COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team was put to the test against Division III power No. 11 TCNJ as the Bears were downed, 16-1, at a snow-ringed Patterson Field.
While confronting freezing temperatures, Ursinus (0-4) was also battling a tough Lions squad that came off its second consecutive Final Four appearance last season and has a long pedigree of success.
Junior Haley O'Malley scored the lone goal of the day for the Bears, her fourth tally of the season and 25th of her career.
The Lions (2-1) exerted their dominance at both ends from the opening whistle, scoring just 49 seconds into the game. TCNJ would rattle off three more goals in the first five minutes to go up 4-0.
Ursinus kept TCNJ off the scoreboard for nearly seven-and-a-half minutes after the initial burst of scoring until Alex Fitzpatrick found the back of the net to push the Lions' lead to 5-0 at 17:50. Fitzpatrick ended the day with a game-high five goals.
The Lions camped out in their offensive end from the onset and owned the shot department to the tune of a 42-16 discrepancy. Ursinus registered its first shot attempt when senior Emily DiGiorgio's free-position just missed the mark as it hit the side netting at 16:23.
Ursinus gained its first draw control of the game 17 minutes in when senior Bridget Sherry won the battle for a loose ball. Sherry picked up a team-high four ground balls on the day.
The Bears gained more momentum toward the later stages of the first half, and sophomore Brittney Bedrossian ripped the first shot on goal at nearly twenty minutes in.
Fitzpatrick collected a pair of tallies to register a hat trick by halftime to move the score to 9-0. Her third goal of the game was a nifty one when she picked up her own ground ball.
O'Malley got the Bears on the board when she scored a free-position goal following a TCNJ yellow card with six minutes to go in the first half.
TCNJ's Kasey Donoghue, who also scored three goals before halftime, beat the buzzer with 0.5 seconds left on the clock to give the Lions a 10-1 advantage at the break.
TCNJ jumped out of halftime to score a quick goal 46 seconds into the second half, instituting a running clock.
Ursinus senior keeper Kaitlyn France remained busy between the pipes, facing an extended salvo of shots. She stopped 14 of them.
TCNJ's Miranda Chrone, the NCAA's career leader in goals-against average at under four goals conceded per game, posted a strong performance in goal to earn the win. Chrone made nine saves in almost 55 minutes of work in front of a solid TCNJ defense.
The Lions led 12-6 in draw controls and were nearly perfect on clears (19 of 20).
Up next, the Bears travel to Nashville, Tenn. during spring break to take on Kenyon.