COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Senior forward
Amanda Groeling scored the game-winning goal lifting the 16th-ranked Ursinus College field hockey team to a 3-2 double overtime victory over Franklin & Marshall College on Wednesday evening from Snell Alumnae Field.
The second seeded Bears completed the season sweep of the fourth seeded Diplomats, improved their overall record to 13-5, and revenged a first-round defeat from last season to F&M in the first round of Centennial playoffs. Junior midfielder
Rachel Buono netted the game-tying goal in the fourth period to help Ursinus complete the comeback and set up their first Centennial Conference Championship appearance since 2016. The Bears defeated the Diplomats that season and with the victory they will travel to No. 5 Johns Hopkins on Saturday in hopes of winning their 13th conference championship.
The Bears struck first in the third minute as senior
Mary Lauren Franz capitalized off a rebound and found the back of the cage for her conference leading 16th goal this season and 100th point of her career. On the play, sophomore
Marie Brainard stole possession from a Diplomats defender and fired a shot on goal that allowed Franz to tuck home the rebound opportunity. Just two minutes later, Franklin & Marshall quickly responded with a goal of their own from Caitlin Hoover to tie the score at one apiece. Hoover's first two chances were denied by junior netminder
Adriana Palladinetti, but after securing the rebound she collected the equalizer with 9:17 remaining in the opening frame. The Diplomats tallied the final shot of the period, but Palladinetti and the Bears defense denied the opportunity to keep the score tied heading into the second stanza.
During the 24th minute, Ursinus recorded a pair of penalty corners resulting in a trio of shots, but two of the three Bears opportunities were blocked by the Diplomat defense to keep Ursinus off the board. With under two minutes to play in the half, F&M's Hannah Fitzgerald netted the go-ahead goal to give the Diplomats a 2-1 halftime lead. After a Bears turnover, Fitzgerald dribbled into the circle and her backhanded shot snuck past the Ursinus defense and into the cage for the go-ahead goal. Much of the third period remained as a battle between the midfielders as Ursinus tallied the only shot on goal during the third frame. Within the opening two minutes of the fourth period, each team collected a shot on goal thanks to a penalty corner, but each defense denied the chance to keep Franklin & Marshall ahead by one with 11:23 remaining. With 9:42 left in the quarter, Ursinus found the game-tying score as Buono tapped in a rebound for her first goal of the season. Sophomore
Kirsten Johnson started the opportunity as she fired a shot into the open cage, but a defensive save from Franklin & Marshall's Annie Malatesta resulted in a loose ball that Buono corralled and collected the tying score. The Bears recorded two more shots within the Diplomat defense, but the scored remained tied the teams entered overtime.
In the first overtime, Franklin & Marshall recorded the opening shot as Keira Boensch's opportunity was saved by Palladinetti to keep the contest tied at two. The Diplomat offense continued to push the pressure as their next opportunity just missed high of the cage. At the 68:03-mark, Hoover broke free past the Bears resulting in a one-on-one opportunity with Palladinetti in goal. Hoover charged towards the circle meeting Palladinetti at the top and was forced to drive right resulting in her shot missing wide of the cage to force a second overtime period. After a shot on goal from Franz was saved by the Diplomats, they responded with a pair of penalty corners with their lone scoring attempt being blocked by the Bears defense. Each team recorded multiple scoring chances, until Groeling broke the drought with the game-winner with less then a minute remaining in the second overtime. On the play, Brainard split two defenders and dribbled within the circle, before firing a pass towards the front of the crease finding Groeling for the score.
Ursinus held an 18-13 lead in shots, a 10-8 edge in shots on goal, and a 9-4 advantage in penalty corner opportunities. In goal, Palladinetti secured the victory behind six saves in nearly 80 minutes of play, while F&M's Meghan Dole suffered the defeat totaling six saves.
The Bears return to action on Saturday, November 9th as they travel to Baltimore, Maryland for the Centennial Conference Championship against No. 5 Johns Hopkins University at 6:30 p.m.
