COLLEGEVILLE, Pa. – The No. 20 TCNJ field hockey team came within a whisker of an upset at 13
th-ranked Ursinus on Wednesday night, only for the Bears to score the game-tying goal in the final minute and net a golden goal in double overtime for a 3-2 victory in a high-level ranked showdown.
Rachael Tetzlaff scored a goal and made two defensive saves to pair with
Elena Bonfrisco (two defensive saves) and
Brigitte Racey (nine saves) in a spectacular defensive performance by the Lions' back line, but TCNJ's bid for a signature road win ended in heartbreak.
Racey denied the Bears (6-1) a quick lead, diving to her right to knock away a penalty stroke ticketed for the bottom left corner of the cage.
A few minutes later, it was the Lions jumping on top.
Prisha Dhruve inserted a corner to the left side of the circle, where Teztlaff was waiting to receive it. The junior fired a shot towards the left post, and Dhruve's attempted re-direct may have distracted the nearest Ursinus defender and goalkeeper as the ball snuck under both of their sticks and into the back of the cage with 6:42 to play in the first frame.
TCNJ (4-3) maintained that advantage until the third quarter, when the Bears finally broke through after a period of sustained pressure and equalized off a corner around the halfway point of the period.
The stalemate lasted all of 37 seconds.
Nika Eschmann, the exchange student from Germany, came through with her first collegiate goal, slipping a feed from
Jadyn Huff past the Bears netminder and into the cage for a quick-fire 2-1 lead.
The Lions weathered a relentless attack from the hosts for the remainder of the third, using defensive saves from Tetzlaff and Bonfrisco and a shot off the post to keep the home side from netting an equalizer.
Racey and her defensive line continued to bend but not break, staving off four on-target shots – including another defensive save from Bonfrisco – and three penalty corners. But with victory in sight, TCNJ conceded a last-minute goal as the Bears earned a corner and Marie Brainard managed to get a shot past Racey for her second goal, tying the contest with 35 seconds to go and sending the sides into overtime.
The Bears earned four consecutive corners to open the first extra frame, and Tetzlaff saved TCNJ from defeat with her second defensive save of the night.
Eschmann forced a save in the first minute of the second extra session, but that was the last chance for the Lions. Ava Mikulski sprung loose down the left side of the field, carrying the ball into the circle before chipping a shot over an onrushing Racey and into the cage for the golden goal.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Ursinus held significant advantages in shots (24-11) and shots on goal (16-4)
- The Bears earned 20 corners to five for the Lions
STANDOUT LIONS
- Racey's first-quarter stop was her second on a stroke this season
- Tetzlaff, now with a program-record 22 defensive saves and counting, collected her seventh career performance with more than one in a game
- Bonfrisco recorded multiple defensive saves for the first time in her career
- Eschmann led the Lions with four shots, with Huff adding three and Tetzlaff two
NOTES
- Racey joins Charlotte Heenan (564) and Shannon Syciarz (347) as the only goalies in program history to surpass 300 career saves
- Making her 59th career start in goal, Racey took over sole possession of third on the program's all-time charts
- Wednesday marked the 11th straight season in which TCNJ and Ursinus have played a game decided by a single goal; the Lions are 6-5 in those matchups
- Tetzlaff matched her career high with her second goal of the year
- TCNJ played four Centennial Conference opponents in its non-conference schedule, all on the road
UP NEXT
- The Lions head back home to host Lebanon Valley on Saturday
