COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind a quick start and four goals in the second half, the Ursinus College field hockey team cruised to a 6-2 victory over No. 10 Rowan University on Saturday afternoon from Snell Alumnae Field.
 

With the victory, Ursinus opens the 2024 season with a 1-0 record while the Profs drop to 0-1. Senior Mary Lauren Franz and sophomore Marie Brainard recorded two goals a piece, while senior Maeve Montgomery and junior Gigi Testa also netted goals for the Bears. Junior Lauren Breisch, sophomore Kirsten Johnson, and junior Lauren Sieczkowski each tallied assists for the Bears.
 

Rowan recorded the opening two shots of the contest during the 9th minute, but each scoring opportunity was denied by the Bears defense and junior netminder Adriana Palladinetti. The Bears responded with a penalty corner opportunity at the 12:46-mark, but entered the second stanza tied 0-0. Franz put the Bears on the board just two minutes into the second period after making a move past a Prof defender and sending a bouncing shot through the near side of the cage to give Ursinus a 1-0 lead. Rowan responded with back-to-back penalty corners, but the Bears stood tall and denied each opportunity. During the 27th minute, Rowan tallied four consecutive shots with two of the chances being blocked by the Bears defense. Ursinus responded with a goal to close out the first half as time expired to increase their lead to two at the halftime break. After being awarded a penalty corner with one second remaining, Montgomery received a pass from Breisch and fired a shot through the Profs defense and into the back of the cage for her first goal of the season.
 

Rowan bounced back during the opening minute of the second half as first-year Jenna Gray netted a goal to bring the visitors deficit to one at the 30:34-mark. The Bears regained the momentum over the next two minutes of play recording three penalty corners and a pair of shots. On defense, Palladinetti denied two scoring opportunities from the Profs to keep the Bears lead at one.  With under a minute remaining in the third period and the Bears on a penalty corner, Johnson inserted the ball towards the top circle finding Brainard. After a touch, Brainard ripped a shot on goal and through the defense to give Ursinus a 3-1 advantage heading into the final period. Rowan opened the fourth period with a trio of shots before Gray's second goal cut the Profs deficit to one with 7:35 remaining in the contest. Under a minute later, Ursinus responded with a goal from Testa to regain a two-goal advantage at the 52:47-mark. On a penalty corner, Sieczkowski received a pass and sent a shot into the box that was deflected by Testa and found the back of the cage for her first score of the season. Four minutes later, Franz scored her second goal of the contest to stretch the Bears lead to three with 3:19 remaining in the contest. After a Rowan turnover, Franz entered the circle and sent a bouncing shot that deflected off a defender for the score. Moments later, Franz assisted Brainard for her second goal of the game to give Ursinus a 6-2 victory over No. 10 Rowan.
 

The Profs held an 11-8 advantage in shots on goal, while each team was awarded nine penalty corners during the contest. Palladinetti earned the victory in goal for the Bears behind nine saves over 60 minutes of action, while Rowan's Mariah Juliano was dealt the loss after recording just two saves.
 

The Bears return to action on Saturday, September 7th as they travel to Geneva, New York for a matchup against No.24 William Smith College at noon.