The Dickinson College field hockey team lost in the Centennial Conference semi-final game on Saturday, Nov. 9 against the #2 seed and nationally ranked Ursinus Bears. Ursinus, who beat Franklin & Marshall the following day to win the conference championship the following day, beat Dickinson 4-1 but a majority of the game was played much closer than that.

The Bears struck early after netting a goal in the first 3 minutes after catching the Devils on their heels. Dickinson answered with back-to-back penalty corners, but was unable to net a goal. The Bears took a 2-0 lead during the 22:00 minute and would carry the lead into halftime.

While Dickinson struggled to get their offense going, Ursinus was able to dominate the possession game in the first half by cutting off passes going downfield. The Red Devils did a better job of clearing their zone and getting the ball to their forwards in the second half. Erica Marshall ‘17 was able to break away and rip a shot from the top of the circle only for it to be stopped with a diving save from the Ursinus goaltender. Classmate Catherine Perlmutter ’17, the team’s leading scorer, was able to fire a couple of shots but was also stopped by the strong Bears’ goaltender.

With just over 17 minutes remaining, the Red Devils were able to force a penalty corner and capitalize as Marshall deflected a shot off the stick of Perlmutter to cut the lead in half. Less than two minutes later, the Red Devils had a shot to tie it up but Perlmutter’s blast off a corner was saved and Ursinus held the 2-1 lead. At 58:05, the Bears capitalized on a penalty stroke to stretch the lead to 3-1. With just over 4 minutes remaining, Megan Keenan, the conference player of the year, netted another goal to record a hat trick and stretch the lead to 4-1.

Ursinus, who dominated the ball possession, led in shots 19-10 and corners 13-7. Schlechtweg performed well under the pressure of the Bears’ offense, turning back seven shots.

The Red Devils finished the season with a record of 12-6. In the playoff game, Erica Marshall tallied her twelfth goal of the season; matching classmate Catherine Perlmutter to tie the record for most goals by a first year. This was a record season for Dickinson Field Hockey where they also broke the school record for goals, assists and points in a season, tallying 53, 34, 140 respectively. The young Red Devils Field Hockey team is sure to impress next season as they continue to build and strengthen the program in the offseason.