COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team were unable to overcome an early deficit, falling to Rowan University, 21-5 on Saturday afternoon from Patterson Field.
 

With the loss, Ursinus falls to 1-1 to open the season while the Profs improved to 1-0. Junior Ashley Noto and senior Maeve Leonzi paced the Bears with two goals apiece, while sophomore Ryann Buchner added a goal and ground ball for Ursinus. Noto and classmate Sophia Curtis led the Bears defense with two caused turnovers.
 

The Bears defense forced a pair of turnovers to open the contest as Curtis and senior Grace Lynch each denied the Profs offense in the opening minutes. Rowan answered with the opening score at the 10:55-mark as Fiona Lockhart gave the Profs a 1-0 advantage. After a Bears shot attempt missed wide, Rowan responded with consecutive goals to extend their advantage to 3-0, leading to an Ursinus timeout with 8:27 remaining in the first period. Each netminder denied the following scoring opportunity by each team, until a goal from the Profs increased their lead to 4-0 with 3:59 to play in the quarter. Ursinus responded on the ensuing possession as junior Meghan Vizian assisted Noto on a goal to make the score 4-1 with 3:27 to play. Vizian found Noto cutting inside the circle, before firing a shot past the Profs netminder for the Bears' opening score. Rowan responded with back-to-back goals, but Leonzi's first goal ended the first period with Ursinus trailing, 6-2. The Profs carried the momentum into the second stanza as they increased their lead to 13-2, until a goal from Buchner closed out the first half with Ursinus trailing by 10.
 
 
Lockhart extended the Profs advantage to 14-3 to open the second half, but Leonzi answered with a goal of her own to bring the Bears deficit back to 10 at the 12:38-mark. On the play, Leonzi received a pass at the top of the circle and cut past two defenders before beating the Profs netminder with a low shot for her second score of the game. Rowan closed out the third stanza with a 3-0 run to capture a 17-4 advantage entering the final quarter. Ursinus opened the fourth with the first two scoring opportunities, but the first connected with the post while the second chance was blocked by the Profs defense. Noto added her second score at the 11:19-mark, while the Profs held onto the lead for a 21-5 victory.
 
 
Rowan held a 29-18 advantage in shots, 13-8 edge in ground balls, and an 18-12 lead in draw controls. The Bears converted 75% (9-of-12) of their clear attempts, while Rowan supported a clear percentage of 82.3% (14-of-17). Junior netminder Susie Miller was dealt the loss, recording two saves in 30 minutes of action, while Rowan's Mel Rodgers earned the victory behind eight saves.
 

The Bears return to action on Wednesday, February 26th as they travel to Stevenson, Maryland for a non-conference matchup against Stevenson University at 4 p.m.