COLLEGEVILLE, PA. - First-years Maeve Leonzi and Grace Lynch both scored three goals as the Ursinus College women's lacrosse team held on for a 11-9 victory over Albright College in non-conference action at Patterson Field on Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Bears improved to 1-1 overall and earned their first win since April of 2019. Meanwhile, the Lions drop to 0-2 overall on the season.
Six different Bears found the back of the net during the contest, including Leonzi and Lynch both scoring hat tricks in just their second career collegiate games. Junior Alexa Machado earned the win in goal with 15 saves while Lions goalkeeper Jessica Sedor suffered the loss after making four saves on 15 shot attempts.
The Bears jumped on the board early, scoring on their first possession just 51 seconds into the contest. Junior Emma Wood found the back of the net on a free position shot, scoring her first goal of the season. Both defenses would lock in and neither team was able to capitalize in the first period as the Bears led 1-0. Machado collected five saves and the Bears defense forced four turnovers in the first period.
In the second quarter, after an Albright turnover, Gabrielle Liott scored and increased the Bears lead to 2-0. Next, after a yellow card for Albright, Ursinus would capitalize on a man-up opportunity and Tori Rubin snuck a shot past the Lions goalkeeper to give the Bears a 3-0 advantage. Albright's Abigail Hai answered with her first goal of the season at the 7:55 mark to cut the Lions deficit to two. The Bears defense would force another turnover, and Liott found the back of the net on the opposite end to make the score 4-1 with 4:51 remaining in the half. The Lions would score three straight goals to close out the half. Senior Maddie Taylor scored two of her team-high four goals in the closing minutes to tie the score at four a piece.
To start the third quarter, Ursinus scored three consecutive goals in the first two minutes and held a 7-4 lead at the 13:37 mark. After Lynch scored, Leonzi scored on back-to-back possessions for her first two goals of her career. After a free position attempt later in the period, Lynch's shot found the back of the net and the Bears led 8-4 at the 6:49 mark.
To start the fourth quarter, both teams traded two goals apiece over the first three minutes of play. Mary Michaud converted on a free position attempt, and Lynch earned her third goal on a man-up opportunity. Albright went on a 3-0 run over the next ten minutes and cut the deficit to just one with 3:29 to play in the fourth.
Leonzi answered with a goal of her own and extended the Bears lead to two at the 2:35 mark. The Bears would play some stout defense over the final minutes of the game to earn their first win of the season. The Lions held a 34-22 advantage in shots and a 24-15 edge in shots on goal. Albright also held a 27-12 edge in ground balls and forced a total of 23 turnovers
Ursinus returns to action on Saturday, March 5th as they will travel to Arcadia for a 1pm start with the Knights.