COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The senior class of the Ursinus College field hockey team made sure Saturday's Centennial Conference showdown with Muhlenberg was not its final game on the friendly confines of Snell Field.
Colleen Leahy and Ann Kopera scored goals on assists from Amber Steigerwalt and Aliki Torrence as Ursinus (14-4, 9-1) clinched the right to host next week's CC semifinals and championship with a 2-0 victory over the Mules (15-2, 9-1), who came in ranked 12th in Division III and 2nd in the South Region. The Bears will host the winner of Haverford and Dickinson in the conference semifinals on Saturday, with the Mules to meet Franklin & Marshall in the other semifinal.
Ursinus needed to win by more than one goal to clinch hosting rights for the conference tournament, a result that was in doubt until Kopera redirected a blast by Torrence from the top of the circle and into the back of the cage in the 53rd minute. That made it 2-0 in favor of the Bears, who were able to keep Muhlenberg off the board for the final 17 minutes and change.
The Mules controlled their destiny and could have secured the outright regular-season title with a win, but the Ursinus defense gave them little chance on a sunny afternoon in Collegeville. Muhlenberg managed just four shots for the day, and only one of them was on goal, a blast by Taylor Smith that sophomore Jules Singer did well to glove away with 36 seconds remaining. Singer's lone save was massive; if the Mules had scored, the conference would have conducted a three-way coin toss to determine the host of next week's championship.
Steigerwalt and Leahy combined to stake the Bears to a lead just 9:55 into the contest, with the latter finding the former at the left post for a tap-in that made it 1-0. The goal was a big piece of insurance against a Mule team that had shut out each of its previous four opponents.
Leahy and junior Brooke Overly led all players with four shots apiece for Ursinus, which owned a 13-4 advantage in shots and took 10 penalty corners to the Mules' three. Emma Rosenthal made five saves for Muhlenberg, which got two shots from Anna Kennedy.
Senior Rachel Zane combined with Torrence, sophomore Bridget Sherry, and others to keep the Mules off the board and hold senior Rachel Strow – the CC leader in goals and points – without a shot. Muhlenberg was shut out for the first time all season.
Ursinus won its third straight against Muhlenberg and improved to 14-1 all-time in the series.
The Bears will take on the winner of Wednesday's first-round tilt between Haverford and Dickinson on Saturday afternoon at Snell Field. Ursinus is hosting the CC championship for the second time in three seasons and will gun for a fourth consecutive conference crown.
Today we honor the memory and legacy of Tom Mastrangelo, Class of 1995 who recently passed away at the age of 43.
A Collegeville resident and Phoenixville High School graduate, Tom was a running back for the Bears during the '91 through '94 campaigns -- proudly wearing the #30.
Tom, a Media and Communications major and member of Alpha Phi Epsilon, was a vital member of the Bears program during his tenure at Ursinus. He is sorely missed by his teammates, friends and family – many of which are in attendance today.
We are privileged this afternoon to have his wife Ilene and daughter Grace as honorary captains to participate in today's coin flip.
Please join us in welcoming the Mastrangelo family.
