GLASSBORO, N.J. - The Ursinus Women's Lacrosse team opened its 2022 season with a 17-6 defeat on the road to Rowan University on a warm Wednesday afternoon in non-conference action.
Playing their first non-conference game since March 2020, the Bears begin a stretch of four of their first five games away from Patterson field.
The Bears jumped out to an early lead after first-year midfielder Julia McCann scored the first goal of her career in just 42 seconds. After Rowan tied the game at one a piece, Sophomore Gabrielle Liott found the back of the net to give Ursinus a 2-1 lead at the 12:40 mark. The Profs answered right back scoring the next four goals and lead 5-2 at the 3:54 mark of the first quarter. Senior Reilly Morgan answered for the Bears, scoring her first goal of the season with 2:26 remaining in the quarter.
The Profs would start the second quarter on another 4-0 run over the first ten minutes and led 9-3 with five minutes to play in the half. McCann would find the back of the net for her second goal of the game and the Bears trailed 10-4 heading into halftime.
In the third quarter, McCann connected on a free position opportunity and cut the Bears deficit to five at the 13:43 mark. After the Bears were unable to get a clean clear, a turnover on their side of the field allowed Rowan to capitalize as Ashley Lechliter found the back of the net, and made the score 11-5 with 10:16 remaining in the quarter. On the following possession, Rowan capitalized on a free position attempt as Erin Renshaw snuck a shot into the net to make the score 12-5 Profs. Rowan closed out the third quarter with a 2-0 run and led 14-5 heading into the fourth.
The Profs opened the fourth quarter scoring the first two goals before the Bears Grace Lynch found the back of the net at the 5:02 mark. Rowan's Elise Cohan scored the final goal of the contest at the 3:10 mark and gave the Profs a 17-6 victory.
The Profs held a 36-25 advantage in shots and a 26-17 edge in shots on goal. Rowan also held a 17-12 edge in the turnover battle and was successful on 14 of 18 clear attempts. Ursinus held a small 14-13 edge in draw controls and each team had 9 free-position opportunities. Bears Junior goalkeeper Alexa Machado suffered the loss after making nine saves in the full 60 minutes while Profs goalkeeper Reilly Shaup earned the win with 10 saves over 55 minutes of action. Julia McCann led the Bears with three goals while Grace Lynch, Reilly Morgan, and Gabrielle Liott each added a goal.
The Bears will look to bounce back Saturday for their home opener against Albright starting at 3pm.