COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team went toe to toe with undefeated St. Mary's (Md.) in an evenly matched battle this afternoon, but a quick spurt to open the second half gave the Seahawks just enough breathing room to stave off the hard-charging home side for a 10-8 decision in a non-conference thriller at Patterson Field.
Freshman Emily DiGiorgio recorded her second hat-trick in as many games, and rookie running mate Abby Goldstein added a goal and two assists for Ursinus (3-2), which gave the visitors all they could handle on a breezy afternoon in Collegeville.
St. Mary's (5-0), which came in receiving votes in the IWLCA Division III poll, scored three goals in a span of 71 seconds within the first two minutes and change of the second half, busting out of a 3-all tie with a quick flurry. Shelby Newman ended the run with a highlight reel goal, controlling the draw and racing downfield to finish through contact, falling to the ground as the ball found the back of the net for the Seahawks' second strike in 13 seconds.
DiGiorgio pulled one back for the Bears on a feed from Goldstein, but St. Mary's tallied the next two to restore a four-goal margin. Refusing to quietly, Ursinus roared back with two of its own, the first a free-position rocket from DiGiorgio and the second coming out of the stick of Sherry, who potted a feed from junior Lindsey Grabell to bring the Bears to within 8-6 at the 16:17 mark.
The Seahawks grabbed the momentum back with a goal at 8:23, and seemed to put the game to bed when Tori Poffenberger delivered a 10-6 lead with just over three minutes to play. But the Bears made things interesting, as freshman Courtney Cortese and Sherry tallied a mere eight seconds apart to cut the deficit to two with 1:21 to play; Sherry's goal happened in a flash, as the speedy midfielder took the draw and took it in by herself to beat the St. Mary's keeper and give Ursinus a glimmer of hope.
That glimmer grew brighter when the Seahawks committed an unforced turnover with a minute to play, giving Ursinus a chance to get within one. But the Bears were dispossessed on a drive toward the goal, ending their comeback plans.
Sherry continued to make her presence felt all over the field, collecting four ground balls and four draw controls in addition to a caused turnover. Junior Lisa Grous and sophomore Franny Liberatoscioli chipped in three ground balls and a caused turnover each, while Grabell and Cortese each forced a pair of miscues, the latter racking up three draws and a pair of grounders.
Kayla Dunn made five saves for the Seahawks, with senior Margaret Philbin stopping four shots for Ursinus.
The Bears outperformed St. Mary's in the shot department (20-17) and held an 11-9 edge off the draw.
Ursinus has a week and a half to prepare for a daunting road trip to TCNJ on Tuesday, March 22. The Lions, ranked No. 5 in the nation, have won 11 national championships and made the NCAA Tournament each of the last 31 seasons.