COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus Bears Women's Lacrosse team started fast and did not look back as they defeated Bryn Mawr 18-11 on Saturday afternoon at Patterson Field in Centennial Conference action.
 
 
With the win, the Bears improved to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in Centennial Conference action to stay in the thick of the Centennial Tournament hunt. Meanwhile, the Owls fell to 6-7 overall and 0-5 in conference play. Prior to the contest, the Bears honored its four graduating seniors as a part of senior day ceremonies.
 
 
 
The Bears forced a turnover on the Owls first possession and sophomore Maeve Leonzi opened the scoring at the 13:11-mark of the first quarter. Junior Mary Michaud added to the Bears lead following a draw control win with her first goal of the game to make it 2-0 at the 12:04-mark. Michaud then set senior Reilly Morgan up for a goal at the 8:20-mark to extend the Ursinus advantage to 3-0. The Owls ended the Bears run with their first goal of the game from a free position shot but Leonzi countered just 22 seconds later with her second goal to make it a 4-1 contest. A long possession from the Bears ended with a free position shot goal from Morgan at the 6:04-mark before Leonzi added her third of the quarter to extend the Bears lead to 6-1. Bryn Mawr tallied back-to-back goals to cut the Bears lead down to 6-3, but Ursinus quickly answered the second tally following a draw control win as Morgan scored with five seconds left in the first quarter to make it 7-3.
 
 
Ursinus broke open the game in the second quarter as they tallied six-straight goals to go up 13-3. Sophomore Grace Lynch started the run with a goal 50 seconds into the quarter after senior Julie Cherneskie led a rush following an Owls turnover. Sophomore Julia McCann followed with her first goal of the game and a Bryn Mawr turnover led to Lynch finding Leonzi on a quick strike to keep the run going. Michaud scored at the 9:21-mark to make it an 11-3 game before the Bears scored back-to-back goals within 44 seconds late in the second. Leonzi set up first-year Renee Washart for the first of the two goals before senior Emma Wood found space from a pass by first-year Ashley Noto.
 
 
After the Owls ended the first half with two-straight goals, the Bears opened the second half with two-straight goals of their own from the two leading scorers of the game, Morgan and Leonzi. Morgan responded to a Bryn Mawr goal at the 9:29-mark with her fifth goal of the game to make it 16-6 and Michaud worked her way inside for another tally just three minutes later. Washart notched the Bears final goal of the game at the 5:22-mark of the fourth quarter from a free position shot.
 
 
The Bears held a 30-20 edge in total shots for the game and a 26-17 advantage in shots on goal. Ursinus also held advantages of 18-10 in ground balls and 19-13 for draw control wins. Bears senior goalkeeper Alexa Machado earned the win after playing the first half and made four saves. First-year Camille Hubbs made a pair of saves in the final 30 minutes of the game. Owls goalkeeper Elizabeth Tompkins suffered the loss after making eight saves in 58:08 of action. Leonzi recorded a game-high six points off five goals and one assist while Morgan notched five goals as well. Michaud tallied five points behind three goals and two assists while Lynch recorded three points from one goal and two assists.
 
 
Ursinus returns to action on Wednesday, April 19th as they will host Haverford in Centennial Conference action at 7:00 p.m.