COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus women's lacrosse team rallied from an early deficit to defeat Widener, 14-8, on Wednesday evening at Patterson Field.
 
With the victory, Ursinus improved to 6-4 overall and remained a perfect 4-0 at home, while the Pride fell to 5-4. Sophomore Devin Buggy led the Bears offense with a career-high six points on four goals and two assists. It marked her fifth straight game with a goal and her second four-goal performance in the last three contests. Senior Ashley Noto recorded her fifth hat trick of the season with three goals, extending her team-leading total to 27.
 
Senior Abby Burkholder anchored the Bears defense with a career-best six ground balls and five caused turnovers, while junior Cait Michalowski added three caused turnovers and two ground balls. Senior Meghan Vizian led Ursinus with five draw controls, while junior Jaime Michaud and sophomore Jeremi Morrison each collected four.
 
Widener grabbed early momentum, controlling the draw circle, and scoring four straight goals to take a 4-0 lead with 4:36 remaining in the first quarter. Ursinus responded by forcing a pair of turnovers, and Buggy found the back of the net to cut the deficit to 4-1 with 1:55 left in the quarter. On the play, Buggy received a pass from behind the cage, raced around the near side and fired a bouncing shot past the Pride goalkeeper for the Bears' first goal.
 
Ursinus carried that momentum into the second quarter, scoring three straight goals to tie the game at 4 with 13:13 remaining in the half. Junior Dana DeSiato opened the scoring in the period, and Noto followed with consecutive goals less than a minute apart.
 
After a Widener goal at the 12:21 mark, senior Skyler Bogdan netted her ninth goal of the season, while Michaud then scored back-to-back goals to give Ursinus a 7-5 lead with 3:47 remaining before halftime. On the go-ahead score, DeSiato found Michaud cutting through the circle, and her bouncing shot slipped into the back of the net. Burkholder forced two turnovers down the stretch to help Ursinus take a 7-5 lead into the break.
 
The Bears extended their lead early in the second half as DeSiato scored at the 13:23 mark to make it 8-5. Following a Widener goal, junior Ryann Buchner assisted Buggy on a woman-up opportunity to push the Bears lead to 9-6. Buchner found Buggy sprinting toward the crease, and her shot split three defenders and found the net.
Vizian and Buggy each added goals later in the third quarter as Ursinus took an 11-7 advantage into the final period. Widener trimmed the deficit to three early in the fourth, but a 3-0 run by the Bears sealed the 14-8 victory. Junior Whitney Hershey, Buggy and Noto each scored during the stretch as Ursinus shut out the Pride over the final nine minutes.
 
Ursinus held a 34-17 advantage in shots, a 21-12 edge in ground balls and a 14-9 margin in draw controls. The Bears converted 13-of-16 clearing attempts (81.2%) while holding Widener to 10-of-16 (62.5%). First-year goalkeeper Addi Guthrie-Pimpinella earned the win, making four saves in 60 minutes of action.
 
Ursinus returns to action Saturday, March 28, when they travel to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, for a Centennial Conference matchup against Dickinson College at noon.