COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College field hockey team went toe to toe with Division II power West Chester on Sunday, creating a bevy of scoring opportunities. While the Bears' chances mostly went begging, the Golden Rams capitalized on theirs to post a 4-1 victory in a Snell Cup battle that was much more competitive than the final line.
West Chester – ranked No. 4 in Division II – won its third straight edition of the annual series that reached its 39th iteration on Sunday, giving the Golden Rams a 19-16-4 all-time edge.
Although West Chester (5-0) commanded a 26-16 advantage in shots, Ursinus looked every bit as dangerous as its counterpart on a sunny afternoon at Snell Field. The Bears held a 10-6 edge in corners and engineered plenty of legitimate scoring chances from the opening tap.
Ursinus produced three corners and three shots in the first nine minutes. Sophomore Abbie Roberts' shot slid inches wide of the right post, and senior Brooke Overly fired a dangerous shot that was deflected out for a follow-up effort by Roberts.
After surviving the Bears' early onslaught, the Golden Rams got on the board first when Kelsey Munster re-directed a cross by Caitie McNamara just past Ursinus keeper Jules Singer. Less than five minutes later, Rachal Toppi doubled the margin with a transition strike, one-touching a cross from Munster for the first of three markers on the day. Toppi's second came with 3:22 to play in the first half as she tapped home a rebound off a beautiful save by Singer.
Toppi, the reigning NFHCA Player of the Year in Division II, capped her hat trick just under nine minutes into the second stanza, ripping another rebound into the top right corner of the cage to make it 4-0.
Ursinus dented the scoreboard in the 59th minute, when freshman Gabriela Howell passed to Overly at the top of the circle and the senior sent a hard bouncing shot into the lower right corner. It was Overly's third goal of the season, and the second helper for Howell.
The Bears' lone marker came just after an impressive passing sequence from Overly to Howell to freshman Kayla Paulson, who was all alone on the doorstep when the feed took a bad hop off her stick and hit her leg to negate the opportunity.
Ursinus earned two more corners, and sophomore Gemma Dufoe forced a save in the closing minutes, but the home side was unable to make up more ground.
Marissa Elizardo finished with three saves for West Chester, leaving after Overly became just the third player this season to score on the Rams' keeper.
Overly and sophomore Erin Saybolt tallied four shots each to lead the Bears, teaming with Howell and Roberts (three apiece) for all but two of Ursinus' shots.
Singer collected nine saves on the day, including five in the second half.
West Chester committed four cards, including two yellows that covered 15 minutes of penalty time.
The Bears return to Centennial Conference play on Wednesday, when they welcome Swarthmore to Snell Field.
