COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – Erin Fitzgerald and Jaime Matty each collected a game-high four points as tenth-ranked Ursinus jumped to a 6-0 halftime lead and held on for an 11-7 win over No 9 Gettysburg in the Centennial Conference (CC) women's lacrosse championship game on Sunday.

 Megan Murphy (Wilton, CT/Wilton) and Anna Haugen (Bethpage, NY/Bethpage) scored two goals apiece for the Bullets (13-4), who rallied to within two goals on two occasions in the second half, but couldn't stop the Bears (13-2) from winning their third CC title.

 After falling behind 7-1 by halftime of their regular season meeting with Ursinus on Mar. 24, the Bullets found themselves facing another six-goal deficit after 30 minutes on Sunday.

 Sue Patton opened the scoring with a free-position goal at the 26:26 mark of the first half.  Minutes later, Fitzgerald set up Emily Durkin with Gettysburg goalie Michele Centrella (Greenville, DE/Tatnall School) positioned out of the net following a foul to give Ursinus a 2-0 lead.

 Fitzgerald scored the first of her two goals off a feed from Abby Ross with 19:29 left in the half to make it 3-0 and force a Bullet timeout.

 Both teams went scoreless over the next 15 minutes before Matty cashed in a free-position opportunity for a 4-0 lead at the 5:20 mark.

 Goals from Patton and Matty in the final 2:29 of the half gave the Bears a 6-0 cushion heading into halftime.

 With the determination befitting the conference's defending champion, Gettysburg fought its way back into the game with a 5-1 run over the first 11 minutes, 5 seconds of the second half.

 Murphy powered through the Ursinus defense to put the Bullets on the board with an unassisted goal at 28:15 and Haugen cut the deficit to 6-2 by finishing a 1-on-1 run with 23:21 left in the game.

 Diane Elia temporarily curbed the Bullets' momentum with an unassisted goal on the Bears' next possession, but Haugen struck again at 21:37 and Murphy swatted home a high feed from Bucha 1:21 later to pull the Bullets within 7-4.

 Katie Merriken (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) capped the run with a hard shot past Ursinus goalie Rebecca Mannion to cut the lead to 7-5 with 18:55 to play.

 Fitzgerald and Gettysburg's Jessica Seedorf (Port Jefferson Station, NY/Ward Melville) traded goals over the next five minutes to keep Ursinus by two at 8-6.

 With 10:33 left, the Bears netted a crucial goal when Fitzgerald picked off an errant pass and fed Durkin to push the lead to 9-6.

 Ursinus held the Bullets off the scoreboard over the next nine minutes and tallied an insurance marker when Matty capped her hat trick with 1:29 left.

 Amy Farrell (Ambler, PA/Upper Dublin) picked up a goal off an assist from Bucha at 1:06 before Elia capped the scoring with another empty-net goal with 43.6 seconds remaining.

 Centrella finished with 10 saves on the day for the Bullets while Mannion made seven stops for the Bears.

 Gettysburg wraps up its regular season at Millersville on Tuesday, May 1.  Game time is 4:30 p.m.  The Bullets remain in the running for a bid to the ECAC Mid-Atlantic Region tournament, which is slated for May 9, 12 and 13.
 
 

Goals:

Ursinus: Jaime Matty 3, Erin Fitzgerald 2, Emily Durkin 2, Sue Patton 2, Diane Elia 2.

Gettysburg: Megan Murphy 2, Anna Haugen 2, Katie Merriken, Jessica Seedorf, Amy Farrell.

Assists:

Ursinus: Fitzgerald 2, Matty, Durkin, Abby Ross.

Gettysburg: Bucha 2, Murphy.

Shots: Gettysburg 23, Ursinus 27.

Ground Balls: Gettysburg 34, Ursinus 35.

Goalies: Gettysburg (Michele Centrella – 60 minutes, 10 saves, 11 GA), Ursinus (Rebecca Mannion – 60 minutes, 11 saves, 7 GA).

Draw Controls: Gettysburg 9, Ursinus 11.

Caused Turnovers: Gettysburg 7, Ursinus 10.

Turnovers: Gettysburg 11, Ursinus 12.

Fouls: Gettysburg 18, Ursinus 11.

Free Position: Gettysburg 1 of 4, Gettysburg 4 of 5.

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