COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Behind a pair of goals by first-year forward Kaleigh Evans, the Ursinus College women's soccer team collected a 2-1 victory over Widener University on Saturday afternoon from Patterson Field.
 

Evans paced the Bears offense while senior Grace Senese added an assist during the contest. On the defensive side, senior Tehya Harvey and sophomore Maddie Jolie kept the Pride offense at bay with senior netminder Mandy Carideo anchoring the back line for Ursinus. With the victory, Ursinus improved to 3-0-1 on the season, while the Pride fell to 1-2 overall.

 
The Bears offense opened the contest by recording each of the first two shots as first-year Taylor Pezulich nearly connected on a goal, but her shot deflected off the woodwork. The offensive pressure paid off as Evans netted her first goal of the game at the 9:33-mark to give Ursinus an early 1-0 lead. On a corner kick opportunity, Senese sent a cross into the box finding Evans and her left-footed shot found the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season. At the 15:55-mark, Widener nearly found the equalizer, but Charlotte Burke's shot was saved on leaping attempt by Carideo to keep the Bears lead at one. During the 26th minute, Ursinus capitalized off a Widener miscue as their goalkeeper misplayed a pass leading to Evans second goal of the contest and stretching the Bears lead to two. The Pride quickly responded as a goal from Maggie Boyes cut the Bears lead to one with 19 minutes remaining in the first half. Each team traded a pair of shots over the remainder of the first half, but Ursinus took a 2-1 lead into the halftime break.

 
The Bears recorded the opening shot of the second half as Pezulich received a cross from Evans with space within the box for a scoring opportunity. After receiving the cross, Pezulich's shot missed high to keep the Bears lead at one. Carideo and the Bears defense continued to stand tall as they denied two scoring opportunities from the Pride to keep the Bears ahead with 25 minutes remaining in the contest. During the Pride's second scoring opportunity, Widener's Giovanna Chaves created a one-on-one chance with Carideo, but a great kick save kept the Pride off the board. Widener created two more chances throughout the remainder of the contest, but Carideo and the Bears denied each scoring attack to give Ursinus a 2-1 victory.

 
Ursinus held an 18-12 advantage in shots, a 7-4 edge in shots on goals, and a 5-3 lead in corner kick opportunities. In goal, Carideo recorded the victory behind three saves, while Widener's Nicole Rende was dealt the loss tallying five saves on seven attempts.

 
The Bears return to action on Saturday, September 14th as they travel to Cresson, Pennsylvania for a non-conference matchup against Mount Aloysius College at 2 p.m.