COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Amanda Groeling and Mary Lauren Franz made Snell Field feel right at home in their Collegeville debuts.
The first-year duo combined showed off their connection and combined for four goals to power the No. 15 Ursinus College field hockey team to a 6-0 rout of William Smith in Saturday's home opener.
Groeling netted a hat trick for the first goals of her career, while Franz assisted on two of her rookie counterpart's tallies and added one of her own in a brilliant display. Suzanna Toledo Cornman cashed in a penalty stroke for her first career goal, and Devon Carroll got the party started with the game's first marker.
The Bears surrendered seven goals in a season-opening setback at Rowan two days prior, but righted the defensive ship in a big way. Ursinus conceded just one shot to the Herons (1-1), a soft shot that was easily snared by Makayla Baessler in the fourth quarter.
Ursinus, meanwhile, peppered the cage from the outset, racking up 10 shots in the first quarter and seven more in the second. Carroll broke the ice just past four minutes in, putting home a pass from Jordan Moore following a corner.
The Franz-Groeling connection doubled the advantage, as Franz' cross from the right was lightly deflected and simple for Groeling to stuff home. Just 42 seconds later, Franz was upended by the goalkeeper on a breakaway, giving the Bears a penalty stroke. Toledo Cornman calmly came off the bench and buried a hard shot into the top corner to open her collegiate account.
Ursinus tacked on three more in a span of just over three minutes in the second stanza. The fourth goal was a highlight-reel play, with Franz back-handing a no-look pass to Groeling for another easy tap-in. Only 47 seconds later, Franz sent a shot screaming into the top right corner on a nice cross from Addie Plummer, and Groeling slotted home a feed from Tara Starita to cap the scoring.
Jordan Ulsh gave way to Baessler to start the second half, and the rookie stopped the only shot she faced to preserve the shutout.
The Bears are back home to face Wilkes on Wednesday night.
Notes
- The Bears controlled a 24-1 advantage in shots and piled up 20 corners to the Herons' zero
- Carroll's goal was the 25th of her career
- Groeling is the first Ursinus rookie to score three goals in a game since Brooke Overly at Bryn Mawr in 2014