BALTIMORE, MD. – A pair of third period goals proved to be the difference as the 16th-ranked Ursinus College field hockey team fell to No.5 Johns Hopkins University, 4-1, in the Centennial Conference Championship on Saturday evening from Homewood Field.
 

The loss marks as the first one ever for the Bears in the Centennial Conference Championship, snapping a 12-game winning streak, while the Blue Jays captured their sixth straight Centennial crown.
 
 
Hopkins recorded the opening scoring opportunity at the 2:26-mark of the first period as they were rewarded a penalty corner. The Bears stood tall denying the chance with the remainder of the period consisting of a battle between the midfielders as the game entered the second quarter tied 0-0. Ursinus opened with a pair of penalty corners to open the second stanza but were turned away as senior Maeve Montgomery and sophomore Marie Brainard each had their shots blocked by the Blue Jays defense. At the 21:20-mark, the Bears third corner of the contest resulted in a turnover just outside of the circle allowing the Jays to regain possession. Johns Hopkins was given a green card with 4:24 left in the half, but the Bears offense was unable to create any scoring opportunities with the contest approaching halftime. With one minute remaining in the first half, Johns Hopkins' Emily Amsden dribbled towards the circle and fired a shot that deflected off the stick of Lila Slattery and into the back of the cage to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 halftime lead.
 

With 12:52 left in the third quarter, Hopkins converted on a penalty corner as Slattery fired the initial shot leading to a defensive save for Montgomery, but the rebound was tucked in for a goal by Katilin Coward to stretch the Blue Jays lead to two. After the following restart, Johns Hopkins amped up the pressure as Grace Waldeck sprinted towards the cage and sent a pass towards the center where Slattery tipped in a shot for a goal to extend the Blue Jays lead to 3-0. The Bears nearly responded as they recorded a penalty corner during the 34th minute, but junior Lauren Sieczkowski had her shot saved by the Blue Jays netminder. With 9:33 remaining in the period, junior netminder Adriana Palladinetti and the Bears stepped up by denying back-to-back shots on goal from the Blue Jays to keep the deficit at three. Shortly after, the Ursinus offense broke through when Montgomery blasted a shot from the top of the circle during a penalty corner to cut into the Blue Jays lead. In the closing minutes of the quarter, Montgomery made her second defensive save of the contest, while another save by Palladinetti kept the Bears deficit at 3-1 heading into the final stanza.
 
 
Johns Hopkins added an insurance goal at the 46:51-mark in the final stanza as they capitalized off a penalty corner to stretch their lead to 4-1. On the play, Amsden fired a shot from the top of the circle that found Slattery as she tipped in the opportunity for her third goal of the game. The Bears continued to battle throughout the remainder of the contest but were unable to overcome the early deficit falling 4-1. Johns Hopkins held a 10-4 lead in shots and a 5-4 edge in penalty corner opportunities. In goal, Palladinetti suffered the loss behind three saves, while Aubrey Kilgore collected the victory for the Blue Jays recording one save.
 
 
Johns Hopkins earned the Centennial Conference automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, while Ursinus will look forward to the Division III Field Hockey Selection Show which be aired live on NCAA.com on Sunday, November 10th at 9:30 p.m.