COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Leading 8-7 at halftime, a huge second half surged the Ursinus College women's lacrosse team past McDaniel on Saturday afternoon, 21-9.
With the victory, the Bears improved to 5-5 on the season and 1-1 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Green Terror fell to 4-5 overall and 1-1 in conference play.
Sophomore
Julia McCann recorded a career-high five goals and two points in route to her fifth game this season collecting two or more goals. The Audubon, Pennsylvania native has tallied 10 goals in her last three games and has surpassed her total of 15 goals last season. Senior
Reilly Morgan and junior
Mary Michaud each added four goals apiece, while sophomore
Grace Lynch paced the offense with five points behind four assists and one goal.
The Bears have won the last three contests at Patterson Field against the Green Terror dating back to 2017 and their 12-point victory marks as the largest margin of victory for Ursinus since March of 2002. Ursinus controlled the pace of the game throughout the contest as senior
Julie Cherneskie and first-year
Meghan Vizian each collected seven draw controls a piece giving Ursinus a 19-14 advantage from the circle.
McCann got the Bears on the board first at the 12:40-mark of the first period as she received a pass at the top of the zone and after receiving a screen, she snuck her shot past the Green Terror defense to give Ursinus a 1-0 lead. McDaniel quickly responded under a minute later to tie the game at one apiece with 11:32 remaining in the opening period. The Green Terror captured their first lead of the contest midway through the period, but the Bears responded with a goal from sophomore
Maeve Leonzi to tie the contest at two. Later in the period on a fast break, Lynch created space with a beautiful spin move and found a cutting Morgan for a goal to give Ursinus a 3-2 advantage. The Bears stretched their lead to two with 1:24-remaining in the period as Michaud capitalized on a woman-up opportunity and a free position shot for her first goal of the game. McDaniel answered with a goal in the final seconds of the period to cut their deficit to one at the end of the first quarter.
In the opening minute of the second period after winning the opening draw control, Lynch tallied her second assist as she found a cutting Morgan for her second goal of the game. With Ursinus leading 5-3, McCann netted her second goal of the game after she split a double team and sent a low bouncing shot past the McDaniel defense.The Green Terror bounced back scoring on back-to-back opportunities over the next two minutes to cut their deficit to one with 10:04 remaining in the half. With under four minutes to play, McDaniel tied the contest at six a piece behind a goal from Emily Sheppard leading to a Bears timeout. McCann answered for Ursinus securing a hat trick with ten seconds remaining in the half to recapture a 7-6 lead at the break for the Bears. McCann received a pass from Michaud and from ten yards away fired a shot past the Green Terror defense to give the Bears the lead.
After the halftime adjustments, the Bears offense exploded in the opening minutes of the third stanza outscoring McDaniel 3-1 over the first nine minutes of play. Junior
Gabrielle Liott, Michaud, and Vizian each recorded goals to extend the Bears advantage to three. After a McDaniel goal at the 4:23-mark, the Bears responded with back-to-back goals from Vizian and Morgan to give Ursinus a 12-8 lead after the third quarter.
The Bears offense overpowered the Green Terror defense in the final stanza outscoring McDaniel 9-1 in the quarter and capitalized on winning 90% (9-of-10) of the draw controls in the period. Cherneskie snagged the opening draw control of the period and after two shots nearly found the back of the net, Leonzi scored off a bouncing shot to extend the Bears lead to five. At the 11:07-mark, McCann scored her fourth goal of the game and first-year
Skyler Bogdan joined her on the scoresheet with her first goal of the game moments later. After a McDaniel timeout, the Bears rallied off three-straight goals in just under two minutes, extending their lead to ten. Morgan, McCann, and Lynch each found the back of the net to extend the Bears lead to 18-8.
With under six minutes to play, Michaud scored on back-to-back opportunities leading to a goalie change for the Green Terror. McDaniel scored their final goal of the contest with 1:19 remaining in the game, but the Bears once again responded when junior
Mia Gifford found the back of the net as time expired to give Ursinus the 21-9 victory.
Ursinus held a 37-24 advantage in shots while dominating the fourth quarter out shooting McDaniel 14-1. The Bears were successfully on 80% (12-of-15) of their clear attempts while the Green Terror were credited with 18 total turnovers. Senior goalkeeper
Alexa Machado earned the win in net collecting nine saves over 60 minutes of action while McDaniel's Caleigh Kohr was dealt the loss after allowing nine goals on 11 opportunities.
The Bears return to action on Wednesday as they host Swarthmore College for the Anita Deasey Memorial Cup at 7pm.
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