WESTMINSTER, Md. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team allowed McDaniel 10 minutes of fun to open Saturday's Centennial Conference showdown. The Bears enjoyed themselves immensely after that, rattling off 10 unanswered goals to overturn an early 3-0 deficit and run away with an 11-5 victory, their first in Westminster since 2007.
Three days removed from her first hat-trick of the season, sophomore Franny Liberatoscioli extended her newfound scoring prowess with a career-high five goals, including the first and last tally of the first half for Ursinus (7-7, 3-4), which snapped a three-year drought against the Green Terror.
Sam Barbeito needed just 13 seconds to put McDaniel (5-10, 2-6) on the board, and she added to the lead with another goal about six minutes later. When Maggie Quinn put one into the back of the cage at the 19:58 mark of the half, the Green Terror had opened up a 3-0 advantage.
But back came Liberatoscioli and the Bears, the sophomore posting her team's first goal for the third straight contest when she converted a free-position chance. After freshman Abby Goldstein closed the gap to 3-2, Liberatoscioli scored twice in a 22-second span, the second on a feed from freshman Bridget Sherry that put Ursinus ahead to stay. Liberatoscioli's fourth goal of the half, less than two minutes after a marker by freshman Courtney Cortese, propelled the visitors into the halftime break with a 6-3 lead.
The first seven-plus minutes of the second half passed without a goal before senior Devin Brakel got in on the action with an unassisted strike, the first of three after halftime for the Bears' veteran midfielder. Brakel's second goal preceded Cortese's second by a mere 13 second, and by the time Liberatoscioli found the back of the net for a fifth and final time, Ursinus had capped a 10-goal spurt with 17:05 remaining.
The Green Terror cut the gap with two in a row before Brakel polished off the scoring – and her fourth hat-trick of the season – with a free-position goal at 7:11.
Saturday's outburst marked the fifth straight game with multiple points for Liberatoscioli, who had only one in the season's first nine games. She converted five of her six shots – all of which were on goal – and added a ground ball, two draw controls, and a caused turnover to her ledger. In addition to her two goals, Cortese contributed two ground balls and a pair draws.
Sherry established a career high with two assists, also collecting a ground ball and a draw.
Senior Maraget Philbin was a stalwart between the pipes, racking up a dozen saves (seven in the first half); it was her third straight appearance with at least ten saves and her sixth of the season. Four of her stops came on free-position attempts.
Quinn finished with two goals and two assists for McDaniel, which exceeded the Bears in shots (24-22), draw controls (12-6), and ground balls (14-12) but found many of its scoring chances denied by Philbin. Barbeito had two goals and an assist, and Katelin Johnson recorded nine saves in goal.
With the victory, Ursinus is a game back of Muhlenberg, Washington College, Haverford, and Dickinson, all of which are tied for third in the crowded CC playoff chase at 4-3. Needing to pass three of those teams, the Bears get their first crack at making up ground on Wednesday, April 27, when they head to Haverford for a critical league clash at 4:00 p.m.