By Miranda Parrish
Elm Staff Writer
The Ursinus College Bears traveled from Collegeville, Pa. to Washington College to compete against the Shorewomen in the field hockey playoff game.
The Bears took the first shots of the game, attempting three goals but all were off target. The Shorewomen, in the last six minutes of the first quarter, took a penalty shot. It rebounded, but sophomore forward Kat Esposito caught the rebound and earned the first goal for the Shorewomen.
The Shorewomen earned a second goal in the first half when senior midfielder Anna Harrington passed form the 40-yard mark to Esposito, who shot and scored through the five hole. After this goal, Esposito tied Laura Scimeca’s ‘05 record with 18 goals in a season. The Shorewomen led the first quarter 2-0.
The Bears came back in the second and third quarters with two goals, one shot by freshman midfielder Lauren Breisch and the other by senior forward Jordan Moore, which was a penalty shot. Moore 79 seconds later shot another goal on the Shorewomen, putting the Bears ahead 3-2 at the end of the third quarter.
Senior Bears goalie Jordan Ulsh saved the two additional goals that the Shorewomen would attempt.
In the fourth quarter, the Bears shot two additional goals. Senior forward Moore passed to Sophomore forward Mary Lauren Franz, with 11 minutes left in the quarter. Junior forward and midfielder Ellie Bruggeman shot the team’s second goal in the last six minutes of the quarter.
The game ended with the defeat of the Shorewomen 2-5 against the Bears, who advance in the playoffs.
Senior forward Julianna Sterling reflected on her feelings before the game and said “I was definitely a bit nervous. Knowing it could be your last career game is nerve wracking, but above all else I was just so grateful for the chance to continue our season into November.”
Despite the loss, Shorewomen junior goalie Ava Rivera saved 13 goals against the Bears. Seven seniors at the College – Anna Harrington, Jillian Brejnik, Kyra Heap, Jo Robson, Tatum Schatt, Julianna Sterling, and Marah Vain-Callahan – were all represented tonight in their last game of the season.
“I’m definitely a bit sad [that our season is over], but at the end of the day I’m so proud of our season. I know I’ll still be close friends with all these girls even after our class graduates, so at the end of the day even though we’ll be out of Chestertown, you can’t take the Chestertown out of us,” Sterling said.