COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The No. 11 Ursinus College field hockey team bounced back in a big way from back-to-back one-goal setbacks, cruising to a 5-0 Centennial Conference victory over Haverford under the Snell Field lights on Wednesday night.
Five different players found the back of the cage for the Bears (8-3, 4-1), who suffered a 5-4 loss to No. 2 TCNJ before going down 3-2 at Dickinson to end a difficult previous week.
Back in the comforts of home, Ursinus systematically broke down a stingy Haverford side that had not surrendered more than two goals – nor lost by more than one – all season. The Fords lost 1-0 to No. 2 Rowan, and on Saturday held a 1-0 lead on defending CC champion Johns Hopkins until the Blue Jays scored twice in the final three minutes and change to steal a victory.
With the victory, Ursinus preserved a remarkable streak of never losing back-to-back CC games in its entire history with the conference.
Erin Saybolt opened the scoring just over three minutes in, putting in a rebound after an early flurry of shots. The Fords (6-5, 0-4) kept the Bears in check until late in the second quarter, when Gabriela Howell slid a pass across the front of the cage for Jordan Moore, who shot through the goalie's legs for her second goal of the season.
Ursinus went right back to work after intermission as Jamie Mayer fired home her own rebound for a 3-0 lead just 1:18 into the third. That was the opening salvo of a three-goal period for the hosts.
Brianne Nicholas made it 4-0 with a strange goal, somehow finding the corner of the cage from an extreme angle near the end line on the right side of the circle. Just over a minute later, Saybolt was denied by a defensive save, only for Gemma Dufoe to tap home into an empty net for her team-leading 11th goal of the season.
Neither side was able to dent the scoreboard in the fourth quarter, though the Fords took three shots and forced Addie Frey into one of her two saves on the night.
Ursinus finished with a 16-7 advantage in shots, including an 8-1 discrepancy in the first quarter. Corners were much more even, the Bears holding a slim 7-6 edge but scoring directly off three of them.
Saybolt led the Bears with four shots, while Mayer had three. Howell and Dufoe added two apiece, and all 11 of those combined efforts were on cage. Ursinus put 12 of its 16 shots on target for the night.
Sunny Truslow made seven saves for the Fords, who got defensive saves from Leela Krishnan and Ravenel Davis.
Frey posted the fourth shutout of her career.
The Bears remain home for their most anticipated game of the season, a Saturday afternoon showdown with archrival No. 8 Franklin & Marshall.