COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team hung with Muhlenberg into the second half of its home finale on Wednesday night, but a big run separated the Mules for a 15-7 Centennial Conference victory.
Senior Franny Liberatoscioli scored three goals and added an assist, all in the first half, in her last home game. She needs three more points in Saturday's season finale at Dickinson to reach 100 for her career.
Liberatoscioli was in attack mode from the opening whistle, drawing a foul on the game's first possession and converting a free-position attempt to put Ursinus (3-10, 1-7) ahead 1-0. Liberatoscioli added a second eight-meter goal before setting up junior Kaci McNeave for a marker that made it 3-2, and junior Abby Goldstein found the back of the net 15 seconds later to hand the Bears a two-goal advantage and force a Mules timeout.
Muhlenberg (7-7, 3-5) tied the game with back-to-back goals, but Liberatoscioli knifed through the defense for a player-down tally that restored a lead with 1:59 left in the first half. Taliah Carson's goal with 10 seconds remaining made it a 5-5 deadlock at halftime.
After the Mules grabbed a 6-5 lead, Ursinus pulled even when senior Taylor DeBernardi took a nice pass from McNeave, turned and fired past the keeper at the 22:32 mark.
Unfortunately, Muhlenberg took over from there. The visitors went in front for good with two goals in a 13-second span, which sparked a spurt of seven straight markers – two each from Jordy Bonvini and Eliza Clark – that put the game out of reach.
Goldstein sent in a free-position shot for her second goal of the night with 4:29 remaining.
Bonvini finished with four goals, Clark added three, and Amanda Tullo paired five assists with two goals of her own to lead Muhlenberg.
Liberatoscioli was all over the field, registering seven draw controls, three ground balls, and a pair of caused turnovers. Liberatoscioli and McNeave (four draws) helped the Bears grab an 18-14 edge on the draw.
Alycia Hildebrand and Amy Lee notched two ground balls each and joined fellow seniors DeBernardi, Liberatoscioli, and Jules Krasutsky in taking the Patterson Field turf for the final time.
Ursinus closes out the season at Dickinson on Saturday.