held a 15-11 advantage in shots and a 10-1 edge in corner kick opportunities. Muhlenberg's goalkeeper Pecorelli earned the victory in goal behind five saves, while Nau suffered the loss tallying seven saves over 90 minutes of action.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Saturday as they wrap up their 2023 schedule with a road matchup against Gettysburg College starting at 7 p.m.