LYNCHBURG, Va. – The Ursinus Field Hockey team earned its second-straight win over a nationally ranked opponent as they downed No. 23 Lynchburg 3-1 on the road on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action.
The Bears improved to 2-1 overall as they played their third-straight ranked opponent to open the season. Meanwhile, the Hornets dropped to 2-1 after suffering their first loss of the season.
Lynchburg put sophomore goalkeeper
Adriana Palladinetti early as they put on a pair of shots to the net in the first two minutes that were turned away. The Hornets controlled most of play in the Bears zone during the first quarter, but it was Ursinus that converted on their first and only chance during the first 15 minutes when junior
Maeve Montgomery ripped an insert pass from first-year
Kirsten Johnson at the top of the circle past the Hornets goalkeeper to put Ursinus up 1-0 at the with just over three minutes left in the first quarter. Lynchburg nearly responded in the final minute of the quarter when they got two shots from a penalty corner that were fended off first by Palladinetti before Montgomery pushed the second shot away from the cage. Each team had one shot on net in the second quarter that were both saved which sent the Bears into halftime with the lead.
The Hornets wasted no time in the third quarter to even up the game by converting on the second shot off a scramble from a corner just 49 seconds into the second half. Palladinetti came up huge twice following the tying goal on two excellent chances by Lynchburg that kept the game deadlocked. The saves became large when junior
Mary Lauren Franz knocked in a loose ball on the right edge of the cage to put Ursinus in front in the 38th minute at 2-1. Franz added one more to her total in the fourth quarter after redirecting a blast from first-year
Marie Brainard to give the Bears a 3-1 lead in the 47th minute. The Hornets had one last shot on goal in the 55th minute that was saved and the Ursinus defense locked down the win from there.
Lynchburg held a 19-8 edge in shots and an 11-4 advantage in shots on goal for the game. Ursinus edged Lynchburg in corners at 6-5 after the Hornets had three of the first four given during the game. Palladinetti totaled eight saves in the full 60 minutes for the Bears to earn the win while Lynchburg goalkeeper Kayla Brady suffered the loss after making one save in 49:30 of action. Franz led the Bears with two goals while Montgomery added one and Brainard picked up the assist on the final goal.
The Bears continue their stretch against ranked opponents on Wednesday, September 13th as they travel to face No. 8 and unbeaten Messiah at 7:00 p.m.
