COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Playing at home for the final time this season, Ursinus made the most of it as the Bears (17-3) defeated Christopher Newport (12-6) 3-1 Wednesday afternoon in the first round of the NCAA Division III playoffs.
With the win, Ursinus advances to play Messiah at 1 p.m. on Saturday in a second-round game at Salisbury University.
Junior midfielder Rachel Pandl (Columbus, N.J./Northern Burlington) scored two goals, including the game-winner in the 51st minute as she scored on a shot from the top right of the circle.
"We fell behind early, but, Rachel really gave us a push off the bench, "said Ursinus head coach Janelle Benner. "In the second half, we turned up the defensive pressure and that allowed us to get more opportunities to score in our end."
It was the Captains who struck first, as senior attack Kelsey Rigby scored her fourth goal of the season on a rebound off of the pads of Ursinus senior goalkeeper Jill Lukens (Furlong, Pa./Central Bucks East).
Pandl tied the score at 1-all as she scored on an assist from senior forward Corinne Freeman (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vienney) at 13:29.
Senior forward Alyssa Thren (Barto, Pa./Upper Perkiomen) scored her 20th goal of the game on a shot from the right side of the cagte at 65:12 to cap the game.
Lukens finished with eight saves, as Ursinus finished with a 22-16 advantage in shots. Christopher Newport junior goalkeeper Jamie Dowling finished with eight saves.
The Bears will now advance to face Messiah for the third straight season, but, this year will be different as the Bears will face the Falcons in the regional semifinals. The last two meetings have been in the NCAA semifinals.