Ursinus College Field Hockey took on Rowan for their home opener on August 31st, and upset the #10 ranked team in the country with an outstanding performance. These teams have a long history, with their first matchup having come on October 9th, 2002, and many close games since. However, Ursinus has a winning record against Rowan of 11-8 over the past 22 years. This year, the Bears came out hungry, scoring the most goals ever against Rowan and putting an end to a five-year losing streak.
The first 15 minutes of the game was a hard fought, scoreless battle between the two teams. In the second half, senior Mary-Lauren Franz scored the first goal of the game at the 17th minute. The Bears’ second goal came at the end of the first half, scored by senior captain Maeve Montgomery with an assist by junior Lauren Breisch on a penalty corner. This earned Montgomery her first goal of the season. Only 34 seconds later, Rowan came back and scored their first goal, by Jenna Gray. The Bears rallied back with a goal from sophomore Marie Brainard with an assist by Kirsten Johnson. The Profs brought the score to 3-2 with another goal by Jenna Gray, assisted by Kaylee Wenzel. The Bears were not finished, with junior captain Gigi Testa scoring 20 seconds later with an assist from senior Lauren Sieczkowski. Franz and Brainard picked up their second goal each with minutes left in the game to close the game 6-2. The Bears fought for possession with the Profs, with time of possession in the game ending at 50-50.
The Bears converted six of their eight shots on goal, while the Profs converted two of their 11 shots on goal. Both teams had nine offensive corners. The Bears defense was a brick wall, with junior Adriana Palladinetti in goal. She had nine saves throughout the game and was a force to be reckoned with. Palladinetti earned defensive player of the week by the Field Hockey Analyst, an organization that collects field hockey statistics. Palladinetti commented on the Bears’ defense, “On defense we did such a good job communicating and trusting each other and that allowed us to keep the ball out of the goal. It was our first time beating Rowan since 2017 and I am so proud of this team for being able to accomplish this!” She had help in the back line from Montgomery, who was named All-Centennial first team and NFHCA All-Region second team last season. Franz had a standout performance with two goals and one assist. She was named All-Centennial first team and NFHCA All-Region second team last season. Franz and Brainard were the top two leading goal scorers for the Bears last year, and are starting the season off strong. Franz, Brainard, and Montgomery were named to the National Field Hockey Coaches Association watchlist for this season.
Senior captain Maeve Montgomery discussed the team’s mentality going into the game, claiming the team “knew this was going to be a big game going into it” but that they “trusted ourselves and each other.” Montgomery viewed the game as a “great opportunity for our team to learn and problem solve together, believing “this team has a lot of potential and I am very excited to continue growing and fighting as one team.”
When asked about the competition between Rowan and Ursinus, junior captain Gigi Testa stated, “We are always so excited to open our season with Rowan because they are such a talented team. It’s always super competitive and gives us a good understanding of what the season will look like.” Testa described the team’s reaction to the game: “We were so happy with how well the game went! The whole team played very well together and we were able to score six goals. It was a lot of fun to have such a high scoring game.” Testa provided an insight into what is in store for the Bears, claiming that, “going into the rest of the season, I am super confident in the team. I think that after two of our top 25 wins, we are proving ourselves. I know we are going to have very successful conference play and I can’t wait to keep building and growing with the team.”