COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team clamped down defensively after intermission, but the Bears' first-half offensive struggles left them chasing throughout in a 9-5 non-conference setback at the hands of Rowan on Wednesday.

Freshman Abby Goldstein netted a pair of second-half goals for Ursinus (2-1), which trailed 7-1 early in the second stanza before making a push that proved too little, too late. Ali Herbert led the way with three goals and an assist in the season opener for Rowan, which handed the Bears their first loss of the season and won for the fifth time in six games in the series.

Maddie Bray opened the scoring with a free-position goal just over four minutes in, and the Profs were never threatened. Herbert tallied the next two in a span of less than two minutes before freshman Courtney Cortese got Ursinus on the scoreboard at the 11:54 mark of the opening frame.

But Danielle Hubbs found the back of the net just 67 seconds later, and Rowan tacked on two more markers to go into the break with a 6-1 advantage on a blustery afternoon at Patterson Field.

Jess Havers' unassisted strike swelled the Profs' margin to 7-1 just over two minutes into the second half, but Ursinus dug in from there. The Bears kept the visitors off the scoreboard for the next 21-plus minutes as they strove to climb back into contention, starting with a goal from sophomore Taylor DeBernardi with 27:11 to play.

After setting up DeBernardi, senior Devin Brakel netted a man-down goal eight minutes later. Goldstein followed with a nifty play, using a spin move to free up space for a powerful finish that pulled the Bears to within 7-4 just across the 10-minute mark.

Bray quelled the uprising with a goal at 6:14 before Goldstein cut into the middle, took a feed from sophomore Jules Krasutsky from behind the net, and converted a mere 23 seconds after that. But the Profs controlled the ensuing draw and held the ball for nearly three minutes before Rachel Emerson put the game away with an unassisted goal at the 3:13 mark.

Freshman Emma Frost made four saves in her first start for Rowan, which outshot the Bears, 29-9, and held a 28-16 advantage in ground balls.

Freshman Bridget Sherry collected five ground balls and forced a turnover, while Cortese finished with three ground balls and two caused turnovers. Junior Lisa Grous registered four draw controls for Ursinus, which suffered from an 11-5 deficiency off the draw.

Senior Margaret Philbin finished with 11 saves, eight of them coming in the second half as the Bears attempted to make their move.

Ursinus is back in action on Saturday, when the Bears welcome Washington & Jefferson to Patterson Field for a non-conference clash.