EWING, N.J. – Two perennial powerhouses traded punches deep into the night as the Ursinus College field hockey team battled TCNJ in a top-10 slugfest on Thursday night. Ultimately, the Lions landed the knockout blow just over six minutes into overtime to walk off with a 1-0 victory, snapping the Bears' five-game winning streak and extending their stretch of home dominance to 43 games.
Two typically high-powered units – each came into the contest ranked within the top 16 in Division III in scoring average – stifled each other into submission until Jaclyn Douglas put in her own rebound 6:15 into the first extra session, the only scoring in a thriller befitting programs who each advanced to the NCAA semifinals a year ago.
No. 10 TCNJ (9-3), the 2014 national champions, improved to 68-4 at Lions Stadium since 2010. The Lions, who entered the 2016 campaign ranked 3rd in the NFHCA preseason poll – one spot ahead of Ursinus – avenged a 2-1 setback to the Bears a year ago, when TCNJ came to Snell Field atop the national poll.
Ursinus (10-3), ranked 7th in Division III, made the Lions earn it with another sterling defensive effort. Sophomore Jules Singer finished with a career-high with seven saves, all after halftime, and the Ursinus back line kept TCNJ off the board until Douglas' golden goal despite significant deficits in shots (18-5) and corners (11-3).
The first half featured only six combined shots. Five of them were by the Lions, but none was on target, and Ursinus senior Colleen Leahy's effort at 26:44 proved the lone shot on goal in the opening period.
The action ratcheted up right after intermission, as Singer made back-to-back saves at close range just over four minutes into the second stanza. The Bears earned consecutive corners at the 45-minute mark, their first of the night, and each led to a shot, with senior Amber Steigerwalt's forcing a TCNJ save.
Singer produced two more big saves later in the half, and the Bears' keeper made another to help the visitors escape unscathed after the Lions earned a pair of penalty corners with time expired. Singer's five second-half saves, more than her total from the past five games combined and more than she had made in every game but the season opener against Rowan, kept Ursinus alive through regulation.
Singer registered another save in the extra session, but the Lions' pressure finally broke through the Bears' defense as Douglas' second effort found its way into the back of the cage.
Steigerwalt took two of the Bears' five shots, with Leahy, senior Aliki Torrence, and junior Brooke Overly recording the others. Douglas and Lexi Smith led the Lions with five shots apiece, Alexa Magnotta and Kayla Andrews tallying three each.
Christina Fabiano made three saves for TCNJ, which has not lost at home since October 2011.
The Bears will look to regroup in the annual Snell Cup game at West Chester on Sunday, October 16.