EWING, N.J. – Testing itself against one of Division III's premier powerhouse programs, the Ursinus College women's lacrosse team suffered an 11-1 defeat at No. 4 TCNJ on Tuesday evening in New Jersey.
Ursinus (3-3) was held without a shot in the first half, and needed freshman Bridget Sherry's free-position goal with only 40 seconds remaining to avoid its first shutout loss since the 2010 Centennial Conference semifinals against Franklin & Marshall. TCNJ (6-0), which holds 11 national championships and has made the NCAA Tournament 31 years running, looked every bit the part of a title contender in following up an overtime win over Gettysburg with a dominant all-around effort.
Ursinus was unable to get a shot off until the first minute of the second half– and didn't put one on goal in the first 43 minutes and change – against a suffocating TCNJ squad the leads all of Division III in scoring defense. The Lions had allowed only five goals in their first four games before a thrilling 10-9 victory over the sixth-ranked Bullets last Saturday, and proved their prowess with a lockdown performance.
Despite their inability to generate offense, the Bears gave the home side a fight until midway through the first half, when Mia Blackman scored her second goal at the 11:59 mark to give the Lions a 2-0 lead. After another tally, TCNJ padded its lead with goals from Erin Waller and Elizabeth Morrison 12 seconds apart, and Megan Devlin's strike in the final minute of the frame lifted the Lions to a 6-0 bulge at the break.
TCNJ tacked on five more second-half markers, two of them from Waller, before Sherry got the Bears on the board to avert the shutout. The Lions finished the game with a 30-5 advantage in shots.
Blackman and Waller tallied three times apiece for TCNJ. Morrison stuffed the stat sheet with a goal, five ground balls, four caused turnovers, and three ground balls
Sherry continued to shine for Ursinus, netting her fifth goal to go with a career high-tying four caused turnovers, pushing her team-leading total to 11.
Sophomore Franny Liberatoscioli collected a team-high three ground balls in addition to a draw control and a caused turnover, while senior Margaret Philbin made seven saves.
The Bears have less than 24 hours to recover before a date with Widener on Wednesday night.