Field Hockey Handles Herons in Home Opener

Field Hockey Handles Herons in Home Opener

COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Four different Ursinus field hockey players collected goals in a 4-0 rout of William Smith in Saturday's home opener at Snell Field.

Ursinus (1-2) picked up its first win of the season in impressive fashion over the Herons (0-3). The Bears kept the ball in William Smith's end for much of the game and used the offensive pressure to their advantage. Ursinus outshot the Herons, 17-7.

The Bears pounced in the 16th minute when junior Erin Saybolt scored her first goal of the season off a pass from classmate Brianne Nicholas. Saybolt kept the ball on the ground in order to find the back left corner of the cage.

Less than 10 minutes later, freshman Jamie Mayer capitalized on a rebound to get the Bears an early 2-0 lead, which Ursinus took into the break.

William Smith had a goal disallowed late in the first half, and the Bears' stingy defense limited the Herons to one official shot attempted in the first 35 minutes of play.

In the 46th minute, Ursinus increased its lead to 3-0 when sophomore Gabriela Howell followed up on her own shot's rebound. William Smith's keeper Alexandra DeVito came out to make the initial save then Howell sent a liner through several William Smith defenders into the back of the cage.

To round out the scoring, sophomore Devon Carroll blasted a goal off a penalty corner from just inside the shooting circle. Howell inserted on the penalty corner.

Ursinus senior keeper Jules Singer made four saves on the way to posting the shutout. DeVito made seven saves for the Herons.

The Bears held the edge in penalty corners 6-2.

Ursinus to play Elizabethtown on Wednesday for a 5 p.m. match.