BRYN MAWR, Pa. - The Owls field hockey team got back in action at home on Sunday afternoon for another non-conference showdown, as Bryn Mawr welcomed Wilkes to campus. The hosts were dominant almost the entire way in the contest, but thanks to some solid defending from the Colonels, it took some time to break through on the scoreboard. However, a second-quarter goal from Kate Ervin proved to be the game-winner, and the Owls tacked on three more scores in the final seven minutes to take a 4-0 win on the day. Ervin picked up two goals on the day while Maggie Titus earned her second shutout win in a row for the Owls.

Bryn Mawr was on the front foot right from the start, as the Owls earned a penalty corner just over two minutes into the contest. In fact, the Owls earned six penalty corners in the opening frame and took six shots as well, but were unable to scratch across a goal. Part of that was due to the impressive play of Wilkes goalkeeper Carly Eidle, who made several tremendous stops throughout the game en route to a 14-save performance. The strong defending from the visitors carried over into the second quarter as well, as Bryn Mawr put up eight more shots in the first seven minutes of the frame only to be denied each time.

Finally one of the Owls' many penalty corners paid off, however, as Ervin was able to get Bryn Mawr on the board in the 23rd minute. On a corner, the ball went up top and then to the right wing before getting put back into the mix in the middle. In a scramble of bodies from both sides, the ball eventually squeaked under the feet of Eidle and towards Ervin, who was behind the Wilkes goaltender and directly in front of the cage. Ervin simply redirected the loose ball into the back netting, setting off an Owls celebration and putting the home team up 1-0.

That goal would actually spark one of the lone offensive stretches for the visitors, as they earned two penalty corners of their own over the next few minutes. However, Bryn Mawr shut those opportunities down, and the teams went to the half with the Owls holding on to a 1-0 advantage. The Owls continued to stay on the front foot out of the halftime break, as Bryn Mawr once again dominated the third quarter to the tune of three penalty corners and three more shots. Still the hosts found difficult scoring conditions, as they could not make that final connection to push across any insurance goals.

That all changed in the final minutes of the contest, with Hazel Miller getting things started for the Owls. The first-year forward took a tumble in a scramble of bodies fighting for a loose ball in front of the Wilkes cage, but managed to score while laying on the turf to put Bryn Mawr ahead 2-0 midway through the fourth quarter. Almost exactly two minutes later, it was Ervin who scored once again, sending a first-time shot from the right wing off of a failed clearance inside the left post for her second goal of the day. Skyler Hauser closed out the account for the Owls with one more goal. Bryn Mawr forced a turnover in the offensive third of the field, and Novy Goetgeluk passed up the right wing to Meghan O'Shea inside the circle. The junior centered a pass right in front of the cage, where Hauser redirected back into the top right corner to give Bryn Mawr their fourth and final goal of the contest.

With the win, the Owls move to 5-1 on the season, tying their program-record start to a year from 2019. They will look to continue their impressive performances when they get back in action later this week on the road. Centennial Conference play begins on Friday for the Owls, as Bryn Mawr will travel to the site of one of their more memorable wins in recent history: Gettysburg. The last time these two programs faced off in the regular season, Bryn Mawr earned a 3-2 victory in double overtime, the first time the Owls had ever defeated the Bullets in program history. Gettysburg then returned the favor in the first round of the Centennial Conference playoffs in Bryn Mawr, so these two teams will have plenty of motivation between them when they meet again later this week. Game time on Friday in Gettysburg is set for 3:30 PM.