By James Wagner
Director of Athletic Communications
GRANTHAM, Pa. – In a matchup of two nationally ranked squad, Ursinus put together four goals in the second half, propelling the tenth-ranked Bears (3-0) to a 4-3 win over 11th-ranked Messiah (2-1) Wednesday night in field hockey action.
Junior midfielder Megan Keenan (Sinking Spring, Pa./Wilson) scored three straight goals to lead the Bears, while junior forward Devin Brakel (West Windsor, N.J./West Windsor Plainsboro North) scored what turned out to be the eventual game-winner with 7:42 left in the contest.
Senior defender Nora Kornfeld (Kingston, Pa./Wyoming Seminary) and junior forward Danielle Stong (Gilbertsville, Pa./Boyertown Area) each had an assist, as Ursinus defeated Messiah for the second straight season.
Messiah struck first as Nicole Wilkerson scored 2:11 into the game on a loose ball in the circle.
Ursinus tried to get on the board and had four corners in the first 11 minutes but could not get one across. At 14:20, Messiah took a 2-0 lead when Moriah Pfautz scored her second goal of the season on another loose ball.
The Bears would continue with the corner chances, before Keenan notched her first goal of the game with just one second left in the half on a corner by Kornfield to go into intermission down 2-1.
Two minutes into the second half, Keenan tied the score at 2-all as she scored on a Stong corner pass, then gave Ursinus the lead at 47:06 on a hard shot right inside the circle.
Messiah would tie the score at 51:21 when Carissa Gehman scored on a scramble inside the circle, knotting the game at 3-all.
Brakel's game-winner came on a hard drive to the cage, getting one past Messiah goalkeeper Carly Day.
Ursinus finished with ten penalty corners to six for Messiah, and had a 12-10 shot advantage.
The Bears got two saves from junior goalkeeper Danielle DeSpirito (Mountain Top, Pa./Crestwood).
Ursinus heads back west on Saturday, taking on Elizabethtown.