ALLENTOWN, Pa. – A second-half surge proved to be the difference as the Ursinus College women's lacrosse team fell, 16–13, to Muhlenberg College on Saturday afternoon at Varsity Field.
 

With the loss, Ursinus dropped to 6–9 overall and 2–4 in Centennial Conference play. Muhlenberg improved to 12–3 on the season and 4–2 in conference action. Junior Ashley Noto led the Bears' offense with six points on three goals and three assists. Senior Julia McCann added three goals, while classmate Maeve Leonzi recorded her 10th consecutive game with two or more goals.

 
Ursinus won the opening draw control, and just 19 seconds into the contest, sophomore Jaime Michaud scored her 28th goal of the season to give the Bears a 1–0 lead. On the play, Michaud sprinted past her defender, juked another near the crease and fired a shot past the Mules' goalkeeper. Muhlenberg responded with back-to-back goals within a 20-second span to take a 2–1 lead with 5:57 left in the first quarter. Ursinus quickly answered at the 5:23 mark, as Leonzi set up Noto for her 21st goal of the season to tie the game at 2.

 
The Bears carried that momentum through the remainder of the first quarter, scoring twice to take a 4–2 lead. Senior Grace Lynch netted the Bears' third goal, and McCann added her first of the game off an assist from Leonzi.

 
Muhlenberg opened the second quarter with three straight goals to regain a 5–4 lead with 11:50 remaining in the half. On a woman-up opportunity at the 9:55 mark, McCann tied the game at 5 with her second goal. Sophomore Dana DeSiato and Leonzi also scored for Ursinus, but the Mules closed the first half on a 3–2 run and took an 8–7 lead into halftime. Muhlenberg controlled the pace in the third quarter, outscoring Ursinus 6–0 to extend its lead to 14–7.

 
The Mules added another goal early in the fourth, but Noto responded with her second of the game to cut the deficit to 15–8. Ursinus began to rally, scoring three of the next four goals to make it 16–11 with 4:26 left. Sophomores Ryann Buchner and Whitney Hershey, along with Noto, all found the back of the net. Leonzi and McCann each scored in the final minutes, but Muhlenberg held on for the 16–13 Centennial Conference win.
 

Muhlenberg held a 32–27 edge in shots, while Ursinus led 22–18 in ground balls and 19–13 in draw controls. The Bears converted 15 of 19 clear attempts (78.9%), while the Mules went 15-for-21 (71.4%). First-year goalkeeper Allison McAnally took the loss, recording three saves in 45 minutes of action. Muhlenberg's Ellison Ervin earned the win with eight saves over the full 60 minutes.
 

Ursinus returns to action Wednesday evening with a Centennial Conference matchup at Franklin & Marshall. Opening draw is set for 7 p.m.