ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A fourth period goal lifted the No. 17 Ursinus College field hockey team past Muhlenberg College, 2-1 from Scotty Wood Stadium on Wednesday evening.
 

With the victory, Ursinus improved to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in Centennial Conference play. Meanwhile, Muhlenberg fell to 5-4 on the season and 0-2 in Centennial action. Senior Maeve Montgomery and junior Remi Lloyd collected a goal apiece for the Bears while sophomores Marie Brainard and Kirsten Johnson each added assist.

 
The Mules earned the first scoring opportunity of the contest as they were awarded a penalty corner chance at the 1:19-mark of the opening stanza. After a quick inset on the corner, Muhlenberg's Devon Eastlack fired a shot on goal, but her shot was saved by junior netminder Adriana Palladinetti. The rebound found a Mules forward, but her scoring chance missed wide to keep the contest scoreless. At the 3:07-mark, Ursinus responded with a corner of their own, but the inserting pass was intercepted to deny the chance.  Each defense continued to keep the opposing offenses from scoring opportunities as the contest entered the second period tied at zero apiece. The Bears offense amped up the pressure in as they outshot the Mules 3-0 during the period. On the Bears first penalty corner at the 16:55-mark, Montgomery ripped a shot on goal, but the ball deflected off a Mule defender and miss wide of the net. Later in the period, Ursinus took their first lead of the game as Johnson assisted Montgomery for her second score of the season. On the penalty corner, Johnson inserted to Montgomery and her shot deflected off the stick of a Muhlenberg defender and over the head of their goalie for the score. Ursinus maintained possession for the remainder of the first half and controlled a 1-0 lead at the halftime break.

 
Ursinus opened the second half with the back-to-back penalty corners during the 35th minute as junior Gigi Testa's shot missed wide to keep the Bears lead at one. At the 41:31-mark, Muhlenberg nearly found the equalizer, but their shot was blocked by the Bears defense. During the 44th minute on a corner, Muhlenberg's Devon Eastlack shot was saved by Palladinetti to keep Ursinus ahead by one heading into the final period. Just one minute into the fourth period, Muhlenberg quickly tied the game at 1-1 as they capitalized off a penalty corner opportunity. On the set piece, the Mules initial shot was saved by Palladinetti, but Muhlenberg's Abba Diglio tapped in the rebound for the equalizer. Just two minutes later, Ursinus captured the game-winning goal as Brainard dribbled through the defense and sent a pass across the crease finding Lloyd for the score. Muhlenberg answered with consecutive penalty corners but were turned away with five minutes remaining in the contest. Ursinus nearly added an insurance goal as Brainard and Johnson recorded shots on goal in the final minutes en route to the 2-1 victory.

 
Ursinus held a 9-8 advantage in shots, a 10-8 edge in penalty corner opportunities, while the Mules earned a 5-4 lead in shots on goal. Palladinetti earned the victory in goal for Ursinus behind four saves, while Muhlenberg's Maddie Schwartz was dealt the loss collecting twos saves.
 

The Bears return to action on Saturday, October 5th as they host McDaniel College for a Centennial Conference matchup starting at noon.