Ursinus Headed to Final Four

Posted: Nov 13, 2011

Ursinus College Field Hockey

Photo Credit: James Wagner

SALISBURY, Md. – Looking at the box score from Sunday's NCAA Quarterfinal, you would see that Salisbury led in every single category.

Except for the line score.

Ursinus' defensive unit bent more times than a circus performer on Sunday afternoon, holding on until senior forward Corinne Freeman (Freehold, N.J. / St. John Vienney) scored on a tip from senior forward Alyssa Thren (Barto, Pa. / Upper Perkiomen) 4:58 into the first overtime as the Bears (19-3) defeated the Sea Gulls (18-2) 1-0 to advance to their fourth-straight NCAA Semifinal.

Next up for the Bears will be The College of New Jersey in a semifinal set for Saturday at Nichols College in Southern Massachusetts.

"Going into this game, the girls knew that we would have to great defensive performance," said Ursinus head coach Janelle Benner. "They were ready for a battle in the backfield and they stepped up to the plate."

Salisbury outshot the Bears 27-3 and out cornered the Bears 20-5. Ursinus had just one shot in the first 70 minutes, when junior midfielder Julie Pilla (Mullica Hill, N.J. / Gloucester Catholic) shot went wide left.

The play of the defensive unit, and of senior goalkeeper Jill Lukens (Furlong, Pa. / Central Bucks East) kept the Bears alive. Lukens had ten saves. In addition to Lukens' ten stops, sophomore back Katie McEwen (Plainsboro, N.J. / West Windsor Plainsboro North) and freshman back Rachel Evans (Reading, Pa. / Muhlenberg) each had defensive stops.

McEwen's stop came during a critical stretch in the 49th minute, when Salisbury had three straight corners.

In the overtime session, the teams went to a 7-on-7 format. The extra space allowed Ursinus to get a shot off quickly as Thren put up a shot at 70:56, which was saved by Salisbury goalkeeper Anna Cooke.

After Evans had her defensive save at 71:04, Ursinus had a penalty corner but did not get a shot off.

Following a Salisbury shot, Ursinus drove down the field. Thren fired a shot on the breakaway, which went past Cooke and onto the stick of Freeman who put it in the bottom left corner of the cage.

Ursinus won its second straight game on the road in the NCAA tournament, and held Salisbury scoreless for the first time all season.

Ursinus and TCNJ will meet for the second time this season, as the Lions defeated Ursinus back in September in Collegeville by a 2-1 score.