COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The Ursinus College women's lacrosse team's offense awoke from a first-half slumber, but the Bears were unable to make up enough ground to catch visiting Babson in a 9-6 non-conference setback on Saturday.
Freshman Haley O'Malley scored two goals and assisted on another for Ursinus (3-3), which trailed 7-2 with just over 16 minutes to play before putting some pressure on the Beavers late. Led by Emily Bresnahan's four goals, Babson (2-2) fended off the Bears' advances on a chilly, rainy afternoon in Collegeville.
Bresnahan's unassisted tally opened the scoring nearly 13 minutes into the contest, and Taylor Thorbahn facilitated markers by Charlotte O'Halloran and another by Bresnahan that made it 3-0 in favor of the Beavers. Sophomore Abby Goldstein got Ursinus on the board at the 8:57 mark of the first half, completing a nice set-up from classmate Emily DiGiorgio at the right post, but that was all the offense the home side could muster in the first frame.
Bresnahan and sophomore Franny Liberatoscioli traded goals in the first three minutes of the second stanza, but Valerie Quinlan, Mairead Williams, and Lyndsay Giroux netted three in a row to extend Babson's advantage to 7-2 with 19:34 to play.
The Bears started to find their rhythm on offense, as O'Malley spun and put a shot past Beavers goalie Olivia Phelan at the 16:10 mark. A few minutes later, sophomore Bridget Sherry found classmate Kaci McNeave in the middle of the circle, and McNeave's shot found the lower left corner of the net. The run reached three straight goals when senior Lindsey Grabell threaded a centering pass to O'Malley, who fired one past Phelan to slice the deficit to 7-5 with 8:23 still showing on the clock.
Babson shut down the momentum right away, winning the draw and restoring a three-goal edge on Julia Harrigan's free-position shot 33 seconds later. Bresnahan's fourth made it 9-5 before Sherry capped the scoring, taking a feed from O'Malley and rapidly powering a downward shot with 1:33 to go.
Sherry added four caused turnovers, two ground balls, and two draws to her goal and assist; she has recorded multiple caused turnovers in four games this season. Liberatoscioli forced a pair of Beaver miscues and collected two draws of her own, and McNeave paced Ursinus with three ground balls.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kaitlyn France finished with five saves for Ursinus, while Phelan made seven.
Babson owned the slightest of edges in shots (18-17) and draws (9-8) while scooping up 18 ground balls to the Bears' 13. Babson was 2-for-5 on free-position shots and stopped all three of Ursinus' attempts.
The women's lacrosse team welcomes 4th-ranked TCNJ to Patterson Field for a 7:00 showdown on Tuesday, March 21.
