GETTYSBURG, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team were unable to overcome an early deficit, falling 23-11 to No. 3 Gettysburg College on Saturday afternoon at Clark Field.
 

The Bears record now stands at 5-8 overall and 1-3 in Centennial Conference action. Meanwhile, the Bullets improved to 10-2 on the season and 2-1 in Conference play.
 
 
Sophomore Whitney Hershey led the Bears offense, earning her first career hat trick behind three goals. Classmate Jaime Michaud added her fourth hat trick of the season, scoring three goals on four shot attempts. It marks the eighth straight game that Michaud has scored, and her third straight contest with at least three goals. Junior Sophia Curtis finished with a team-high three ground balls, while sophomore Cait Michalowski added her second straight game with two caused turnovers.
 
 
The Bullets won the opening draw control of the game, but a caused turnover by senior Grace Lynch gave Ursinus possession at the 14:44-mark. The Bears nearly took an early advantage, firing each of the first two shots with the first missing just high and their next opportunity being saved. Gettysburg answered with five straight goals over a seven minute to capture a 5-0 lead with 6:21 remaining in the first quarter. The Bullets ended the first quarter on a 3-0 run behind two free position goals to extend their lead to 8-0 heading into the second stanza.
 
 
With Gettysburg leading 9-0, Ursinus responded with its first goal of the game at the 10:52-mark by Hershey. Sophomore Ryann Buchner won the draw control for the Bears, before Hershey snuck past her defender and beat the Bullets netminder for her eighth goal of the season. Hershey added her second goal of the period at the 7:03-mark, as she spun past her defender and fired a shot past the Bullets goalie to make the score 10-2. After a Gettysburg goal made the score 11-2, Hershey connected on her third straight goal to cut the Bears deficit to eight with 3:52 remaining in the first half. The Bullets ended the first half on a 3-1 run, extending their advantage to 10, and held a 14-4 halftime lead. Michaud scored the Bears' final score of the half as she sprinted past two defenders and sent a bouncing shot from 10 meters away for her first goal of the game and 22nd this season.
 
 
After the halftime adjustments, Gettysburg netted the first goal of the second half before Ursinus responded with back-to-back scores to make the score 15-6. On the Bears first goal, Michaud received a pass at the top of the circle, juked past her defender and found the back of cage for her second goal of the game. Next, on a transition opportunity, junior Ashley Noto assisted senior Julia McCann on a score to cut the Bears deficit to nine. Ursinus ended the period on a 3-2 run, but still faced a 17-9 deficit heading into the final period. Sophomore Dana DeSiato opened the Bears' run by scoring the first goal, before goals by senior Maeve Leonzi and Michaud ended the period. Gettysburg used a 6-2 run in the final quarter to earn the 23-11 Centennial Conference victory.
 
 
Gettysburg held a 30-20 advantage in shots, a 13-12 lead in ground balls, while Ursinus posted a 19-16 edge in draw controls. The Bears converted on 60% (6-of-10) of their clear attempts with Gettysburg clearing 78.9% (15-of-19) of its clear opportunities. First-year goalie Allison McAnally suffered the loss in goal, totaling twos saves over 24 minutes of action, while Gettysburg's Juliette DeVarenne earned the victory behind three saves in the first half.
 
 
The Bears return to action on Wednesday, April 16th, as they host Swarthmore College for the Anita Deasey Memorial Cup at 7 p.m.