COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind a huge first half, the Ursinus College women's lacrosse team cruised past Gwynedd Mercy 18-3 on Wednesday afternoon from Patterson Field.
With the victory, the Bears improved to 4-5 on the season meanwhile the Griffins fell to 4-6 overall. Ursinus jumped out to an early 8-0 lead after the first quarter and never looked back coasting to an 18-3 victory.
Sophomore
Grace Lynch finished with a game-high four goals increasing her team lead to 24 on the season, while classmate
Maeve Leonzi recorded four points behind three goals and one assist. Senior
Reilly Morgan collected her fourth hat trick while junior
Mia Gifford tallied a season-high two goals. First-year
Meghan Vizian paced the offensive attack from the circle snagging a career-high six draw controls and four groundballs.
Ursinus jumped out to an early advantage at the 12:45-mark of the first quarter as sophomore
Julia McCann made a spin move before sneaking her shot past the Griffins netminder. Vizian won the ensuing draw control, and the Bears increased their advantage to two as junior
Mary Michaud sprinted past the Griffins defense and used a left-handed shot for the goal. First-year
Ashley Noto tallied her first goal at the 9:38-mark and added an assist moments later after finding Leonzi cutting in front of the net. With under six minutes remaining in the opening period, Lynch recorded back-to-back goals to increase the Bears lead to six at the 5:02-mark. The Bears offense continued to shine as Leonzi and Morgan each tallied another goal increasing the Ursinus lead to eight after the first period.
In the second quarter after a Griffins turnover, Michaud netted her second goal and just a minute later Leonzi connected on a shot to put the Bears up ten with 7:52 remaining in the half. With the clock continuously running, Leonzi found the back of the net for her third goal of the contest stretching the Bears lead to 11. Moments later, Noto found Lynch for her third goal of the game and sixth hat trick of the season. With 3:17 remaining in the half, Vizian capitalized on a free position opportunity before the Griffins added their first goal with 1:32 remaining in the period.
Leading 12-1 at halftime, the Bears extended their advantage to 13 with goals from Morgan and junior
Gabrielle Liott. Each offense struggled to create scoring opportunities over the remainder of the third period, until Gwynedd Mercy's Caroline Clearly netted a goal at the 2:19-mark. The Griffins cut their deficit to 11 in the opening minute of the final stanza as Kristin Varilla netted a goal at the 14:21-mark. The Bears responded with a 4-0 run over the final 13 minutes of action as
Mia Gifford scored twice while Lynch and Morgan each added a goal to give Ursinus the 18-3 victory.
Ursinus held a 30-9 advantage in shots while winning 76% (19-of-25) of the draw controls and finishing at 81.8% on clear attempts. The Bears forced 14 total turnovers and held Gwynedd Mercy to just 46.1% (6-of-13) on clear attempts.
The Bears return to action on Saturday as they celebrate Alumni Day in a 3pm Centennial Conference matchup with McDaniel College.
Visit Ursinus athletics' home online,
Ursinusathletics.com, anytime for up-to-the-minute news on all Bears sports including post-game recaps, interviews, and much more.
Be sure to follow Ursinus Athletics on
Instagram,
Twitter,
Facebook, and
YouTube for in-depth coverage for all UC Athletics.