Box Score LANCASTER, Pa. – Franklin & Marshall played host to Ursinus on Saturday afternoon for a crucial Centennial Conference (CC) field hockey matchup, using three defensive saves to make a 1-0 lead hold up for the crucial victory. The Diplomats improved to 5-2, 2-0 CC with the win while the Bears fell to 5-2, 2-1 CC.
In the 23rd minute, it was F&M that was able to grab the advantage when a penalty corner resulted in an open look for Mel Gula off of a pass of Annie Horsley. It was Gula's first goal of the year and gave the Diplomats the 1-0 edge.
The remaining minutes offered few scoring opportunities, and F&M carried the one-goal edge into the break. The halftime stats showed the narrow margin, as the Diplomats owned a slim 4-3 lead in shots and penalty corners were tied 4-4.
The Bears began to mount pressure in the second half, as Sarah Schannauer produced F&M's first defensive save of the day in the 49th minute after a shot from Ursinus' Amber Steigerwalt. The junior defender repeated the feat just two minutes later, denying a goal-bound effort from Aliki Torrence to keep the score 1-0.
Junior captain Annie Horsley produced some defensive heroics of her own in the 55th minute, once again stopping an Ursinus effort that was headed for the back of the cage.
F&M's offense responded in the remaining minutes, as following another corner the Diplomats found the back of the cage, but the shot came from outside of the circle and was not deflected, so the score stayed 1-0. Still, the Bears were unable to create any real chances in the dying moments of the game, giving F&M the win.
Sydney Cole paced the Diplomat offense with two shots while Schannauer, Gula, Horsley, and Nicole Bodo all fired off one.
Ilianna Santagelo (5-2) made seven saves for the victory, and Ursinus' Jules Singer made three saves in the loss.
F&M returns to action on Wednesday, heading to McDaniel for a game at 7:00 p.m.
